The Secret (The Evolution of Sin 2)

“Giselle.” Elena’s voice brought my attention to her seat beside him and I noticed that they matched – his ice blue tie and her velvet dress. She looked like a modern day Audrey Hepburn and my hands found my bodice self-consciously before I could help it.

“Elena, you look absolutely lovely. Thank you so much for inviting me tonight.”

“Thank you, but I wasn’t the one to extend the invitation. Willa and Mortimer wanted to meet the last addition to my family.” She beamed at the older couple I had yet to notice that sat to her right.

“We’ve heard a great deal about you,” Willa Percy said with a close-lipped smile as her brown eyes scraped over my body with the precision of a scalpel, searching for flaws with the gravitas of a surgeon.

Logically, I knew that Willa was a beautiful woman; African American with a café au lait complexion smoother than silk and thick wavy hair she wore cut into a chic shoulder length bob. But I found nothing warm in her expression or any charisma in her carriage. She seemed almost like a doll, perfectly turned out in every way except for the lack of vitality in her eyes.

On the other hand, Mortimer Percy struck me as the kind of man to play Santa at a charity event or roll around in the mud with his sons. He was a broad shouldered, All-American kind of man with a square jaw and a full head of golden brown hair streaked with silver. It was no wonder that he was a popular politician with looks like that.

“No one told us you would be so pretty though.” Mortimer smiled broadly. “We just heard some nonsense about you being a fantastic artist or something of the sort.”

I laughed because he wanted me to and his good humor was infectious. “What did I do to deserve such flattery?”

“Don’t lay that at my son’s doorstep, I’m afraid he’s not the effusive type. Is he, Elena?” Mortimer guffawed.

Elena laughed too but I was uncomfortable with the assertion and when my eyes found Sinclair, the muscle in his jaw was ticking as it did when he was trying to control himself. Sensing my gaze, he looked up at me. I held his stare, opening myself to any thoughts he needed to purge himself of. I willed him to trust me with the emotions he normally carved up and shoved into the farthest recesses of his mind. His mouth opened slightly on a long exhale and he shook his head slightly.

Later, he mouthed.

My heart clenched in anticipation of seeing him again.

“It was Mama,” Elena admitted. “She never could shut up about you.”

“Elena,” Sebastian warned under his breath but she didn’t take heed.

“Giselle was always Mama’s special girl. She’s thrilled to have her back, of course. The entire Lombardi clan together again. Although Giselle still goes by our father’s last name.”

I watched as Sinclair surreptitiously moved Elena’s wine glass over to his side of the place setting.

“Names are so important.” Willa stepped in, boredom laced throughout her words. “Daniel never did consent to take the Percy name.”

“You never offered it to Cage,” Sinclair said quietly. “And it was easier to keep Sinclair.”

Willa sniffed but Mortimer put his hand over hers to quell her. “We understand, Daniel, of course. Names are unimportant in the grand scheme of things. We are a family of choice, not circumstance.”

His words set fire to my chest. I wanted a relationship of choice; I wanted Sinclair to choose me.

“There are no reporters at the table, Mortimer, you can stop the politicking,” Willa said.

“Mom,” Sinclair chastised and I was surprised to see it had a positive affect on Willa, who straightened in her chair and applied a smile to her smooth cheeks.

“Very well. Elena, darling, how is

the adoption process going?”

I almost choked on the sip of delicate white wine I was drinking. Could this evening get any more excruciating?

“Slowly, unfortunately.”

“You must use our connections. Why forge relationships if you can’t use them to your advantage, hmm?”

“We’re in no rush,” Sinclair reminded them. “Elena is only twenty-six, we have time enough to start a family.”

“He’s just nervous.” Margot appeared at the table, a sharp smile on her face as she slipped into one of two empty chairs beside Candy. By the way she stared right at me, I knew Sin had warned her of my presence. “As long as I’ve known him, Daniel has always wanted to be a father.”

Candy’s hand found mine under the table and squeezed.