I lowered myself into my chair with shaky legs. There was not enough espresso in the world to bolster me for whatever Luke’s mom had to say.
Damiana shifted her stance enough to face me and cleared her throat. “Last night, my behavior towards you was appalling. It is never our intent to make any of our guests uncomfortable in any way. I apologize.” Sunlight glittered off the ruby secured around her neck as she tipped her head with the smallest of gestures.
Her apology caught me a little off guard, but my Southern upbringing saved the day. “Thank you, Mrs. de Rossi. And I apologize for surprising you in front of your guests.”
Luke reached out to grasp my hand in his, squeezing it under the table. We had talked a little the night before about our missteps that contributed to the situation. At least now, his mother could see I wasn’t completely without manners.
Damiana gasped a little in surprise, but then quickly recovered. “I will admit, finding out about your true nature has complicated things. But I accept your apology and recognize you did not mean to cause any harm.”
My nerves calmed down only the slightest of smidges, but I appreciated the first civil words with my future mother-in-law. With a little more awareness, I realized I must look a mess in my own clothes compared to her fashionable outfit.
“Ruby Mae, perhaps now would be a good time for me to retrieve what I lent you yesterday,” Lady Eveline said, her eyebrows raising with double meaning.
I scooted the chair back and sprang out of it with eagerness. “Yes, of course.”
Once inside, I hustled over to pick up the diamond earrings. Lady Eveline tugged on my arm to usher me further away from the open door to the terrace. Once inside, she spoke with purpose.
“It took a great amount of my influence to convince Damiana to see reason when it comes to your presence,” she said in a low voice. “However, word has spread amongst the staff about your little sojourn outside of your room last night.”
“What are they saying?” I asked, worried that my plans to figure out Isabella’s death might come to a very abrupt end.
Lady Eveline shook her head. “Nothing more than how it was an inconvenience of their time to find you.” She scrutinized my reaction. “However, I suspect there was more to it than becoming lost inside this place.”
I bit my lip, contemplating how much to reveal. “Let’s just say that there are some things I’d like to look into, and if I succeed, it might bring about a lot of healing for Luke’s entire family.” I held back my concern that finding out more about Isabella’s death could also do more damage than good.
Lady Eveline nodded in resignation. “You remind me a lot of Charli, so I will only say this. You must take great care not to give Damiana or Lorenzo any ammunition. You are already on the losing side of the battle.”
I leaned on the dresser for support, a sudden wave of exhaustion and worry hitting me. “I wish you could stay.”
“Based on what I witnessed outside, you will do just fine on your own.” The vampire lady slipped the earrings into her pocket as if they weren’t made of precious stones. “I wish you all the luck in the world.”
I thanked Lady Eveline as we returned outside to find Luke arguing with his mother. The temporary progress of peace I thought we had made was being obliterated with their loud voices.
“Enough!” Luke yelled, pacing away from the table. “Why can’t you accept that I will not be parted from Ruby Mae. If you want a relationship with me, then you will need to forge one with her.”
As much as I wanted to rush to my fiancé’s side to comfort him, I knew this moment with his mother was a make-it-or-break-it one. With clenched fists, I stood my ground.
“Mrs. de Rossi, I realize that you have been deprived of your son’s presence for a long time,” I began.
“Too long,” she agreed, her control slipping and her voice quavering with sadness.
“And that my accompanying him here has upset you,” I continued. “But if you were willing to try to get to know both of us, then I think it would go a long way to making things better.”
Luke’s mother sneered at me. “Who are you to imply that I do not know my own son?”
Ooh, how a cornered dog will bite. Her reaction clued me in to her own insecurities, so I risked poking her a little. “You know who he was, but you do not know the man he is now. The life that he’s lived, the choices he has made…you’ve been missing that.”
She sniffed. “I’ve had my ways of hearing bits and pieces.”
“But you don’t know him. Who he is, and why in the world he would choose me out of all people,” I added, goading her curiosity.
Damiana’s eyebrow lifted in disdain. “Now, that is something I would like to know more about.” Her expensive shoes clicked on the terrace as she maneuvered to be able to see Luke and me at the same time. “Perhaps you have a point.”
Luke rejoined us. “Thank you, Mother.”
“Do not thank me yet,” she said, doing her best to keep the upper hand. “I accept that we do need to make efforts to listen more to each other. However, I cannot reconcile your attachment to a witch. You know what happened with your sister.”
“I know that you and Father have blamed me for her demise for all this time. And I’ve carried the burden of that guilt with me ever since. But then I met Ruby.” He held out his arm, waiting for me to join him. The second I did, he wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “And I understood for the first time what my sister may have been feeling. How unfair we were to treat her
