Undone (23 page)

Chapter 21

Sophie inhaled deep in an attempt to overcome the sudden sense of déjà vu that swept over her. Just a few short months ago she was introducing her then boyfriend to her family and their collective reaction had been telling. Here she was now, doing the same thing again, although the label of “boyfriend” was rarely used between her and Roan. It really didn’t even fit the relationship they currently had. Her heart was beating a little too fast in her chest and her palms were suddenly sweating rivers against her shaking thighs.

“Ready?” Chivalry was certainly never dead when Roan was around to open car doors for her and save Sophie from whatever little mess she managed to get entangled in. Not many things had changed after he’d made her exclusively his. They still did the same things as before, although he made it a point to take her out a lot more. There’d been the visits to the Museum of Fine Arts, the late night jaunts downtown, where they’d walked hand in hand down the cobbled streets, listening to the jazz bands. The late evening picnics out on the terrace that had led to body melting alfresco sex. And her favorite of their outings, the four nights he’d taken her to the theater.

Sophie knew it hadn’t been his thing, but he’d done it for her and she’d shown her appreciation subsequently at his apartment. They still went to dinner at the
Dragos every other Sunday and Maria and Sophie had begun a rapport that made Roan silently happy. Sophie was slowly getting back to her schooling; her lack of attendance over the last few months had her nearly failing her classes, but she’d succeeded in passing her finals—how she’d managed that feat was still a shock to her. She was going to take some courses over the summer and apply to the medical program in the fall; psychiatry was something she suddenly wanted to study. Sophie had yet to tell her family her plans, but she was sure they wouldn’t mind. Roan had been her number one supporter in this; he’d encouraged her, made Sophie see that she could use her history with depression to help someone else.

With a small smile, Sophie assessed him. He was looking rather delectable in his casual wear—black slacks, a fitted dark blue long sleeved shirt on which he’d put on a nice vest that went splendidly with the skinny tie he donned. The black boots finished off the outfit, adding that special “Roan” quality to it. He was freshly shaven; the stubble she enjoyed so much was gone showing off high cheekbones and a perfect jawline. His hair was the only thing that had remained intact but Sophie could tell he’d put in the extra effort of styling it just for today, with the sides slightly shorter than the top, all well-coiffed with minimal hair product. He looked distinguished, the sexy and rugged thing worked for Sophie. The instant she
put her hand in his, her anxiousness abated and she was able to breathe so much easier.

“Where’d you go just now?”

“I was just thinking.”

“Want to tell me about it?”

She set a hand on his broad chest and rose on her toes to kiss him. “I love you,” she breathed too softly against his mouth, uttering the words for the first time ever to him. He stood as still as a statue utterly stunned by her whispered words and Sophie couldn’t blame him. But it was how she felt and although it may not have been the appropriate time to say it, she couldn’t have held back if she tried. “You don’t have to say it back, Roan. I just wanted you to know.”

“Sophie, I…”

“Hey, Soph, Belle needs your help inside,” said Dylan making his way towards them. “Hey, Roan. Man, what’s up?” he greeted the older man with a grin, taking his hand in that handshake innate in all men and pulling him in for a half hug.

“Not much, man, how about you?”

Dylan shrugged, slipping his hand inside the pockets of his slacks, a habit he’d undoubtedly picked up from Nicholas. “Just waiting for graduation.”

They went on from there, their light easy chatter telling Sophie that Roan was in good hands. She disengaged herself from him to leave, but he drew her back with grasp of her wrist. He leaned down as though to kiss her. “We’re not done with this,” he murmured instead along her cheek, his warm breath rustling the tendrils of hair by her ear. Sophie simply nodded walking away when he released her wrist.

Dylan had seen the short interaction, turning away just a bit when Roan kissed his sister’s cheek. He’d lied just now about Bella needing to see Sophie, but Dylan had his reasons and the moment his older sister walked away he turned to her boyfriend. “Look, man, it’s cool and whatever that you’re dating my sister. With all the shit she’s been through, she needs someone on her side that she can trust.” He leveled Roan with a stare, lethal hazel eyes boring into him. “But if you hurt her in anyway, I’m going to castrate you.” He was deadly serious, the goofy guy gone completely now.

Roan could understand where the kid was coming from and if he were in his exact situation, he’d go so far as to make threats too. He met Dylan’s gaze evenly,
neither one speaking as they measured each other up and in that silent moment they came to an unspoken agreement. “I got it.”

Dylan nodded. “Good.”

The subject of DeathRacer came up and Dylan invited Roan up to the entertainment room to waste time before the party began.

~*~*~*~

In her search for Bella, Sophie stumbled into her father as he was walking out of his office, two of his bodyguards trailing behind him. Nicholas stopped short at the sight of her and turned to give a concise order for the men to go on ahead without him. They hadn’t had the chance to speak since his clumsy confrontation a few weeks back. He’d needed to apologize for cornering her the way he had, for unintentionally treating her like the enemy, when all he’d wanted to do was caution her of her relationship with Roan. She’d gone through so much in such a short amount of time that Nicholas felt for her, the pain he saw in her dark eyes was so familiar. 

Imagining that his daughter was facing the same sort of despair that had haunted him when he’d been younger was devastating. Nicholas worked tirelessly, devoted everything he could so that his children would never want for anything. He tried so hard to be a good father to all of them, loved them all without bias because he knew anything else was unacceptable. He never wanted them to feel an ounce of the dark emotions he’d felt when he’d been a kid and it gutted him to know Sophie of all people was going through that.

“Dad.” The soft call drove Nicholas to close the space between them and gathering her in his arms, he dropped an affectionate kiss on her head. “I’m so sorry for failing you,” he murmured as they held each other, the bond between them deeper than they both understood. Though they did not share the same blood, Sophie was more daughter to Nicholas than what was written on paper.

Sophie’s unquestionable love and loyalty towards him had never faltered, even in the darkest hours, this girl—no, this woman, had always believed in him. Had always trusted in his choices. Always believed that he would eventually return to her and her mother. There were no words to express how much Nicholas loved Sophie. This was his daughter. His pride. His joy. "You mean so much to me. You and I, we have a bond so strong that no one and nothing can ever break it. I was so very damaged when I met you and your mother, but your innocence, your love and unfailing trust in me healed me. You are my first child, more of my own than any blood we could ever share. I love you, Sophie."

Sophie hugged him fiercely. “I love you too, Dad,” she choked, tears welling to soak into his shirt.

He may not have been her biological father, and the ache of that may never truly go away, but Nicholas was the dad that she needed. Even before she understood it, Sophie’s connection to Nicholas had begun when she’d been a little girl and those feelings hadn’t been contrived, they’d been real and deep and that bond they’d shared had been the reason why Nicholas returned.

“Happy Birthday,” she sniffed.

“Don’t remind me,” he grumbled, keeping her at his side as they made their way back to the first floor. “Another year, another piece of gray hair I have to deal with.”

“Vanity does not become you, dad. Besides, I think you look very distinguished with a little gray hair.”

Nicholas snorted. “A very good way of saying I’m getting old.”

Sophie chuckled, enjoying the light banter.

~*~*~*~

By late afternoon, the guests began to arrive in a queue of luxury cars. The front doors stood wide open for their entrance allowing them access to the impressive Grayson home. With Bella at the helm of decorating and her grandmother to guide her, the first floor of the mansion looked spectacular.

“You really outdid yourself, Belle,” Sophie remarked, awed by her sister’s keen eye for decorating. Everything was subtle, but came together in a very elegant and stylish manner, from the centerpieces with tea light candles to the bouquet of flowers placed strategically around the small ballroom. Hors d'oeuvres were being served around the room by uniformed waiters along with beverages.

Bella smiled widely, absorbing her sister’s compliments. “I tried not to go overboard with the flowers. You know how Daddy gets.” They both shared a laugh as they walked around the room, stopping every now and then to greet and welcome the guests. Sophie had left her dad in the company of the guests while she’d continued her search for Bella.

“It looks beautiful. You really have an eye for this,” she said mildly. “I think you should pursue this in college.”

“You think so?” She turned to Sophie with bright, hopeful eyes.

Sophie nodded with an encouraging smile. “Definitely, I think you could be very successful as an interior designer or something.”

“Yeah, I was thinking that too. How about you? Everything okay with school now?”

“Yeah, I passed my finals; still don’t know how I managed that. But I’m going to be taking some courses over the summer so I can qualify for the premed program in the fall.”

“Sophie that’s great! How about you and Roan, are you guys okay…?”

Sophie had been sort of avoiding him after her little impromptu confession. Fearful of how he would act now that he knew exactly how she felt, she’d remained by Bella’s side since Dylan told her she needed help. She knew she would need to face him at some point, his remark earlier was a clear indication that he wanted to discuss it further, but Sophie was anxious about that.

“I told him I loved him.”

Bella gasped, her eyes widening comically. “No way!” she screamed, earning the curious stares of their family members and her father’s friends. Bella reddened; stepping closer to her sister she asked in a lower voice. “What did he say?”

“Nothing.
I didn’t really give him a chance to say anything. Besides, Dylan interrupted before he could anyways.”

“Do you think he feels the same?” she pressed.

Sophie sighed heavily. “I don’t know.”

“Maybe he does and he’s just…”

“Sophie.” Sophie savored the way he said her name as he approached them. He hugged Bella and thanked her for inviting him.

“We’re just glad you could make it. I’ll be right
back, I think I hear Nanna Sonya calling me.” She was gone before Sophie could stop her, leaving her and Roan in the quiet corner of the ballroom.

“You’ve been avoiding me,
”  he accused, his acute gaze made her mouth go dry as he stepped closer. “I forgot to tell you how beautiful you look.” His lustrous dark eyes intimately swept over her, taking in the little black dress that hugged her lithe frame so sexily. She’d left her sable black hair undone just like he preferred. It framed her oval face in loose waves, skimming just above her delicately rounded shoulders. Since he’d been with her, Roan had never known Sophie to wear makeup and he was glad for it. She was a natural beauty, her flawless honeyed complexion perfect without the added frill. Only the slightest bit of rouge tinted her full supple lips.

“Thank you,” she returned, biting her bottom lip. “About what I said earlier…”

“Sophie!”

While Roan cursed, Sophie didn’t know whether to be happy that they were interrupted yet again or curse right along with him. It was
Maddie who’d called her and she and Ronnie were heading towards them. They hid their shock very well when Sophie reintroduced them to Roan and soon after that the rest of her family. The festive atmosphere of the occasion made everyone very friendly allaying Sophie’s anxiety as they happily welcomed him.

***

Matt looked at himself in the mirror and gave a humorless smile at the man looking back at him. He looked like an old codger, decrepit and veiny, right down to the fucking liver spots. He chuckled, stepping a little closer to his reflection. He touched the weathered features that appeared far too realistic, admiring the handiwork of the facial prosthetic. It’d taken months to get it right, even the wig he’d adhered to his forehead; it’d been a process to get all of this exactly the way he wanted. It’d cost him a pretty penny, but it would all be worth it in the end.  There was no way anyone could recognize him in this getup, least of all Nicholas. Matt didn’t even recognize himself!

“Everything is ready, Sir.”

Matt smiled widely, turning around and hunching over, using his cane for added affect. “How do I look, Ace?”

“Unrecognizable, Sir.”
Ace’s laconic reply elicited the bark of laughter from his maniacal employer. He leaned up and patted Ace’s cheek.