Page 114 of Vows In Corruption

“Excuse you. Who was able to get five pucks past you yesterday?” Henry throws out, narrowing his eyes at the fifteen year old.

Grayson scoffs. “You were only able to do that because I let you.”

“Let me.” Henry lets out a snort. “We’ll see about that.”

The two of them argue as the rest of us go back to finishing our breakfast.

As the two girls and Drake are upstairs getting ready to leave, and Grayson heads to the game room, Henry and I stay behind in the dinning room to help the kitchen staff clean up.

It’s when I hand him a stack of plates that I notice that he is giving me a funny look.

“Is something on your mind?” I ask with a smile on my face, trying to hide the weird nervousness I feel at the moment.

“Just a memory that popped in my head.” He states, giving me a strained smile.

“And what memory would that be?”

Henry continues to clean up as he speaks. “One from a few months ago. Mr. Drake had parents day at school and he begged Mr. Lane to take him to work him instead of sending him off to class. He didn’t want the kids to ask questions as to why his father was there but his mother wasn’t. That day was such a contrast to what I witness earlier.”

“Did he go to school that day?” I ask, gripping the tray of food I have in my hands a little too hard.

“No. Mr. Lane let him have a day off and took him to a museum. The two of them had a whole afternoon learning about penguins.”

A smile forms on my face as I think about Bennett and Drake nerding out over arctic birds, but it quickly disappears when I think of the reason why they were at the museum anyway.

“Henry do you think that me going to the mother and son dance with him is wrong?”

His head snaps in my direction. “On the contrary. I think that it’s a really good idea for you to go. Mr. Drake could have done what he did all those months ago and ask not to go, but instead he asked for you to go with him. That right there is saying that even though you have only been in his life for a short period of time, he sees you as someone important.”

I ran through his words in my head. “In the long run, isn’t that a bad thing, though? Given that I’m only here for a year and a half more?”

I watch him as he runs through my questions. For a few seconds he just stands there as if he is trying to figure out the right thing to say.

“Mrs. Lane, I have a feeling that even though your arrangement with Mr. Lane is only for a specific set of time, you are going to be a very important figure in this household for years to come.

“What makes you say that?”

He gives me a shrug. “Decades of taking care of the people of this family. I know when someone important walks in through the door.”

His words have the hairs on the back of my neck standing up.

Important.

Henry, one of the most important people in this family is calling me important. Does that mean that there will be a chance that when the two years are up, I won’t walk out with a broken heart?

Because, all the Lanes have wedge themselves in there deep and I don’t think they will every be able to get out. Bennett most of all. Because I’ve fallen for my husband and there is no turning back.

“May I ask you a question, Mrs. Lane?” Henry lets out when the dinning room is close to being spotless.

A small smile spreads on my lips when I hear him call me Mrs. Lane. I’ve spent weeks asking him to call me Ella, but the man won’t budge.

“Sure.”

“How are Mr. Lane’s nightmares? He hasn’t mentioned anything in the last few weeks about having one and I wanted to ask.”

My eyebrows bunch up.

Nightmares? Bennett has nightmares?

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