The Consequence (The Evolution of Sin 3)

“They are waiting for you in the dining room,” Hainesport said, already making his way towards the party.

I looked up at Sinclair without masking the panic in my eyes. His own flashed with protectiveness but he only reached down to press a hard kiss to my lips.

“Bigger than the world, my siren.”

For the first time since he had uttered that phrase, I didn’t take comfort from the words.

I followed after him with my heart in my throat, beating so strongly it threatened to choke me. The sense of doom I felt stalking after us made me want to pick up my skirts and runaway but I reminded myself that this was important. If I wanted to be with Sinclair, I had to accept this part of his life, the elevated, refined society he had been transplanted into upon his adoption. I wished fruitlessly that Cage could be there but I knew he neglected his foster parents as much as they did him.

When we rounded the corner, we were greeted with the sight of over two dozen elegantly dressed guests. Sinclair cursed softly again.

As if drawn by the sound, conversations fell quiet and eyes swiveled loudly to look at us. I watched with grim fascination as they catalogued my wanna-be-classy-but-still-slutty dress, the harlot red of my hair and the hand clasped within my own.

For one half of half a second, they seemed perplexed. They were trying to reconcile past meetings with Elena and what they remembered her as with the woman before them now. They wrinkled their collective noses.

Had Elena always been so… garish?

Another second and they had their answer. I saw it in the tightening of their eyes, how the women searched subtly for their men and how they, in turn, searched my body subtly for further evidence of my curves.

This wasn’t the up and coming New York City lawyer they had met and admired. This was someone else, and she was considerably less.

I tried to tell my insecurities to give it a rest but their combined gaze was the definition of judgment.

“Daniel,” Willa separated herself from the crowd, gliding forward in an exquisite icy blue dress that Elena might have worn. “We worried you wouldn’t make it.”

Sin’s lips tightened at the passive aggressive comment. “It’s nice to see you too, Mom.”

He kept my hand in his as they exchanged cheek kisses.

She frowned up at him. “You need a haircut.”

I saw the smile try to claim his mouth and took pleasure in knowing it was because of me.

“I like it this way.”

“It looks unkempt.”

“I prefer to think it looks piratical,” he retorted before turning slightly to wink at me.

I giggled softly.

Willa finally deigned to look over at me, her eyebrows prematurely raised in condescension.

“Giselle Moore, I wish we were meeting again under different circumstances.”

“Oh? Are we commiserating or celebrating tonight?” I asked, deliberately obtuse.

Her eyes narrowed, trying to discern if I was being smart or not.

“I’m speaking, of course, about the fact that you are here as my son’s date and not, as you are meant to be, as his future sister-in-law.”

Wow.

I blinked, stunned that she had the audacity to just come right out and lay battle lines. My anger warred with exhaustion; I was so tired of fighting.

Sinclair, apparently, was not.

He stepped forward with his hand wrapped securely around my waist and though he spoke quietly, his words were forceful. “This is the woman I love, Mom. If you love me or respect me in anyway, you will treat her with the kindness she deserves.”

Willa stiffened, a muscle ticking in her strong jaw. Sin may have not been her biological son but I could see where he had inherited his arctic freeze temper.

“I mean it,” Sinclair warned.

“Oh, I know,” she said, softly. “Hence my shock.”

She studied me out of the corner of her eye, cataloguing everything about me with the precision of a 3D scanner. I stood straight and tall before the scrutiny, secured in my confidence by the feel of Sin’s hand on my hip.

“And my begrudging approval,” she added.

My head snapped around to look at Sin’s reaction but he seemed just as mystified as I was.

Willa laughed. “I may not be the most maternal woman in the world and I certainly cannot approve of the inception of your relationship but if you rebelled against every single thing I taught you about morality and success in order to be with this woman…” Her nose scrunched delicately. “In order to be with you, Giselle, then I won’t waste my time and alienate my only son.”

The words Cage is your son too pooled on my tongue like excessive saliva but I refrained from saying anything.

“Welcome to the family, dear.” She smiled again but it was wooden as she leaned in to whisper conspiratorially, “Next time we’ll go shopping together before an event.”