Page 62 of His Haunted Desire

“Okay…”

I almost saysir. We share a secret smile as he realizes.

Once I’ve told the guards we want some lunch, I return to the table.

“I’m sorry for snapping,” Raiden says. “This has all been… a lot. An innocent man is dead. My girlfriend’s life threatened.”

He takes my hand warmly and looks at me with emotion. It’s part of the act, I assure myself. Any feelings that flutter inside me are incidental, no big deal.

This has an expiration date–a few hours.

“I understand how difficult it must be for you,” Evangeline says. She smiles warmly at us. “At the very least, you’re happy. You’ve found someone. That means something.”

“Dare I ask if it means our deal will be honored?” Raiden says with an eyebrow raised.

Evangeline nods. “You’ve been in the will since the beginning.”

“What–really?”

“Of course,” Evangeline says. “You’re a Blackwell and my grandson. I wouldn’t cut you out.”

“Sebastian told me he persuaded you to actually take me out.”

“He shouldn’t have said that,” she says. “It’s not true.”

“He’s always resented me,” Raiden mutters. “Always wanted to be part of the family. Once, he told me he was ‘the runt of the litter’, as if hewaspart of the family.”

“Sebastian is a complicated person,” Evangeline says.

“I still don’t know why you hired him. Why do you keep him so close?”

Evangeline turns away. “I don’t like that suspicion in your voice, Raiden.”

“A man has been killed. A knife meant for me, most likely. It’s natural for me to consider the mysterious man who’s always been resentful of me.”

“First,” Evangeline says, “we don’t know for sure if the knife was meant for you. Second, Sebastian simply wouldn’t do that. I know him better than anyone. You’re completely wasting your time if you’re even considering him.”

I squeeze Raiden’s hand, giving him a look.Calm down.

He smiles gratefully at me, but he can’t shake the tension that touches every part of him.

“My girlfriend has got a point. I need to chill.”

Evangeline tilts her head at me. “Did you speak, dear?”

“No,” Raiden says. “But she’s got a way of looking at me so that no words are required.”

“I believe we call that love,” Evangeline says.

“Whoa.” I let go of Raiden’s hands. “I wouldn’t…”

Go that far, I almost say.

Then I remember the deal.

I need that cash.

Murder or no murder, emotional complications aside, my grandmother needs that fifty thousand.