Page 189 of The Scandal You Started
Dominic glanced over his shoulder and caught the impressed glint behind his good friend’s spectacles. “Very well said, Norland,” Flyn said, wrapping an arm around his wife and child.
After smiling at his friend, he faced his brother again. “I only ask that you hurry,” he said. “Miss Faez’s uncle wrote to me and informed me that she intends to board a ship to Jahandar at the end of May. If I do not reach her before then, I may lose her forever. But I must see you settled before I can leave.”
Art’s shoulders spread as his expression grew serious, but it was Mother Penny’s voice that filled the room. “Right.” She tipped her chin up, appearing as strong and as regal as a queen. “It seems we have two women to court. Urgently.”
Chapter 55
Rayna
26 February 877 PR
“There’s been a slight change in who’s coming with who,” George announced as he thumped hurriedly down the stairs of their house.
Rayna emptied the packet of crisps into a white bowl and pushed it closer to the other bowls of snacks scattered around the kitchen counter. She lifted her gaze to her adopted brother as he plodded through their open-plan living area and stopped by the dining table where Benedict was laying out the selection of board games he’d brought with him.
The three of them were hosting a games night for their friends as they hadn’t really seen each other over the Peace Celebrations, having spent the international event with their receptive families as usual instead.
“River had to grab something from the lab,” George said, “so Erin and Jake are on their way to pick up Kelly, which means it’s gonna take them a bit longer to get here.”
“And it took you half an hour to find that out?” Rayna said in a dead tone, dumping the empty pack in a bin tucked against the end of the counter.
Benedict grunted, while George grimaced sheepishly. “Sorry, I got distracted.”
Rayna rolled her eyes and grabbed a cheesy breadstick from the bowl of snacks, popping it into her mouth as she sauntered to the table. But before she could ask which game they were going to vote to start the night with, the ring of the doorbell echoed from the front of the house.
“Is that the food?” Benedict asked, stretching his neck as if he could see past the curtains drawn over the windows that overlooked the street.
“No, I scheduled the delivery for after seven,” Rayna said.
Being the closest to the glass-panelled doors that separated the entrance hallway from the rest of the downstairs, George headed towards them. “It’s probably River,” he said.
He moved out of view, then the clunk of the door being pulled open filtered through. Only to be followed by absolute silence rather than the sound of George greeting someone.
Rayna glanced at Benedict just as he looked at her, both of them frowning in confusion. But faint footsteps had them gazing back towards the doors.
George came through, his face pale and eyes round like he’d seen a ghost. “Rayna…there’s someone here to see you.”
Rayna’s heart slipped a little in her chest, her lips parting to ask who. But her voice vanished when she saw a bouquet of red roses held by familiar, tanned hands. Long, muscular legs clad in loose, dark grey jeans, striding with a confident swagger. A sturdy torso wrapped in a thin cream sweater, and thick arms tucked neatly into a brown leather jacket.
Broad shoulders. An angular jaw, cleanly shaven but always shadowed. A dent in the chin, firm lips, an aristocratic nose, straight brows, a head of luscious dark brown hair…
Yellow eyes,somewhere between the colour of honey and gold. Ringed in amber. Fanned in wisps of black. Expressive to a fault. A gateway to his heart.
The heart she’d broken.Belonging to the man who had stolen hers and left her bleeding without it.
Rayna’s body swayed, the back of her thighs meeting the edge of the table, as she sucked in a shaky breath.
Her mind was trying to convince her she was hallucinating, but the buzzing, burning sensation making her skin prickle was far too intense for him to be a figment of her imagination.
Then he edged forward, and his mouth curled. Small. Unsure. Hopeful.Yearning.
“Hello, my love,” Dominic rasped, his voice deep and thick with emotion.
Rayna spun away, choking on a quiet noise.
Five months and three weeks.
She hadn’t seen him, hadn’t heard his voice in nearly six months, regretting how she’d let him go day after day, missing him to the point of feeling like her heart would stop.
