Page 76 of The Heir
“Yeah, exactly. People can’t hide something that big.”
“Interesting. So, if I slept with Thor last night you two would be able to see it?”
Indiana smirked. “No doubt. It would be obvious!” After his firm claim, he broke into a fat grin. “That would have been funny though.”
“Why?” I said with my forehead puckered. “What would have been funny about me and Linea sleeping together?”
“You gotta admit that the idea of you two together is ironic,” Mason said.
I failed to see what was so apparently amusing to my cousin and friend, but Mason and Indiana were smiling as Mason explained:
“You two are complete opposites and we all know Linea isn’t your biggest fan.” His tone implied that he was understating her resentment to me.
Indiana hurried to add, “And vice versa.”
I was just about to tell them that they were wrong, but Linea smoothly changed the subject by asking Indiana and Mason how much they missed seeing their wives.
Watching the three of them interact I couldn’t stop thinking about what she said back in the Motherlands when she told me that I wasn’t on her top ten list of attractive Nmen.
Was Indiana or Mason?
The pull in my stomach made me look at her every few minutes as if I needed the connection. I wished Linea hadn’t left in the middle of the night and that we could have talked about what happened between us.
Now, my brain was like a dog chasing its own tail with the way all my thoughts were running in circles without finding any answers.
To me, what had happened between us was about more than physical desire. What I wouldn’t give to be able to read her mind! Linea hadn’t declared her undying love for me or accepted my proposal. It made me nervous to think that I could be a plaything for her.
What if this was her way of getting back at me for being a jerk to her in the past?
No, she’s too kind to do something as cruel as playing with my emotions and breaking my heart.
Doubt tore at me and made me determined to talk things through with her once we got back to the Northlands.
First, we dropped off Indiana close to his home on Victoria’s Island and then we went back to the Gray Mansion, where Belle came running with baby Violetta to greet Mason.
I was helping Linea with her luggage when my mom came walking toward us.
“It’s good to see you returned in good health.” She kissed my cheek and hugged me tight. “Freya already messaged us to inform us that she chose to stay. She warned Dad not to take it out on you.”
“I’m happy to hear it.”
With her hands clasped in front of her, my mom smiled. “He still wants to see you in his office, immediately.”
Conflicted, I looked at Linea but as my mom hugged her, Linea’s attention moved to answering questions about her experience in France.
“Was it as spectacular as you had hoped?”
“Yes, it was magical. The colors are so rich, and the architecture and fashion were so different from what I know from here and the Motherlands.”
Thinking I could get away with a quick meeting with my father, I jogged across the courtyard, up the stairs to the grand entrance, through the foyer and down the hallway to his office.
“Ah, good. You made it back in one piece.” He got up to give me a manly hug. “What is this big surprise that Freya hinted at in her message? Your mom and I are dying to know.”
“Freya wrote you that I had a surprise?”
“Yes. She mentioned that you did a marvelous job at negotiating and that the French were particularly difficult this year.”
“That’s right.” I sat down in a chair opposite my father, who took his usual seat.
