Bruce shook his head and, smiling, started tying his shirt ties again.
- No, Kayna, you're not disturbing anything. - he said without taking his eyes off me. - We were just talking and my future wife was just saying she needs a nice cold shower before dinner.
I shook my head from side to side, squinting my eyes. Bruce laughed even more discreetly and turned to face Kayna, who looked at us without understanding anything.
- Very funny, Mr. Duke! - I retracted, which made Bruce laugh.
- Take good care of her, Kayna! - he asked as he passed the girl, who smiled at Bruce settling down. - I'll see you later! Now, I need to freshen up a bit, because I've been messing with fire and almost burned myself.
Smile about his words. Kayna kept staring at me. She was waiting for my orders to start helping me. I hadn't had a maid for that in a while, and to be honest, I didn't like it very much. Luckily, my old nanny was a lady who treated me like a daughter and was very comfortable talking to her. It was night when I came down to join the others for dinner. Just imagining sitting next to Bruce made me feel the blood boil.
- Not that one! - I whispered when I saw that Bruce was already at the table with Adelaide sitting next to him with the face of a few friends.
I prayed I wouldn't see Adelaide at dinner after what Bruce had told me. She looked at me from the table and, so that only I could see, passed her hand on one of Bruce's generous thighs. Obviously, she gave the excuse that she didn't mean to, but from the top of the staircase where I was, it was very clear that she didn't mean it.
- Let the games begin! - I whispered with a smile and, breathing deeply, I went down to the salon.
Alistair showed up right next to my sister. She was wearing a beautiful red dress and her hair was stuck in a long braid. She loved to braid them. I joined everyone and sat next to Aideen in front of Bruce.
- Annabel, you shouldn't be sitting next to me, you should be sitting next to Bruce. - said Aideen when she realized Adelaide's look at me. - Adelaide, would you mind switching places with Annabel?
Snorting, Adelaide got up and switched places with me. Bruce smiled as he helped me sit down.
- Good night, beautiful lady! - he whispered kissing my hand.
- Good night, gallant sir! - I returned it by bowing.
Alistair had a laugh.
- They'll be worse than us! - Alistair said kissing Aideen's hand.
Adelaide turned her eyes to look disgusting, as did Ector, who went further, and took an expression of indignation at the scene. There was no reason to hide anything from anyone, since we were happy and had not done anything wrong.
- I love the dress, my sister! - Aideen said. - It matches the color of your eyes. You should use these shades more often, instead of those yellow shades that make you so pale.
She was dressed in a turquoise dress she'd won over Bruce.
- Thank you, Aideen! It was a gift from Bruce when we were trapped in that village.
- You have great taste, Bruce! - said Aideen smiling.
- Yeah, it is! - said Alistair. - I never thought I knew how to choose dresses.
- I had the help of Abigail, a friend of Annabel's. She's the one who picked them, I just paid for them.
- I believe this story! - Alistair fired.
Everyone at the table laughed except Adelaide, who snorted even more with the gentle play of Alistair and Aideen.
Dinner went smoothly, although Adelaide made it a point, from time to time, to bump into Bruce under the table or say something to confront me. I had decided that night that I would not downgrade myself to her level and, using one of the tactics my mother had taught me, I just smiled and ignored it. It was a very difficult task, but I realized that she became increasingly angry when I ignored her. That brought me more satisfaction than threatening her with a knife or squirming. Bruce saw what I was doing and smiled with the corner of his mouth, showing that he approved of my attitude. You could see that he was already irritated by Adelaide bumping into him or touching him whenever possible. That was not a good sign, for Bruce was as unpleasant as I was when he was angry.
- Adelaide, I would like to make it very clear that if your hand touches any part of my body again, I swear I will rip it off!
They all looked at Adelaide who, at the height of his irritation, rose from the table. She was red, but not angry, but ashamed that Bruce had exposed her.
- Dinner's over for me! You're gonna pay me for that more humiliation! - she said in a cold voice. - They both will!
The last words were spoken with disdain, but they were addressed to me. I felt I should keep my eyes open until she left. That night, after dinner, everyone decided to retire. Bruce accompanied me to the door of my room and, with much effort, left me with just one kiss. I was frustrated because he said he would only touch me again after we were married.
- Damn it! -
