His Word...Destiny ~ Book Three in the Trusted Saga ~ (excerpt)

Title : His Word...Destiny

Book Three in the Trusted Saga

Release date : Available now (purchase link under "Books" heading)

EXCERPT ...

“You can do this, Angelica---I’m right by your side. He has to see you’re not afraid of him.” Levi’s right. And it doesn’t help at all that I know that. It still doesn’t make it any easier.

“Is Kiara with him?” That question was lurking in the back of my mind. I hoped Levi’s answer was going to be a resounding, no. But that was wishful thinking.

“Yes. Kiara is with him,” he confirmed. Levi walked with an arm around my shoulder to the entrance of the grand ballroom. My palms were damp, and I resisted the urge to wipe them down the length of my gown. His arm tightened, pulling me firmly against his side, while we made our way back to the table.

When we got closer, Fifi looked up, clearly surprised to still see me here. Her companion, Stacey, actually voiced her surprise.

“Oh---we thought you left.” Stacey was curiously observing the body language between Levi and me, and Fifi, focusing more on Levi’s body language, than mine. What is she waiting for? She couldn’t take her eyes off me as Levi pulled out my chair, and sat me down at the table.

She’s waiting for me to fall apart. I won’t give her the satisfaction. Levi promptly put a glass in front of me, bending down to whisper quietly in my ear.

“Just take it easy, but I think you should have a little of this.” I picked up the fluted glass, and chugged about half of it, before I put it back down, much to the amusement of Levi. “That’s taking it easy?” he joked, but moved the glass further out of my reach as a precaution.

I attempted a smile, but didn’t pull it off. I almost tried again, but it froze half way to my lips as I looked up, and saw Nathan, and Kiara approaching our table.

“Levi,” I gulped quietly, and Levi moved his arm along the back of the chair behind my back, and shoulders.

“I know, Baby, I know. We both have to stay calm.” Levi’s hand came to rest on the bony round of my shoulder, and he squeezed in silent reassurance. The closer Nathan got to the table, the more I felt the blood drain from my face.

My breaths were now coming in very shallow, and my heart rate would have topped any monitor if I was hooked up to one. His strong piercing gray eyes locked onto me, like a heat seeking missile, and I forgot to breathe at all. Levi’s hand tightened protectively. Fifi stood, shooting me a triumphant look, before she greeted the pair of them like they were long lost friends, or something.

“Kiara, how lovely to see you again---Nathan,” she air kissed the sides of their faces in turn. “Why don’t you two join our table?” Oh, my God. Why in the hell did she just ask them to join our table? “You both know Levi, and his little fiancé, don’t you?”

Nathan’s eyes immediately narrowed maliciously when he heard the word fiancé, and the brief glance he levelled at Levi ensured he conveyed just how much that bit of information irked him. Kiara huffed, and looked away. Nathan refused to pull his gaze away from my face once he refocused his attention on me.

I didn’t dare risk looking him in the eye. Instead, I moved closer to Levi’s side with my chair, and gripped his thigh hard under the table. Levi’s other hand instantly covered mine on his thigh.

Risking a quick glance up at Levi’s face, I saw the tenseness in his jaw, the little muscles popping in, and out as he clenched his teeth together, and released them over, and over. He was just barely managing to keep himself under control.

“You’re engaged?” Kiara asked, her curiosity getting the better of her. My throat was constricting at the sight of Nathan, and all I could do in answer was to nod, but Levi answered for me, anyway.

“Yes. We’re engaged.” Before Kiara asked any more questions, Nathan interrupted.

“Angelica?”

I visibly cringed when he spoke my name. His voice still sounded the same. Just the same as it had five years ago. Still smooth---still deep, and resonating---and it still reached into the depths of my heart. But it gripped me with fear now, not love, or lust.

“You know her, Nathan?” Fifi asked, feigning confusion, but she sported a weird smirk on her face, enjoying watching this play out in front of her. But on the other hand, it also seemed to piss her off a little that both Kiara and Nathan both knew me. “How do you know her, Nathan?”

From anyone else, this question will have seemed innocent, but the manner in which Fifi inquired---I knew there was an underlying reason why she asked.

I think I held my breath so long, I was about to turn blue, while I waited for Nathan to answer that question. Will he answer with the truth, or fly by the seat of his pants?

“Angelica and I were---more than an item a few years ago.” His tone was dangerously level.

“So it’s true, then?” Fifi said smugly. She looked directly at Levi, addressing only him. “You’re engaged to Nathan’s ex?”

Nathan’s ex. Now I knew why she asked. Funny, but I never referred to myself in that way, ever. Although technically I suppose it was true. I was his ex.

Levi shifted slightly on his seat, agitated with being unable to do anything about the situation at play. Then Fifi took it just that little bit further.

“How does it feel to have someone else’s seconds, Levi?” The nasty undertone of her voice alerted me to keep my mouth shut. She has an axe to grind with Levi, and I suppose I understood how she felt that way with the way their engagement initially came about, then ended so abruptly. “Especially Nathan’s seconds?” she cruelly emphasized, delighting in dredging it all up, knowing Levi wasn’t able to retaliate. “Ahh---You might be in for a little surprise, darling,” I stiffened hearing her endearment again while she was speaking to Levi, but remained firmly in my seat. “Nathan will have trained her well, I should think.”

My stomach dropped. Nathan shot her a hostile snarl, and Levi was up out of his seat in a matter of milliseconds---his reflexes so quick, it took everyone by surprise, including Fifi.

“You’ll do well to change the subject matter, Fifi, before the subject you are now discussing takes a menacing turn for the worse,” he growled angrily.

I grabbed onto Levi’s forearm when he placed his clenched fists, knuckles down, on the top of the table, and leaned on them.

“Levi,” I was proud my voice didn’t shake when I spoke, “can you take me home?” Fifi snarled, while I tried my best to ignore the gray piercing eyes of Nathan boring into me. I stood up out of my chair next to Levi. He automatically placed his large arm protectively around my back, and strongly clasped my hip.

Nathan’s gaze narrowed slightly in anger, but he remained where he was. Before we turned to leave, Nathan spoke.

“Always mine, Cherub.”

I physically flinched at his use of his pet name for me, and stood in front of Levi when it looked like he was going to deal with the problem right then, and there.

Kiara did the same with Nathan, putting her hands on his chest. Nathan shot Levi a murderous glare.

“You’ll never get close enough to lay one single finger on her, Buchanan,” Levi seethed. I can’t take this anymore. I gripped the lapels on Levi’s jacket.

“Levi, I want to leave---Now.” There were more than a few interested heads twisted our way after the commotion, and I didn’t want to be plastered all over the front page again.

He didn’t seem to want to budge, so I didn’t wait for him. I let go of his jacket, and picked up my clutch off the table. Without another word, I turned, and walked toward the door.

I don’t need this. If Levi chooses to stay, instead of following me, the decision I have to make will be made a hell of a lot easier.

© Copyright Carol Delmornay 2016

All Rights Reserved