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Chapter34
Kylian
“Ihope this isn’t an inconvenient time.” Lawrence’s dark blue eyes linger on Nancy doing a thoroughly unneeded job scrubbing the floors. The overpowering stench of lemon and pine cleaner makes all our noses itch.
“Nothing that couldn’t wait.” Rune steps aside. He’s laying his Cajun accent on so thick, he sounds more like a country bumpkin than the CEO of a billion-dollar company. “Come on in.”
Lawrence’s top lip curls as he walks inside. His six-foot-tall height might not make looking down on six-four Rune possible, but that lip curl tells me everything I need to know about him, and then some. He thinks he’s better than Rune. Probably thinks he’s better than us all.
“Well…” Lawrence’s eyes make another slower, more thorough examination of the entryway. “I was in the area and thought I’d stop by to say I appreciate you coming to my little party.”
His gaze briefly settles on the pair of matching damask chairs. After a second, his gaze moves on. If he’s looking for any sign of cheap furnishings and poor quality, visible signs he can keep on thinking he’s better than us, he won’t find it. We might not wear designer everything like he does, but we appreciate good quality, and we don’t rub our wealth in a person’s face.
We spent years turning this mansion into something you’d find in the covers ofArchitectural Digest, but a cozy and comfortable home as well.
As he moves farther inside, I consider if Lawrence turning up like this is the best thing that could have happened. He’s a problem for Everleigh. Why not deal with him once and for all so we can concentrate our energy on convincing Everleigh to stay with us? With Lawrence dead and buried, what reason would she have to say no?
I grab the door handle, preparing to close it. Which is when I spot a pair of almost identical dark blue eyes set in an older face. Byron Wentworth.
Lawrence is here, and he didn’t come alone. Almost as if he expected trouble.
If I believe Everleigh—and I do—this is the man who bought her for Lawrence. This is the man who made her life so miserable she struggles to believe any alpha can make her life a happy one. Everleigh wouldn’t have held on to me so tight if she didn’t see some future with us. She wants to stay. I’m almost convinced of it, but she’s afraid.
Afraid to hope, to dream, or believe it won’t end badly.
Because of him.
“Ky?”
Rune’s voice snaps me back to the present. Byron Wentworth is still sitting in the back seat of Lawrence’s limo, a phone to his ear, staring at me. I smile at him and turn inside.
“Did your father not want to come in?” I ask Lawrence.
So we can deal with him too.
Lawrence pauses for a beat. I can almost hear his brain whirling away as he tries to come up with a plausible reason other than the fact he doesn’t trust us.
“Business.” Lawrence smiles. “You know how it is?”
I return his fake smile with one of my own, pushing the front door closed. He suspects Everleigh might be here, doesn’t have enough proof to confirm it, and is on a fishing expedition with Daddy to make sure he leaves our house in one piece.
“I do know how it is,” I agree.
“If you’ll follow me to somewhere a little more comfortable. We’re not the most social,” Rune continues in a thick Cajun accent, dialing it up another degree. He’s a caricature of himself at this point. “Don’ always know how to be at those kinds of parties, hence our hesitation in acceptin’ your invitation.”
Lawrence’s right eyelid twitches, and I mentally shake my head. Fucking hell, Rune. This must be Lawrence’s idea of a nightmare.
Lawrence clears his throat. “Well…”
And then he notices the painting hanging over the formal living area Rune is leading him toward. “Is that…”
His mouth keeps working, but no more sound emerges.
Rune glances at the painting and shrugs. “Looked pretty.”
“It’s a Renoir.” Lawrence sounds like he’s got something stuck in his throat. “At auction, those go for millions. Youdoknow what a Renoir is, don’t you?”
Rune shrugs. “Like I said. Looked pretty. Gather he’s someone famous?” He sounds exactly like the sort of backward, ignorant country bumpkin he’s determined to make Lawrence believe.
