AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I’m nervous about what he’ll say. What he will yell, but more so, I’m scared that he read what is growing between Chester and me and I don’t know how he’ll react. Frederic hates Chester beyond words and nothing gets him more riled up than our neighbour.
I should have been more careful. I should have used excuses and texts to let my brother know about my whereabouts. Anything to keep him off my trail. But he caught us, and now I wait for the hate he will spew my way.
Frederic mumbles something incoherent, and I hold my breath, waiting for him to bust out of his skin. I’m too scared to turn my head to look at him. Too scared to move an inch and let him know I’m still here.
We turn onto our street, and relief starts to flood through me. A few more minutes, and I can escape this madness. I can escape my brother and lick my wounds, before replaying every minute I shared with Chester today.
I’ll dream of his hand on my cheek. His eyes burning into mine, and his scent washing over me.
Frederic stops the car in front of our house, but he doesn’t move to get out. Instead, he puts his wrists on the steering wheel and stares right in front of him. But I’ll not spend another minute in this car than I have to. I reach out to open my car door, but that’s when he finally speaks.
“Why was Boyd there?” I still with my hand on the door handle. Shit. Fucking shit. My heart pounds in my throat, and I start to panic. What now?
“He was there to have lunch with his friends,” I whisper honestly, but even I can hear the fear in my voice, and a man like Frederic sniffs it out when his prey is sitting next to him. He nods his head slowly, and I hope it’ll be enough to settle the questions he has in his mind.
“Why were you there?”
“To play tennis with Topper,” I answer before swallowing.
“Okay,” he clips out. I breathe out in relief and open the door, but once again, he stops me with his question.
“Why were you having lunch with them?” The question hits me hard, and my mind goes blank. Oh, God. I don’t know how to answer that. I’m not a great liar. I’m not trained like Frederic.
“I … Moreen invited Topper for lunch. They had to discuss a business proposal,” I lie through my teeth. I hold my breath with my hands shaking. I can’t move, and I wait for his response. But Frederic takes his time to think through my answer.
The seconds tick away, but they feel like minutes. My heart has hit the bottom of my stomach. I wait and wait. Frederic finally nods his head and, once again, relief surges through me like never before.
He bought it. I open the car door farther to finally escape this hell, but before I can step out, Frederic grabs my wrist, and I’m dragged back inside. His face is inches from mine, and my heart stops altogether.
This is it. He’s going to hit me.
My lips tremble, and I look down because I cannot stare into his dark, furious eyes or at the way his lip is pulled up, baring his teeth.
“You listen here, Evangeline.” He breathes in my face. “You stay the hell away from Chester and his buddies.”
“It was a coincidence, I swear,” I lie once more.
“Of course, it was,” Frederic says, but by the tone of his voice, I understand that he doesn’t believe me at all. “Why would you agree to have lunch with the man that robbed us of everything? Only a selfish person would do such a thing. But you’re not selfish. Are you, Evangeline?” I shake my head.
“I’m not,” I promise. Frederic smiles at me menacingly. He breathes in deeply and starts to pat my hair. A shiver runs over my spine, and I think I’m going to vomit.
“I know you’re not because you wouldn’t fraternise with the enemy. You wouldn’t dare to hang out with him after everything he has done to us and Mum. Especially Mum. Your focus is on saving our mother from living on the streets and upholding our father’s dream. That’s what you’re focused on, right?” I swallow before I frantically nod my head yes.
“Of course,” I whisper, and Frederic nods his head as well. Finally, he lets me go, and I slowly back away before turning around.
“Evangeline?” I quickly stop moving, keeping my one foot out of the car. “I’ll drag you by your hair to the altar if I have to.” I don’t let him add more to our conversation. I flee the car and run inside our house. Frederic’s threats echo through my mind, but there’s only one thought that dominates: I have to be more careful because nothing is stopping me from seeing my new friends or Chester.
Chapter Twenty-one
Evangeline
Iwalk down the stairs with dread pushing down my shoulders. These last two weeks have been horrible. Frederic’s words have been playing through my mind over and over again and today marks another day to add to my list of my most hated dates. Sadly, this year will be filled with them. I take in a deep breath, trying to suck in some much-needed energy and motivation.
I’m halfway down the stairs when voices echo softly through the hallway. I recognize Frederic’s loud and deep voice, but the other one is soft and belongs to a woman. No one is supposed to be here except for my brother, who is preparing to escort me to what will be a horrible first engagement party at Thomas Meyer’s house before the real lavish one takes place later this week.
I try to figure out who could be deep in conversation with my brother today and the voice sounds familiar, even though she talks barely above a whisper. I walk closer to the kitchen, where the sounds are coming from, to try and catch a glimpse.
“It’ll be fine,” Frederic says, the tone of his voice already filled with frustration.
