Page 32 of Their Property
“Ooh!” Anita cooed as I pulled out an embossed invitation made of thick cardstock. “He wants you to go to the Sevier Day Ball with him!”
“Sevier Day Ball?” I repeated, scanning the information on the card. It appeared to be a high-end, black tie affair, with an elaborate ten-course meal and dancing in one of the banquet rooms here in the capitol.
“Yes, it’s on Sevier Independence Day, the most important holiday in the territory,” Anita said excitedly. “Everyone has the day off to celebrate, and officials have an exclusive dinner party.”
Well, obviously cooks and wait staff won’t have the day off,I thought. “Everyone working in the capitol goes to this?”
“Yes! I mean, last year was the first one, but it was a huge hit. We, support staff, threw our own party in the kitchen with all the leftover food and wine.”
“So,” I set the card down on my desk. “I don’thaveto go as Nathan’s plus-one? I can just show up?”
Anita blinked, her smile faltering. “Well, yes, you can go alone, but why would you want to? Anyone would love to be his date for a night like this!”
I’d rather go with anyonebuthim.
A thought crossed my mind of being escorted into a grand ballroom by my handsome bodyguards. One man on each arm, the third behind me, or even arms linked with one of the other two. They wouldn’t wear tuxes or suits, no, not these bikers. But I’d be in my floor-length gown, and they’d be in crisp shirts that would cling to every broad muscle. I would be the envy of every woman and the ego-killer of every man.
I wondered if any of them could dance. Dyno seemed graceful and coordinated enough.
“I’ll think about it,” I said to Anita’s waiting stare. “Either way, I’ll need to order a dress, won’t I?”
“Yes, Ambassador.” Anita flipped open her agenda. “Should I schedule an appointment at a dress shop?”
“Yes, please.” The event was in three weeks. Hopefully, Nathan wouldn’t be too pressed for an answer right away.
The hours crawled by after that. I wished Anita hadn’t given me that invitation until the end of the day. Now my mind was occupied with rejecting Nathan as delicately as possible, and nothing seemed good enough.
You don’t have to let him down gently. Your bodyguards will keep him in line,one part of my brain whispered.
Yes, but you are a public figure and have an image to maintain,said another part.Grace and poise at all times, just like your father said.
I sighed in annoyance, leaning back in my seat. My father would think I was crazy to turn Nathan down, even after everything that happened with Malcolm. He thought Malcolm was a one-off and would never understand it from my view. If a man wasn’t abusive or adulterous to his wife, it was enough, in his eyes.
I don’t want that. I don’t want to just tolerate a man who isn’t awful.
My gaze drifted up Dyno’s long legs, taking in his casual slouch by the door. He was looking across the room at T-Bone, who caught his eye and made a lewd gesture with his fist and tongue. Dyno laughed softly, flipped him the middle finger, and then slowly stuck that finger in his mouth and closed his lips around it.
I jerked my eyes to my desk again before they caught me staring.
I want that,I realized. Playfulness and passion. A sense of ease and trust. The ability to turn the public persona off and just be myself around my partner. Orpartners.
Because I didn’t just want what the Sons had. I wantedthem.
I have wanted them since the moment they freed me from Blakeworth. That wasrealfreedom, and I couldn’t ignore the persistent ache that told me onlytheycould make me feel this way.
It hurt so badly when they had left. Since being near them again, I felt glimpses of that beautiful sense of freedom again. It felt like I could jump out of a window, and I knew they’d be there to catch me. I could walk into battle like the valkyrie in my dream, and they would be my sword, shield, and wings.
Speaking of the valkyrie, I kept seeing her at the edges of my vision while awake and vividly when I slept. She stood in the corner of my office then, always disappearing when I tried to look at her straight on. But I felt her constantly, a calming source of strength. When she moved slightly, I saw sunlight reflecting off her armor. The guys never noticed her, but I swore Munin looked in her direction and cawed softly once in a while, as if speaking to her.
Grudge never brought it up again after I told him about her the first time, so I figured he had written it off as nothing. Personally, I still didn’t know what to think. The valkyrie only started coming to me after taking this job and seeing the Sons again. Their connection to Norse myths was undeniable, so what did this valkyrie want with me? Was she even anything besides my own brain responding to a new environment? Or my territory-sized crush on the Sons?
Did I need to see a doctor? Ugh, the Sevier officials would have a field day with that.The poor little female ambassador was so overwhelmed, she started hallucinating and needed her head checked.
I felt fine in every other way, though. The valkyrie’s presence was honestly just as comforting as it was mysterious. And I couldn’t shake the feeling that she was some kind of tether from me to the Sons, which brought me back to my original train of thought.
If I had been born into an average, everyday girl’s life, maybe the Sons and I could have had a chance. But our circumstances made it so that we could never happen.
Those three men were always nearby to listen, cheer me up, and, of course, physically protect me, but that was as far as it could go. Grudge was lucky that Nathan only saw him hug me. If he’d done anything else, even a kiss on the cheek, I just knew Sevier officials would throw them in jail at the first chance. Even just a hug was skirting a dangerous line.
