Anathema (Causal Enchantment #1)(19)
She ignored me, wrenching my purse from my arm and pulling out a wad of money. The clerk behind the counter raised an eyebrow but remained quiet, likely calculating his commission. Sofie calmly counted out bills—a thick pile of them—with the ease of someone paying for her weekly groceries.
“Thank you!” she said, smiling at the clerk. “Okay, we’re done.” She handed me the box holding the bracelet.
I stared at her, flabbergasted, wondering what this wild woman had done with the reserved, graceful Sofie I had met only days ago.
Surprise flashed in her minty eyes then, and she sighed. “I must seem a little erratic today,” she murmured, smiling sheepishly. “I’m sorry. It’s just … you deserve a hundred times more than anything Viggo and Mortimer could ever buy you.”
I frowned. “I don’t understand—”
She cut me off, grabbing hold of my arm. “Come on.” She led me out the door. I clutched the box with the bracelet to my chest with my free hand, visions of a mugger waiting to pounce and steal it playing through my head.
“Where to now?” Sofie asked.
“Why don’t we just window shop for a bit?” I suggested. You’ve won! You’ve punished Viggo and Mortimer for whatever they did to you.
But Sofie hadn’t even heard me. She was busy scanning the pedestrians and cars along Fifth Avenue yet again. Wearing that look again.
“What’s wrong, Sofie?”
Silence. I watched quietly as her expression turned from suspicion to comprehension to fury.
“Come,” she suddenly said, hooking onto my arm and tugging me forward. “I’m tired. It’s time to go home.” She practically threw me into the car. “Home. Now,” she ordered Leonardo. The wheels squealed as we cut into traffic and raced off, earning several angry blasts from horns.
“Leonardo, please help Evangeline with her things,” Sofie called out over her shoulder, marching through the red doors at Viggo and Mortimer’s expansive abode. “Viggo!” I heard her yell.
Max galloped over to stand by my side while I stared after Sofie, my head still spinning from the chaotic afternoon with her. I turned to see Leonardo struggling with countless shopping bags, not at all ruffled by Sofie’s dark mood. “I can do that.” I ran over, grabbing the bags out of his hands.
The sound of glass breaking and Sofie’s shrill voice stopped me in my tracks. “Someone’s watching us!” she screamed. Silence followed, presumably while Viggo tried to calm her. It didn’t work. “Do you think this is another one of your games? Do you realize what’s at stake?”
“Come, Miss Evangeline. You must be hungry.” Leonardo grabbed my arm. He pulled me into the building with more strength than I expected from the old man. Max followed, practically glued to my hip.
“What’s going on, Leonardo?” I whispered, but the old man didn’t answer. Maybe he didn’t hear me. I opened my mouth to repeat the question but decided against it. I was probably better off not knowing.
I sat quietly at the counter as Magda, the heavy Russian cook, placed a bowl of stew in front of me. “You eat now,” she commanded in broken English.
“Thank you.”
She nodded once, unsmiling, and marched back to the stove to stir the contents of a giant pot.
Despite Sofie’s screams and my growing agitation, I was famished; I dove in with reckless abandon, shoveling a spoon filled with gravy and a chunk of meat into my mouth.
“Oh, good! You’ve found food!”
Startled, I dropped my fork. It clattered loudly against my plate.
“So sorry to scare, darling,” Viggo apologized, placing a cool hand on my shoulder. “Did you have fun today?”
I nodded, my mouth full.
“We have a special surprise for you,” Viggo continued. “When you’re finished, go get dressed. There’s a dress hanging on the door of your closet. We leave at seven o’clock. Meet in the atrium.” With that, Viggo vanished, leaving me chewing my stew, and very curious.
“What were you thinking, Viggo?” I mumbled, standing in front of a full–length mirror in my room, studying the clingy green satin dress. Pivoting slightly, I watched as the satin separated to reveal my upper thigh. As if that weren’t risqué enough, the dress was completely backless, exposing my pale white skin. A lot of pale white skin, all the more obvious next to the vibrant jade hue of the dress.
That color … it brought me back to Caden’s piercing jade eyes. I closed my eyes then, trying to recall the intensity of them, the way my skin tingled under their gaze. How vulnerable I’d felt with his tall, muscular body towering over me. If only he were real.
Silly girl. I gave my head a shake back to reality and took one last long look at myself. The plunging neckline left little to the imagination but at least it served as the ideal frame for my pendant. Grabbing a white fur stole, I headed out the door.
The trip down the long hall gave me ample opportunity to improve my walking skills in the matching jade three–inch heels. Realizing that walking in these things was a hundred times harder than it looked—and it looked impossible—I settled on trying not to look like a gorilla on stilts as I made my way to the atrium.
Sofie was waiting for me in a black strapless evening dress. I couldn’t help gawking as she glided ghost–like toward me, the soft layers of chiffon swaying with her movements, looking every bit the actress on a red carpet. “You look like …” Sofie began before dropping off. “Someone I knew,” she finished with a wistful smile, her eyes twinkling as she reached out to me.