Styx smiled. “’Tis a shame it is. Such forgetful staff ye seem to ha’, Seth.”
Seth snorted. “Wipe the evidence off your mouth, Breed, before lying to me about dessert.”
Styx did so with amazing panache. He winked at Dawn. “I may ha’ saved yours,” he admitted. “But
’twas a hard decision to be makin’.”
The chocolate fiend. She shook her head as he left the room again.
“Lunch.” Hunger was definitely driving Seth this afternoon, and not just a hunger for her body. “Board meetings make me hungry.”
And panic killed her appetite. Still she moved to the small table at the other side of the room with him and took her plates. Only one dessert was present. Chocolate truffle cake, Styx’s favorite of course, and wine.
She ate, but the feeling only grew. She tried to joke, to tease, to allow Seth to soothe that ragged feeling of impending doom, but it didn’t totally abate.
Later, as they dressed for the party, she flirted and she tried to seduce. She almost succeeded before Seth drew back and stared at her soberly. “We have to face whatever’s coming,” he told her then.
“Hiding from it won’t save us, Dawn. It only makes the fear worse.”
She stood there in the expensive evening gown he’d bought her, with his jewels gracing her, his touch warming her, and Dawn found she was terrified. She found that, unconsciously, she was praying. God protect him.Because she knew that losing him would destroy her.
“We stay close together,” she whispered.
“Always,” he promised.
“We don’t leave the house.”
“We stay right inside, away from all opened doors and windows.” He crossed his heart before turning and moving to his dresser.
When he returned, he shocked her by going to his knees, taking her hand and sliding a ring on her finger.
“And you’ll marry me when this is over,” he told her.
The ring was obviously old, obviously horrendously expensive. The diamond wasn’t huge, but it was by far one of the clearest, most perfect specimens she had ever seen. Surrounding it were several dark, swirled tiger’s-eye stones, new insets.
“The ring was my mother’s, my grandmother’s, and my great-grandmother’s. Lawrence wives wear the diamond, always. But tradition stands that a new stone replaces those surrounding it with each successive bride. And I chose tiger’s eyes. Because they remind me of your eyes, your strength and your heritage. This ring has been waiting for you for nearly ten years. You’re my life, Dawn. Will you share it with me, since you own it?”
And she cried again. A tear slipped from her eye and her lips trembled. “Always,” she whispered. “Oh God, Seth, I’ll always love you.”
CHAPTER 23
That party was well under way when Seth and Dawn stepped into the ballroom. He led her across the floor to the small, raised dais, where the band had set up, and stepped up to the microphone as the Breeds assigned to his protection moved closer.
All eyes turned to them. The board members and their families had expected an announcement during the house party, but Dawn knew that this wasn’t the announcement they were expecting.
“Ladies and gentlemen. Friends.” His lips quirked as he looked out on the crowd. “I want to thank you all for being here, for your patience during the board meetings, and for once again filling Lawrence Island with your laughter and your presence.”
It seemed as though the whole room held its collective breath as Seth held Dawn’s hand and stared out at them.
Dawn watched the room as well. She could feel herself looking for something that she couldn’t put her finger on. A reason for the panic that tightened her stomach and her heart.
“I would like you to join me in celebrating the most momentous occasion in my life now,” he continued, his big body moving closer to hers as he stared out at the crowd. “Today, Miss Dawn Daniels has consented to be my wife.” He lifted her hand to display the ring she wore as Dawn felt her heart melt. His voice was rough, rasping. His eyes as they stared at her were cloudy and dark with emotion, his expression tight with it. She stared back at him, and despite that edge of waiting, of almost fear rising inside her, she smiled and accepted the kiss he placed against her lips. Who knew tough man Seth Lawrence could be so romantic. That he would have a stone reset in a family ring only months after meeting her. That he would buy soaps around the world so he could share the unique scents that reminded him of her, or that he would pick up silks, satins and lace in panties as delicate as a dream for her to wear.
And now he stood in front of his friends and closest business associates and claimed her as his heart. He didn’t see her as a Breed, he saw her merely as his woman, and that knowledge brought a lump to her throat and the betraying emotional tears to her eyes.
“To Seth and Dawn.” Craig Bartel lifted his glass in a toast as all the others followed.
“To Seth and Dawn,” they all called out while glasses were handed to her and Seth to toast the event as well.