Page 16 of Royal Bastard

7

Henry

Evie was beautiful, sexy, and everything I hadn’t known I’d wanted in my life-companion, I mused, as I drove us through the darkness of the city. We laughed together, made love together, and she could hold her own on very deep conversations in a variety of topics without batting an eye. I knew she thought she wasn’t very smart, but she really was. That was another part of her attraction: smart, beautiful and sexy as fuck.

She also knew how to make me smile. She liked to hide away from the world, and I knew she’d been happy to be a homemaker and a wife, but now she could fly. I wanted to see her come out of her shell a little more. I knew she had her worries, mainly about her children, and that there was a lot at stake for her, but she needed to live too. She needed good experiences to outweigh the many bad ones she’d had.

I pulled into the parking area of my building without a word. She was so nervous I knew she wouldn’t want to chat. She didn’t have to worry too much; my building was all about privacy. The parking garage was a private area and I knew there wasn’t a soul to see us. I guided her to the elevator and I could feel how tense she was when my palm rested at the small of her back. I’d soon have her at ease as I prepared a meal for both of us. I just wanted to have her in my arms for one night, a normal night for a new couple that included dinner and wine, both of which I had in my apartment.

The apartment was mine, part of the arrangement with my father, although I hadn’t wanted to take it. It was a penthouse apartment but decorated to my tastes which didn’t necessarily suit the cold appearance of the exterior. I preferred natural woods and warm colors of bronze and gold. All the cold glass and steel clashed with my taste, but it was home.

The door opened to my apartment and I guided her in, and saw her expression was surprised. I think she expected something like my office, a place that spoke of wealth and power. This was my home though, and here I relaxed. Houseplants thrived near windows and on tables, and a few trees grew in pots on the wide patio outside of the living room doors. I needed quiet and the things that soothed me when I came home from work, so I’d turned it into my haven. Now Evie was going to be a part of that haven.

I’d had plans when I finished law school. Plans to travel the world, plans to see the lights in Paris and the Milky Way in the darkest part of an Arizona desert, but that part hadn’t happened yet. I hoped to share those experiences with Evie one day. Perhaps we could take her daughters with us. Thoughts scurried through my head as she wandered through the apartment to take it all in.

“It’s really a nice place, Henry. I really like it,” she said as she came back in from the bedroom down the hall and to the right. It wasn’t large, apartments usually weren’t in the city, but it was enough for me.

“Thanks. I still think I’d be happier in a cottage in the country, but it’s mine.” I didn’t explain, hadn’t ever explained, anything about my father and didn’t plan to. I never saw him and didn’t want to, so I’d learned to forget about him a long time ago. Sometimes a letter would pop up, a notification about something, but most of the time I didn’t even read those. He wasn’t a part of my life and I didn’t want him to be after so long.

“Shall we order food?” she asked, her hands hidden in the arms of her jacket. I’d learned she preferred sleeves that covered her hands because they kept her fingers warm. I thought she still liked to hide. I didn’t try to change her clothing choices, she’d change them if she wanted to, and as it was, I liked the quirks of her taste.

She really had changed my world. I’d gone from a confirmed bachelor to a man who now considered the future with a partner. We now only had about five more weeks before she would be in a new placement, and the future was on my mind. In such a short time she’d become vital to me. I wasn’t surprised when I remembered how much she’d affected me in the beginning.

Evie had been a firecracker that hadn’t been lit yet when she walked into my office. I’m happy it was me that set her off. Her ex might have tried to, but he hadn’t succeeded. I know she had a lot of worries and wanted to get her children back, but I planned to help her with it and I knew we can win.

“I’m going to make dinner for us, my dear.” I said in answer to her question. I’d stood there like an idiot until her face changed, concerned, but it cleared when I headed towards the kitchen. “I don’t eat out if I can help it, I prefer to know what I’m about to eat.”

“That sounds very obsessive of you.” I heard the teasing note in her voice and took the comment for what it was.

“You never know! I’ve read about what restaurant employees do to food when their customers tick them off.”

“I can’t imagine doing any of that, it’s horrible!” She settled on one of the barstools around an island in the kitchen as I went to the fridge and took out a few items to make a mushroom alfredo.

“I doubt it really happens, I just like to know that the ingredients are fresh, more than anything. I hate all of this processed food we eat now.”

“I always cooked for the girls.” Her voice went far away, to memories of times long gone now.

“You will again, I’ve already got an attorney in mind, and he’ll shred that ex of yours. I told you not to worry.” I gave her a chiding look before I went to the sink to wash the mushrooms and prepare the rest of the ingredients.

“That’s really kind of you, Henry. I’m, um, grateful, but you don’t have to do that. I’ve been saving…”

“I know you have, but I want to be sure you get what you want, Evie, and you want your girls back. I’m not saying your choice or your actions wouldn’t do that, but I know without a doubt that my guy can get you what you want. Why would you take that chance?” I paused in my preparations to look up at her.

“I guess you’re right.” I knew she didn’t like to admit defeat, but I knew this was right. “I’d rather know I could get them back than be terrified I might not.”

“Exactly. So let me deal with the fees and the arrangements, and you do what you need to do, which is focus on the next step in your program. Find a career that makes you happy, gives you the time you need to spend with your daughters, and me too.” I gave her a wink and she started to relax at last.

“You’re so funny,” she protested, but I knew she was happy.

I opened a bottle of wine and gave a glass to her while the sauce and pasta cooked, and we chatted about the plans she had for the coming weekend.

“You could always go to the country with me…” I offered, leaving it open at the end.

“I’d love to, but I have a meeting to go to with my program guide.” She said it quickly, as though she was relieved to have an excuse. She was still frightened about our relationship then. I couldn’t blame her, but I think I’d be in more trouble than her.

I sipped at my own wine and plated up the food. I clicked on some music, an artist she’d suggested I should listen to and found I liked. We are in silence, both lost in our own thoughts.

We cleaned up after and went into the living room. We watched movies, a couple of comedies, and snuggled together until her eyes grew heavy and she put her head in my lap. It reminded me of how she’d sounded when I fucked her over my desk earlier that evening. The way she’d gasped was stuck in my memory, and my fingers traced her lips.