Page 45 of Eternal

Her eyes are lit up like a kid on Christmas. She nods, and a mischievous grin is on her face. She can spend a million dollars, and I wouldn’t even bat an eye. She deserves everything and anything.

I put my hand on one of the many boxes, not allowing her to lift them. She doesn’t need to hurt herself.

“Leave it. I’ll have someone bring them in. What did you buy anyway?” I ask, motioning at the security guard to carry these in. I mumble to him about where to leave them as we cross the threshold of our house.

“Books, records, movies, decorations. I wanted to breathe life into the house, fill it in with more character.” Freya’s voice trails off as she finishes her sentence.

She has changed a lot since we moved here. She’s become meeker around me, almost desperate for my attention. It was cruel of me to drop her off in a foreign place and not speak with her. Perhaps I can get closer, but only when I find Tristan. Until then, my focus has to be on that.

Chapter twenty

Freya

Thelibraryjutsoutfrom the rest of the house and is half glass, with paneled glass lining the wall, even replacing some of the ceiling. My long, white oak desk is on one side of the room, and the other has an armchair with an ottoman at the end nestled amongst my bookshelves. Along the glass wall is a shorter shelf that stretches with a record player and a small collection of records.

It’s my favorite room in the house.

“I left it empty intentionally. I wanted you to have a little bit of paradise. I have one bookcase that’s mine for my collection, but the rest is yours.” Soren gestures to the shelving unit lined neatly with books. He looks down at me as I stand in the library, intimidated by the stack of boxes.

Soren separates them and takes a step back as I open them. He sits at the desk, watching as I breathe life into the room. I make my way around and still haveplentyof room to fill with more books. I think three large shelving units filled with books are fine for now. I stand back admiring my work when there’s a knock at the front door.

Soren sits up, immediately on alert. His hands gripping the arms of the chair when there’s another knock on the door—more vigorous this time. Soren stands and makes his way to the door, he holds his arm back, signaling for me to wait, and I do, but I can’t help but wonder who would be knocking so much.

With the third knock, Soren opens the door. I peek around the corner when I see Abe’s arm, and I go barreling toward Serena as she stands in shock, pushing past Soren. We whisper to each other, saying we’ve missed each other when Abe moves to hug us as well.

“Don’t touch her,” Soren says through gritted teeth.

Abe doesn’t approach me, keeping his feet planted where he is, staring down Soren. Serena moves to Abe in an attempt to calm him down. Soren uses the opportunity to pull me back to him, hiding me behind him as though we are greeting some bad guys.

“Well, I just wanted to come to make sure you were okay. I just had to know you weren’t going through another Tristan situation.”

Soren visibly stiffens and stands taller at the mention of Tristan. I can see a flash of intimidation cross Serena’s face as she takes in how much taller he is than her.

She steps closer to him and almost whispers, “Because if I find out you have laid a single finger on her, Soren, I’ll come back and cut your cock off and make you fucking choke on it.”

He stares at her for a moment before breaking out into a chuckle. He agrees, relenting, and inviting them in. Soren opens the door further, revealing our home to the couple.

Serena’s jaw drops as she takes everything in.

“Freya, this home is something out of your dreams,” She says breathily.

“Yeah, kinda crazy, huh?” I shrug, unsure of what to say.

Soren claims he bought the house before he found out we were to be wed, but the place has several elements that are straight from my Pinterest board, like my library. But I don’t want to focus on that. My little sister is here in my home. I don’t know how to act. I stand awkwardly in the living room with my hands twisted in front of me.

Soren puts himself between me and the others. He keeps a close eye on me the whole time while also keeping an eye on them. It’s like he’s calculating to ensure Abe doesn’t make a move he doesn’t like.

Luci appears from the kitchen. “Mr. Astor, will the guests be staying for dinner?”

“Yes. Freya’s sister and…. the bodyguard are in town,” Soren responds cooly, not even looking at her.

Abe scowls at the name he's been given.

I turned my attention to Serena. “What did you do to the guard outside?” I ask.

Soren looks back to me, then to them, wanting to know the same answer.

“He’s not dead. He’s just asleep,” Abe answers casually.

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