Chapter 139

#Chapter 139 – The News “Amelia,” Victor growls, still angry by the revelation of her deceit.

She, however, is unphased. Or at least, she acts like it.

“Victor!” she says, taking four happy steps forward, closing the distance between them and placing a kiss on his cheek. Around him, Victor hears the crowd hush, all eyes on them.

“Oh, darling, don’t tell me you’re leaving,” Amelia coos, putting a soft hand on his cheek.

Victor stops himself from flinching away, not wanting to give the onlookers anything to gossip about. He looks down at Amelia for a moment and curses, internally, when he sees the flash of a camera to his right.

He turns to glare at the reporter, who skitters away, before turning his attention back to Amelia. “Yes,”

he growls, “I’m leaving.”

“Such a shame,” she murmurs, looking beyond him and waving to a friend at the back of the room. “I was hoping we could catch up over a drink. Next time, then.”

Ignoring her words – all fake, anyway, the kind of niceties you’d say to a casual acquaintance – Victor nods to her. “Good evening, Amelia, have a nice time.” Then, not waiting for an answer, he steps around her and storms from the Prath home.

God damnit, he thinks as he meets his two Betas in the drive and they head for his car. Amelia had played it perfectly, with her casual indifference and untroubled smiles. Onlookers would think that she’d gotten over him, relegated him to her past.

Not that she was actively working to undermine him, destroy him, which she certainly was.

Frustrated, he climbs into the back of the black sedan. Again, Amelia is a step ahead of him.

But he would find a way to turn it. He has Evelyn on his side, now, he knows, and once they go public with her Luna status, everything would change. Amelia would be forgotten and Annabeth would see, again, his personal emphasis on family values.

Everything would be set right.

The next morning, while he’s drinking his coffee out of one of Evelyn’s worn yellow mugs, a newspaper slaps in front of them.

Victor blinks, a little surprised, and then glances up at Evelyn’s face.

She’s glaring down at him with one eyebrow raised, her arms crossed.

Uh-oh.

Patiently, Victor puts his mug down and picks up the paper. He grimaces at what he sees.

There, above the fold of the Society section, is a photograph of him and Amelia that takes up three quarters of the page. Next to the photo, a headline is printed in bold font:

Rejected and Reunited!? Victor and Amelia Spotted Together at Charity Event Taking a deep breath, Victor darts his eyes into the living room to ensure that the boys are busy with their lesson before looking at the photo. It’s damning, for sure. He glances up at Evelyn, pressing his lips together, and then looks closer at the paper.

In the image, Victor is looking down at Amelia with what looks like intensity in his eyes. He knows, of course, that it’s anger – he had just come from learning about her betrayal from Annabeth – but to the general reader’s eye, it looks like lust.

Amelia, for her part, is smiling up at him, raising a hand to place it gently on his cheek. They look like nothing less than two people in love.

Slowly, he unfolds the paper, reading the beginning of the article.

Is Victor Kensington regretting his decision to reject his mate, Amelia Jones? While Jones has been in hiding for weeks after her disaster of a wedding, the pair were spotted together yesterday at the Prath family home during a charity function for children’s education.

Just look at the lust in Alpha Vic’s eyes! It’s well known that Victor’s dance card is open now, with lots of eligible bachelorettes eyeing the top spot. Is it possible that he’s missing his former Best Gal? Rest assured – this report is going to keep his eyes peeled.

“Who wrote this trash,” Victor murmurs, tossing it away from him. “Honestly, it’s just lies.”

“Lies, is it?” Evelyn asks, taking the seat next to him and looking at him closely. “Did you not see her last night?”

“For a moment,” he says, looking her directly in the eye. “She was walking in while I was walking out.

She took advantage of the situation and the photographer got lucky.”

Evelyn blinks at him, not allowing any expression on her face.

“Evelyn,” he says, extending a hand towards her on the table. “Please, you have to know that this is nonsense.”

She smiles then and takes his hand. “I know, Victor,” she says. “I was just messing with you, I understand.”

Relief floods Victor’s body. Amelia had frequently been so jealous and – well, when it came to Evelyn, perhaps his jealousy had been justified. But he wouldn’t be able to handle it if Evelyn suspected him of something so ridiculous.

“I mean,” Evelyn says, “I do wish you had told me so that I wouldn’t have to be surprised by it in the paper.”

He nods to her, understanding, a promise written on his face to tell her in the future. She nods, accepting.

Then, a smirk lights her face. “But I do want to know more about these ‘eligible bachelorettes eying the top spot’ on your dance card, Victor,” she says. “Who are they?”

Victor purses his lips and gives her a little glare before picking up his coffee again. “You know they’re figments of the press’s imagination,” he says, taking a sip. “I don’t have time for all the women who want to date me.”

He fights to keep a smile off his face, pretending to look at another section of the paper while he waits for her to rise to his bait.

“Plus,” she says, lifting her own cup of coffee to her mouth. “They’d have to go through me to get to you. And I’ll rip them to tiny pieces.” She says it with such a charming smile that Victor can’t help but laugh.

“Good,” he says. “I need you to defend my honor.” With that, he leans forward to press a kiss to her cheek.

They continue peacefully at the table for a moment, Victor flicking through the paper. Then, Evelyn clears her throat.

“Victor,” she says, her voice uncharacteristically hesitant. He turns to her, curious. “Well, what are we going to do about the media? They’re going to find out eventually, somehow, about me being your Luna. It could happen at any time.”

She considers, quietly, that Rafe could be their biggest liability on the subject. If he’s still seeking revenge, he could leak this little tidbit to the press and cause a great deal of trouble for Victor.

Victor nods, thinking. “You’re right,” he says. “We should get out ahead of this. Make some kind of formal announcement.”

Victor takes a moment to consider. “I suppose an announcement of an engagement would do it,” he says, “with a nice picture of the family together – that would be good, politically, give me a bit of stability, allow others to see the practical side of our arrangement –“

He breaks off, suddenly, as a note of panic tugs in his gut. Instinctually he spins his head to Evelyn, who is sitting slack-jawed in her chair, her face white with shock.

“What’s wrong,” he asks leaning towards her, suddenly panicked himself. Was she sick? Did something happen? His gaze flies around the cottage, seeking some kind of intruder –

“Did – did you,” she sputters, “did you seriously just propose to me?”