Chapter Fifteen

Evangeline tapped her fingers on the dresser impatiently. She wasn't sure why, but she felt on edge. Ryan should have picked her up by now.

"Go check what's keeping them," she said, aiming her words at her handmaid without looking at her. "Nieve," she snapped when the brunette didn't respond and merely kept on rubbing her arms like she was in pain.

"Sorry milady. Right away, milady," the handmaid immediately responded, dropping her hands when she noticed Evangeline's look. She hurried out the room, glad to be away from the future Lady Simia and made her way to Ryan's bedroom, hoping the heir would be there. She didn't know what Evangeline expected her to do or say, she could hardly tell the heir to the Simia empire to hurry up.

She couldn't believe she hadn't heard Evangeline dismiss her. Riven hadn't let the thought of her being able to defend herself go, so every day, after a tiring shift with Evangeline, he would drag her to the training facility. They hadn't picked up any swords since that first day. Instead, he'd decided to teach her hand-to-hand combat. If his hands on her hips while he was correcting her stance hadn't made her blush, the combat lessons would have. She'd lost count of the number of times he'd pinned her beneath him on the mat. At first, she'd been too preoccupied by the snug bodysuit he'd forced her in, too aware she was actually wearing trousers to realise how close he was. But when the shock of not wearing a dress had worn off, the only thing she could focus on was him, and his hands on her.

She turned a corner and almost walked into Ryan's bodyguard, not for the first time glad he couldn't read her mind. Her eyes widened slightly when the fire-wielder chuckled.

"I can't believe she can actually sneak up on you," the heir said, as he turned to his bodyguard and grinned when the mind-reader looked a little startled. "I'll have to remember that, might come in handy one day."

"I can hear you scheming," Riven said, already knowing why his friend would want him distracted, also knowing Ryan didn't need to do much to have Nieve distract him. He was already spending too much time with her. That Ryan didn't know, though.

"Evangeline was starting to get worried," Nieve interjected, only lying a little, hoping to change the subject. She didn't need to hear Ryan's ideas on how she would be distracting the handsome bodyguard.

"Oh, that's sweet," the heir said, almost mumbling. Nieve did her best to keep her face on neutral, wondering what had made Ryan so hesitant toward his fiancée. All they seemed to do was sit next to each other or make out, they barely spoke with each other. In fact, the only time he seemed talkative was when his sister was around, and the brunette was pretty sure that that was because of her blonde friend, even if he never spoke to Layla directly anymore.

The three of them quietly walked to Evangeline's room, who dramatically opened the door and flung herself in Ryan's arms when he knocked. "I was starting to miss you," she said softly, batting her eyes at him when he smiled.

"I'm here now," he responded, not entirely in the same tone of voice. Nieve saw Evangeline's smile falter for a split second before it returned to her face in full. The redhead hooked her arm through Ryan's and gave him a peck on the cheek as they started walking.

"You two, you're dismissed. Go have lunch," she waved to the two following them.

"Yes, milady," Nieve instantly said, not even waiting for Riven to confirm if it was okay. She had no idea what the redhead was up to, but she didn't care as long as it was far away from her. She'd already started walking away when the long-legged man had caught up with her.

"So, how are the arms?" he asked, a playful smile playing at his lips as he gently squeezed her biceps while they walked to the kitchen.

"Stop teasing," the brunette responded, ignoring the tingle his touch left on her skin. "And they're fine," she added, even though they really weren't. She wasn't going to admit to feeling pain because of a stupid workout.

Layla loved how the weather in Serenissima was always good. In the time she'd lived there it may have rained a handful of times, enough to water the plants without it getting too cold. It never rained during lunchtime, or during dinner, so she could always sit in the courtyard and watch the flowers in the pots grow. For some reason being able to sit outside while having lunch just made the experience even better. She dipped her bread in some warm pumpkin soup and savoured the taste. Every meal was tasty, delicious and nourishing, something she was never going to take for granted. The door opening caught her attention, and she looked up to find Nieve and Riven walk into the garden.

"Hey, you're finally allowed to eat," she jumped up with a smile on her face, hugging her friend when they reached her.

"Yeah, as soon as Ryan showed up, Evangeline couldn't wait to get rid of us," Nieve answered honestly, trying not to feel sorry when she saw her friend's smile falter a little; as bad as she felt for putting that look on her face, Layla knew the score and should really try harder not to think about the Simia heir the way she was. Nieve was a big believer in being honest and using tough love, even on her best friend.

"Well… lucky you," Layla recovered with a small laugh as she sat back down, keeping her eyes away from Riven as she knew he'd be hearing every emotion rolling through her in that moment. "The soup and bread today are really good," she tried to carry on normal conversation.

Riven surprised her by leaning in closer to her bowl, one hand on her shoulder, and taking a big breath. "Oh, Mrs Pembroke's pumpkin soup is my favourite," he said, bringing one hand to his stomach as he straightened up, squeezing the handmaid's shoulder as he did. He knew she'd recognise it as his way of telling her it'd be okay.

"Well aren't you in luck then," the housekeeper's voice sounded out, drawing their attention to two trays in her hands with a bowl of soup and a plate of bread on each.

"I think I might love you," the bodyguard said as he gave her a dopey smile and took the tray from her. As soon as Mrs Pembroke passed the second tray to Nieve, his arm wrapped around her shoulder to give her a sideways hug. "You're too good to us," he told her, satisfied to see her blush slightly.

"And don't you forget it," the older lady told him pointedly as she made to step away from him now. "Eat up you two, while you can," she added as a departing comment.

"She's so lovely," Layla commented as she continued eating her food and the other two took their seats next to her. They both hummed in agreement, too busy digging into their lunch to comment out loud.

Kaitlyn wanted nothing more than to leave, she'd never known how boring lunches could be until her brother got engaged. Suddenly their father had decided that any moment spent with his son could be turned into a learning experience. It mainly meant that Ryan couldn't joke around as much anymore, and she had to be quiet and listen. She tried talking with Evangeline, but her brother's fiancée either enjoyed whatever her father had to say or pretended to do so.

The white-haired girl looked at her mother and sighed. No conversation with her ever ended well so she wasn't even going to try. She was sure she'd end up either talking about potential husbands, or about what other lessons she needed to learn in order to find a proper husband. She was far too young to be thinking about any of that.

So she just focused on her food and ate quietly while time passed.

"Riven... what do you think of Evangeline?" Ryan asked slowly, looking out of his bedroom window at the garden. The garden reminded him of Layla and her love for flowers. He'd tried taking Evangeline there a couple of times since the ceremony to get to know her better and she'd only gone with him the one time; a lady didn't go out in the sun unnecessarily.

"I don't have an opinion," his bodyguard answered.

"That I find very hard to believe," the Simia heir said with a laugh, turning towards his friend. "You have opinions on a lot of things and frequently let me know. So spit it out."

Riven gave an uncomfortable cough. "I'd rather not."

"Fine... then at least help me think how I can get out of this arranged marriage," Ryan asked for his help. Over the last few days, he hadn't been able to shake the feeling that Evangeline perhaps wasn't being herself and, over the years with Riven as his friend, had learned to trust his gut feelings. She kept complimenting him on the way he was following tradition, holding his hand under the table during meetings, but things didn't progress beyond that. He didn't necessarily mean progress physically. They kissed occasionally and he was fine with it being just that, but they'd been engaged for over a month and he still didn't know a single personal thing about her. She kept deflecting with compliments, which he'd only realise when he replayed his day when he was finally in bed.

"I can't really see any easy way out, with the exception of telling Lord and Lady Simia that she's a terrorist," Riven responded after a few moments as an off the cuff remark; after all, the two were already engaged so it would take a lot for the wedding to be called off. "No Ryan, we are not going to accuse her of being a terrorist," he stopped the immediately intrigued thought he'd heard in his friend's head.

"Why not?" he sounded a little petulant; Ryan had thought it was such a good idea and it saved him from having to tell the truth, even if right now he wasn't even sure what the truth was.

"Because she didn't do anything wrong and she can't help that you met Layla after this arrangement became real and imminent," the bodyguard tried to help him see reason.

"But…"

"No buts, my lord," Riven reminded his friend of his station. "There will be another way if that's what you really want. But perhaps you need to get to know her better first," he suggested.

The Simia heir looked at him as if he was a toddler about to throw a tantrum. "I have," Ryan insisted, even though he silently conceded he probably could have tried harder, knowing his bodyguard would hear his concession.