Lucius (Acquisition Series #4) - Celia Aaron Page 0,64

some time for her to really warm up.”

“No. She’s actually been fine.” She takes a deep, shuddering breath and lets it out. “It’s just, I never had that. A family. Not really. My mom raised me to marry me off to someone in the society. My dad—I barely even saw him. He was always at the office, or playing golf, or doing anything other than being around his children. Most of the time, I was alone. The only one I ever had was …”

“Red.” I sigh. “I’m sorry, Evie.”

“You said you’d never apologize.” She looks up at me, her eyes wet with tears.

“I’ll do whatever you want as long as you stop crying.” I wipe her cheeks again.

“I don’t know. It just sort of hit me when I saw how tightknit all of you are. No wonder Sin was so angry at you for being with me. He’s scared for his family.” She laughs a little. “I never expected Sinclair Vinemont to be afraid of anything. But he is, because he loves everyone in this house, including you.”

“Oh, darlin’.” I kiss her forehead. “How many times do I have to tell you that I am extremely lovable?”

She laughs again, and I realize I love the sound of it. I’m a complete sap for this woman. Sin was right.

“Now, can we get back to dinner? If we don’t eat, Stella might demonstrate her crossbow mastery on us.”

“One more thing.” She gestures toward the door.

“What’s that?” I follow her out, down the hall, and out to the car.

She reaches behind her seat and pulls out the damaged iPad. “Here.”

I try not to crow about winning her trust. “I didn’t realize it was so bad off. I don’t even know if my computer guys can save it.” I take it from her. “You were planning this all along?”

“I decided I want your family to trust me more than I want an insurance policy, and I want to find the people who are trying to destroy all of us.”

“If we can get that list, we’ll take their legs out from under them.” I walk her up the steps. The front curtains twitch, and I’m certain Sin and Stella just saw what happened.

“I’m scared.” She shakes out her hands. “What if they all still hate me?”

“Sin’s hated me for years, but he still keeps me around.” I lean close to her ear. “It’s because he’s jealous of my good looks and big—”

She smacks my chest and laughs. “You aren’t fooling me at all. Even though you two fight hard, you love harder.”

“It’s a good thing I love you, then.” I kiss her forehead.

She looks up at me. “I’m not alone anymore, am I?” she whispers.

“Never again.” I kiss her, sealing that promise with all my heart.

29

Evie

Linton rubs his eyes. “Two weeks ago, we were going to pare Magnolia down to its basic building blocks with a hostile takeover, one that would make the Vinemonts our enemies for life. But, let me get this straight, now we’re going to work with the Vinemonts?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to reconvene the board?”

“Yes.” I flip through the prospectus I’ve been working on for days and nights on end. It’s an even more comprehensive vision for Magnolia than my original sales pitch.

“Will you tell me what’s going on?” He sounds tired. “What part of your plan is this? You’re playing them, I get it. But what’s the endgame?”

“I’m not playing anyone. This plan—” I tap the prospectus. “Is going to put Magnolia Sugar back on top. From supplying large hotel chains and restaurants all the way to bags of sugar sitting on store shelves, we can streamline this company and get so much more from the market.”

“I’m lost.”

“I’m not trying to ruin anyone.” I finally look at him. “Not anymore.”

“First you dye your hair red—”

“It’s my natural color.”

“Okay, well, it’s a change. Then you change this. I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on. Why the sudden flip?”

Lucius, Sin, and Stella walk into the office, each of them striking in their own way. Stella’s hair is red like mine, but also not like mine at all. I’m a strawberry blonde, but she’s got dark red locks and bright green eyes. Beautiful and fierce. Sin is the same tall, glowering wall I’ve always known. And Lucius—he makes my knees go weak when he turns to give me his signature half smile. No wonder my teen self was beyond obsessed with him. My adult