Libby wanted to stand up and clap. Not in applause. She wanted to stand and clap and call attention to herself. ‘No, they didn’t,’ she wanted to say. ‘They didn’t want to deal with the death of their son so they simply did their best to get another one.’
Instead, though, she listened as he spoke on.
‘As most of you will know, two years after their insufferable loss my parents brought me into their family. I was twelve years old at the time and—’ he gave a wry smile ‘—far from easy, yet they opened their home to me and gave me opportunities that I could never have dreamed of.’
He spoke of the school they had sent him to, one where Richard was still on the board of directors.
‘I see that Dr Stephenson is here tonight.’ Daniil nodded to his old headmaster. ‘You were right,’ Daniil said, and it took everything he could to keep the malice from his eyes as he looked at man who had wielded his draconian power so mercilessly in an attempt to whip him into suitable shape. ‘I had no idea just how lucky I was.’
Libby could feel the tension from her jaw right to her shoulders. Possibly she was the only person in the room who was reading between the lines, for Dr Stephenson was smiling as if he’d been thanked as Daniil continued.
‘I know that without my parents’ endless support and encouragement I would not be where I am today.’
Those present knew that financially Daniil was head and shoulders above everyone here and so, when he gave his parents the credit, there were oohs and aahs and applause from the crowd, and Katherine gave a small beatific smile and put her hand up to stop people, as if saying that she didn’t deserve the praise.
She didn’t, Libby thought savagely.
Yet Daniil saw it through.
He borrowed the line Libby had used on the day they had met, which he had at the time questioned, and said what an achievement forty years of marriage was. He wished them well for the future and said that their marriage was a shining example and one he could only hope to emulate.
As everyone raised their glasses, Libby was a few seconds behind. The expensive French champagne tasted like a dose of bitters on her tongue as Richard gave his first ever appreciative nod to his son.
Finally Daniil had toed the line.
I just sold my soul, Daniil thought as he returned to Libby’s side.
But he had done it for a reason.
CHAPTER NINE
THE RED VELVET cake was cut and it looked amazing but sat like sand in her mouth as Daniil performed several duty dances.
Clearly she wasn’t the only one who found the cake tasteless because the table she sat at became littered with discarded plates of half-eaten cake, but finally Daniil made his way over and now it was Libby he held in his arms.
‘Your speech went down well,’ she commented.
‘The downside to that is they’re now talking to me,’ Daniil said. ‘I preferred their silence.’
He glanced over Libby’s shoulder and saw that his cousin was watching them. Libby had noticed him, too.
‘Your cousin seems overly interested in you,’ she observed.
‘He’s hoping I’ll disgrace myself just to shore up his inheritance,’ Daniil said. ‘You know, sometimes I consider smarming up to my parents just for the dread it would cause him...’
‘But you don’t?’
‘Nope,’ Daniil said. ‘I just amuse myself with the thought at times.’ He looked down at Libby. His hands were on her waist and her spine was rigid and he missed the fluidity of her movements, the ease between them that they usually enjoyed.
‘I’m sorry to have left you alone for so long.’
‘It’s fine.’
‘We’ll be out of here soon,’ he said. He just wanted this night over so that he could speak with his father and find out a vital part of his past. He had no plans after that. His thought process had always stopped at the moment his father revealed the truth about the letters.
‘We’re not staying, then?’ Libby checked, and then smiled. ‘Or when you say out of here...’
She meant the bedroom, she meant a door between them and the rest of the world, and, for the first time ever, he realised that might be enough. He looked down into clear blue eyes and the thought of staying the night was appealing if it meant that they could be alone sooner.
‘You’ve seen for yourself how my father had no compunction about knocking and not waiting to be asked in...’