“I apologize, Alpha,” he said to Frankie. “I was delayed on my way here.”
Delayed? He should have arrived yesterday. “I’m glad you’re back,” Adrianna said, giving him a warm smile.
“Yes, so am I,” Frankie said. “Darius, I wanted to thank you personally for saving my daughter’s life. I owe you a debt I can never repay.”
His jaw tightened. “It was my duty, Alpha, to protect you and yours.”
“I’ve already spoken with your uncle and I assured him that you and your, er, family will be rewarded generously,” Frankie said.
“Thank you, Alpha.” He bowed his head. “If there is nothing else you need me for …”
“You may go, of course,” Frankie said.
Adrianna watched helplessly as Darius pivoted and left, not even giving her a second glance. She wanted to go after him and ask him how he was. Her wolf too, was elated at the sight of him, and urged her to go after him. But she knew she couldn’t be rude to their guest. Besides, she had already decided to tell Frankie about Darius, as it would be better coming from her and not Julianna. But she couldn’t exactly do that in front of Alesso.
“So, Adrianna, what do you say?”
“Huh?”
Frankie raised a brow at her. “Dinner?”
She felt a headache coming on. “I’m really tired, Mama.”
“But Alesso’s only here for tonight,” she said.
“If you’re tired, Adrianna, I understand,” Alesso said. “Disappointed, but I understand, given what you have gone through.”
Her mother gave her a pleading look, and Adrianna sighed. “Can you … give me a second please?” she asked. “I just … let me er, get refreshed and I’ll come down and let you know how I feel.”
“Excellent.” Frankie clapped her hands together. “We’ll be right here.”
Adrianna hoped neither Frankie or Alesso noticed how fast she dashed out of the living room. She knew what her mother was up to. After all, it was only days ago she tried to matchmake with William. She was going to put a stop to this, because she wasn’t interested in any of the men her mother presented. In fact, she was only interested in one, albeit one who was currently missing.
She took a deep breath and called her wolf, hoping it would pick up Darius’s scent. True enough, she got a hint of vanilla in the air and followed it outside to the back porch, where he was standing, his back to her.
“Darius!”
He turned around slowly. “Miss Anderson.”
She tried not to flinch at his formality. “I’m sorry, that was awkward.” She sucked in a breath. “She just kind of ambushed me, being here and bringing Alesso with her.”
“It’s fine.”
She knew it wasn’t fine. From the way his entire body stiffened and how his teeth ground together, he was not fine. “Darius. We should talk—”
“I must secure the perimeter.” He turned away from her. “You never know what could have happened in the last two days. Our defenses may have been breached.”
“Darius, don’t—”
He didn’t seem to hear her, and she watched, her heart sinking all the way to her stomach as he walked away from her. She pushed down the burning at her throat, swallowing the bitterness she felt. If only her mother hadn’t shown up with Alesso. She and Darius could have had some time alone, maybe to talk. Instead, now he was probably mad at her, thinking she wanted to go out with Alesso. She could only hope that he would talk to her.
“Adrianna? I thought you went upstairs to get refreshed?”
The sound of her mother’s voice made her jump. She took a deep breath and turned around. “Sorry. I was just … I need some fresh air.”
Frankie put an arm around her. “Are you still traumatized by what happened? Just take deep breaths, mimma. You don’t have to come tonight if you don’t want to.”
“I don’t?”
“Alesso’s going to be disappointed. Lucas, too.”
“Lucas?” she asked hopefully. “Lucas will be there?”
“Your father approved it, and we’re bringing extra security with us. Lucas was pretty insistent on coming, especially if you were going to be there.”
It had only been three days since she saw Lucas, but it seemed like it was forever. Maybe seeing her brother would help cheer her up. “Of course I’ll be there.”
“Wonderful!” Frankie exclaimed. “By the way, I have something special for you from Rome. It’s in your room. I hope you’ll wear it tonight, I want to see how it looks on you.”
“What is it?”
“It’s a surprise,” her mother said mysteriously.
She wasn’t sure she wanted any more of Frankie’s “surprises”, but she wasn’t in the mood to argue. “All right.”
“We’re going to head out now. I’ll tell Alesso the good news. Go ahead and get some rest, mimma, no need to say goodbye. We’ll see you soon enough.” Frankie gave her a kiss on the cheek then left her alone on the porch.
She shivered involuntarily when a cold gust of wind blew by. She rubbed her arms and turned to go back inside but stopped when she heard a long howl in the distance. Darius. Her own she-wolf cried out, her ears ringing with the duet of her inner animal and Darius’s, singing a doleful song. She wanted him to come back so they could talk. Her mind was a mess, and she would do anything to see him the way he was in the past two days when it was just the two of them. She wanted his arms around her, to reassure her that what they had was real.
She waited and waited, hoping he would come back. The sun had begun to set in the distance and sadness turned to despair, and somehow, as her mind went in circles, anger seeped in. How could he just leave her like that? Didn’t he think what they shared meant a lot to her? Had it meant anything to him?
Annoyed at herself for acting like some lovesick schoolgirl, she stormed inside, letting the door slam loudly behind her. Let him stew
