Page 34

KLAUS

I told her to wear a fucking coat.

Not only did she ignore my advice but she’s also drawing the attention of eight men on my property. They were sent by a reputed agency, and I had background checks done on them, but that doesn’t change the fact that I want them gone .

However, I can’t blame them.

She shines like a star. Her laughter is infectious. Those eyes are impossible to look away from. And it really doesn’t help that she looks stunning in that dark green dress.

There’s a knock on my bedroom door.

“Come in,” I say.

Helena steps inside. I don’t even bother moving away from the window where I’m watching the nanny.

“Aren’t you going to come down for dinner?” Helena asks.

“I’m not hungry,” I say.

“You barely ate anything all day,” she says. “What’s going on, Klaus?”

I don’t know how to explain it.

Since the moment I decided to keep my distance from Emma, life feels like it’s been leached of all color. I’m existing inside a thundercloud. Everything is gray and gloomy.

Nothing feels worthwhile anymore.

I don’t want to eat. I don’t want to work. I don’t want to do anything.

“Do you feel ill?” Helena asks. “Maybe you should have a doctor look at the wounds.”

“It’s not that,” I say. “And besides, I applied Vera’s tincture.”

“Those herbal remedies can only do so much,” she says. “I know they have mild antibacterial properties, but if the cut is too deep, it can get infected, Klaus.”

She knows why I can’t see a doctor.Having a physical examination done means being touched by another person. And I can’t go through that without losing it.

That’s why I got in touch with Vera Reznikova in the first place. Because of the nature of my work, I had to be prepared to treat my own ailments.

“It’s just a few scratches,” I say.

“I saw you when you walked through that door,” she says. “Scratches don’t bleed like that.”

“I have it under control, Helena.”

“Just promise me you’ll have it looked at if you see any signs of infection.”

I take a deep breath and remind myself that she’s just concerned about me.

“I promise,” I say.

“Good.” She glances out of the window. “The kids are having the time of their lives.”

I follow her gaze to the scene below.

Emma really outdid herself with the party.

So far, there was a hay ride, a treasure hunt, and a break at a hot cocoa station. Right now, they’re sitting around a bonfire eating s’mores while Emma reads a spooky story. They’re living their best life.

“I can’t believe she pulled it all off in a single day,” Helena says. “The girl really is something.”

She really is , I think.

I can’t take my eyes off her. Even though I can’t hear what she’s saying, I’m spellbound by her expressive eyes and theatrical gestures.

“Are you going to tell me what’s going on between the two of you?” she asks.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I know she spent the night in your room.”

“What do you want me to say, Helena?” I sigh.

“Don’t give me that attitude,” Helena says. “I’m just a well-wisher. I think the two of you would make a lovely couple.”

“Helena, don’t.”

I can’t let myself even go there in my head.

As if she can feel me staring, Emma looks up at my window. She shouldn’t be able to see me through the tinted glass, but it feels like she’s looking right at me.

“She looks beautiful in that dress, doesn’t she?” Helena asks.

I want to bang my head against the window.

“Apart from torturing me, don’t you have anything else to do?” I ask.

“I know you’ve been hurt before, but don’t close your heart to love, Klaus,” Helena says. She raises her hand as if to pat my shoulder, but thinks better of it. “Join us for dinner if you change your mind.”

She leaves the room, but I stay where I am.

Carnal hunger claws at my insides.

I want to march down there and bring Emma back to my room to finish what we started last night.

I take deep breaths and remind myself that nothing good can come of this.

I see the way she looks at me. If we were to give in to this living, breathing attraction between us, there’s no knowing where the tides will take us.

I’m about to drag myself away from the window when I see one of the men approach Emma. He’s a young man close to her age. They talk for two minutes twenty-five seconds when he says something that makes her laugh.

Something dormant awakens inside me.

I have no power to stop it.

Before I can think about what I’m doing, I storm out of the room. My blood simmers inside my veins as I replay the memory in my head. All I know right now is that I can’t stand to see her with another man.

Jealousy has set my heart on fire. There’s nothing that can douse the flames now.

The chilly night air bites into my skin as I step outside. The echo of her laughter still rings in my ears. When I reach the area where they’re all gathered, each one of them looks my way.

James runs toward me in his T-Rex costume. He stops a few feet before me.

“You came,” he says. His cheeks are rosy from the fire.

“I did,” I reply. “Are you having a good time?”

“It’s the best night of my life,” he exclaims.

In this moment, I feel like a complete jackass. These kids deserve so much more than I can ever give them. Emma entered our lives only a few weeks ago, but she seems to know far more than I do about what these kids need.

“Is there any candy left for me?” I ask.

He nods excitedly. “There’s unlimited candy. Miss Turner said we can have as much as we want tonight.”

He takes me toward the hot chocolate station and makes a drink for me.

“Extra chocolate. Extra marshmallows. Extra whipped cream,” he says, handing it to me.

“Thank you, James.” I carefully take the drink from him.

“You’re welcome,” he says, looking up at me expectantly.

He wants me to taste it and tell him that it’s good. I can’t let him down, so I take a sip. Rich chocolate explodes on my tongue.

He giggles. “You have a whipped cream mustache.”

“It’s really good, James,” I say.

He looks pleased by my approval.

Warmth erupts across my back. I know without turning around that Emma is standing behind me.

I turn to look at her.

“Mr. Sinclair,” she breathes.

Does she know the effect her existence has on me? Just the sight of her breathing in front of me is enough for me to lose my mind.

“Miss Turner,” I say. “I need to have a word with you. In private.”

“Right now?” she asks, glancing behind her shoulder at the man she was talking to earlier. He has a strong, muscular physique. I wonder if she would let him do the things that I did to her last night.

“Yes, right now,” I grit out. “Helena can watch over the kids for the rest of the night.”

She glances behind her shoulder at the man again.

“Am I keeping you from something, Miss Turner?” I ask.

Her eyes widen. “No, I was just checking up on Rosalie. She’s had way too much sugar already, and I can’t have her sneaking more behind my back.”

Realization dawns on me as I look at the bonfire again. Rosalie is sitting right beside the man Emma was talking to earlier. She’s enraptured by one of the entertainers who’s in the middle of a clown act.

All the times I caught Emma looking behind her shoulder, her eyes weren’t searching for that man. She was looking at Rosalie.

“You just got here,” says a quiet voice.

James is looking at me with puppy dog eyes.

“Do you want me to stay for dinner?” I ask him.

He nods. “Yes. And stay for the magic show, too.”

“There’s a magic show?” I ask, looking at Emma.

“Yes, I kind of went all out,” she says, glancing down at her feet. “I hope that’s okay.”

Her sudden bashfulness hits me in the center of my chest.

“It’s more than okay.” I clear my throat. “You did a great job with everything.”

Her eyes fly up to mine. God help me, I’m going to lose myself in those eyes one day.

We head toward the dinner table. It’s been set up for the kids, Emma, and Helena.

But they add another chair for me. There’s a floral decoration in the center with candles around it.

There are also some spooky Halloween decorations in the form of plastic spiders on the table and cobwebs around the flower vase.

Rosalie refuses to sit at the table, claiming she’s not hungry.

“I can’t,” she says. “I just can’t.”

“Do you want me to remove the plastic spiders, Rosalie?” I ask her.

“I’m not scared of spi—” She squeals when I pick one of the buggers up. It starts moving in my hand, which makes Rosalie scream even harder.

“They’re motion-activated,” Emma says, pursing her lips together. “I didn’t think she would be afraid of the fake ones.”

James is giggling at the scene unfolding before him, having the time of his life as he bites into a chicken wing. With his clean hand, he picks up some of the spiders and hands them to me.

“Is that better?” I ask Rosalie.

She quietly slips into her seat. Emma’s eyes find mine over the table. She looks stunning in the candlelight. The golden glow falling on her skin makes her look like a goddess.

I have to tear my eyes away because we have an audience.

Helena’s eyes keep flicking between Emma and me. She looks way too pleased with the turn of events.

Needless to say, I don’t like it one bit.

Dinner is served. The kids regale me with stories of everything they’ve done tonight.

“Uncle, can I have my own horse?” Rosalie asks. “They make me very happy.”

Emma chokes on her spaghetti. Her eyes widen as she looks over at me.

“Rosalie, I don’t think—” she says.

“You can have a horse,” I say. “But you should know that having a pet is a lot of responsibility.”

“I promise I’ll take good care of it,” Rosalie says.

“Christmas is coming up,” I say. “If you’re a good girl until then, I’ll put in a word with Santa.”

“You’ll do that for me?” she asks, her blue-gray eyes glittering with excitement.

My heart squeezes in my chest. She looks so much like her mother right now. My little sister had a way of always getting what she wanted. She had a way of melting people’s hearts.

“Anything for you, sweetheart,” I reply.