Sovereignty by Lola White

Author:Lola White [White, Lola]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Erotic Romance Fiction
Publisher: Totally Entwined Group Ltd
Published: 2017-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

Costel

Costel spread jam over his toasted baguette slowly, though his fingers cramped with the hold he maintained on his knife. His thoughts were simultaneously sluggish and riotous, leaving him more confused than ever and vaguely off-balance. The relationship he shouldn’t have started with Bijoux had become more than a problem.

“Good morning.”

Startled, Costel looked up to see Georgeanne stepping into the dining room. He swallowed his groan and managed to smile, but he would have preferred to be left to his thoughts. At that hour of the morning—practically pre-dawn—he’d had every expectation of breakfasting alone and had come straight downstairs after he’d carried Bijoux back to her own room.

The staff had just set out a few things on a sideboard for the convenience of both the early risers and the jet-lagged. There were only a few cooks in the kitchen, and they would be busy preparing the rest of the day’s meals for a great many people, as the remainder of the Council representatives and their entourages would arrive by mid-morning. The Council session would begin just after lunch.

Georgie snatched a fresh croissant from a basket and poured herself a cup of strong black coffee. Costel winced as she added a hefty dose of milk. Somewhat unnaturally, in his opinion, she chose to join him at his end of the massive table.

After a moment of swirling her spoon through her coffee, Georgie murmured, “You seem different today.”

“Me?” Costel glanced her way with raised eyebrows. With the first shafts of sunlight falling through the wide window only enhancing the softer illumination of the overhead chandeliers, he couldn’t help but notice the missing lines of tension from around Georgie’s mouth. The set of her lips was softer and her eyebrows weren’t angled into a scowl. “I could say the same about you. Gentler, maybe.”

“Gentler?” She snorted and rapped her spoon against the rim of her cup. “Here I was thinking you seemed less arrogant this morning, but perhaps you’re only still sleepy.”

Costel stiffened in his seat and retrained his gaze on the window. He groped for social niceties. “A lovely view, isn’t it?”

“Of wet grass, browning for the winter?”

He smiled tightly. “Perhaps my conversational skills are best left until after I’ve fully awoken.”

He let silence find them and lengthen around them until the weight of it filled the room. He forced a bite of his toasted baguette, but even with the generous amount of jam he’d put on it, the bread still seemed dry. It stuck in his throat.

Just as Costel was certain the awkwardness between them could not get any worse, Georgeanne exhaled and slammed her drained cup onto the table. “I’m sorry.”

Her brusque tone implied anything but regret. Costel elevated his chin. “Of course.”

“I’m not being fair to you,” she sighed, “and I apologize for that.”

“Accepted.”

She exhaled roughly once again then rubbed her forehead. “I think I’ve never been fair to you, never given you the benefit of the doubt, and I find the knowledge weighing heavily on me this morning.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.