Vain (The Seven Deadly, #1)(57)

My heart dropped.

“What?” I asked, suddenly confused, my stomach mixing space with my heart.

“My brother Simon wrote me last week asking if I’d come home for a two-day visit. It seems he has something to tell me and he’d prefer to do it in person.”

“Oh, I-I-I mean, that’s-that’s great, Ian. When do you leave?” I asked, swallowing back my uneasiness.

I didn’t want him to go. I realized in that moment that I equated Ian with security. The idea of him gone made my chest press and feel tight.

“Day after tomorrow,” he told me, running his thumbs across my forehead and down my cheeks.

“So-so soon?” I gulped.

“I realize it’s short notice and all...”

“It’s okay.”

“But I was wondering if, maybe, you might be interested in going with?”

My eyes shot open. “Seriously?”

He smiled. “Seriously. It’s only two days. Karina already said yes. She’ll keep that out of the report she is sending back with you for court,” he winked.

My heart started pounding but this time in excitement. “Oh my word, yes.”

He picked me up and swung me around in the water. “Good,” he simply stated.

“What do you think Simon wants?” I asked when he set me back down.

He shrugged his shoulders. “No earthly idea, but I’m glad you’ll be meeting my family.”

“You-you are?” I asked, stunned. No one had ever willingly wanted me to meet their parents before.

“Of course,” Ian explained, looking at me like I was making no sense. “Simon especially will adore you.”

“Is Simon older or younger?” I asked, curious.

“He’s older, twenty-five, the charming one. My parents adore him. He’s also the one who always gets the girls.”

I balked at that. “My God, he’s the one who gets the girls? What? Is he made of chocolate or something? I can’t imagine anyone would be interested in anyone else but you, no matter who you’re pitted against.”

Ian tugged me closer and kissed my neck. “No need to flatter me, Miss Price. I believe your bait worked. I’m hooked. Line and sinker.”

I eyed him, one brow raised. “I keep reeling you in, Ian Aberdeen, but you’re proving a difficult catch.”

“Nonsense. Utter crap. You snap your finger and I jump from water to boat.”

“Is that so?”

He nodded. “I’m still flopping at your feet, like a pathetic fool, awaiting your next move and severely out of breath.”

I inched closer, resting my forehead against his. “How about I put you out of your misery then, hmm?”

Ian narrowed his eyes at me. “It’s such a delicious agony though.”





CHAPTER TWENTY



Karina took us to the airport where we hopped on a plane for a short twelve-hour adventure from Uganda to Cape Town, South Africa, with layovers in Nairobi and Johannesburg. It hardly seemed worth the two-day stay, but I quickly reminded myself that it was totally worth seeing Ian outside our daily lives at Masego.

I was so relieved to touch down in Cape Town that I didn’t take in the startling differences between classes on the fifteen-minute drive into town right away. Five minutes in and my view on the right and left side of the highway was a stark contrast to say the least.

“My God, look at that,” I sighed through the window.

“What?” Ian asked, scooting up in his seat next to me, leaning over me to see what I was looking at.

On our right were decent, clean homes, well maintained and obviously inhabited by more affluent owners. On our left was what I could only describe as a slum. Homes, if you could call them that, made of tin roofs, dirt floors, a makeshift town really. It looked like a haven for disease and I was willing to bet lots of crime.

“This,” I said, gesturing to both sides of the road with my hands.

“Ah, yes,” he acknowledged, sliding back into his seat, obviously accustomed to the sights.

“It’s sad,” I admitted.

“Very sad,” he agreed.

“It’s such a stunning contrast in living conditions it feels like a punch to the gut.” I studied row after row of slapdash homes.

“As an American, I can definitely identify that my country has little to no idea what poverty really is. The worst living conditions I’d ever been exposed to back home pale in comparison. It’s literally embarrassing that we complain at all.”

“They just don’t know, Soph.”

“They just stay ignorant, Ian,” I answered in kind to which he could only smile.

“And I was probably the most dense of all of them,” I whispered.

He slid his hand over mine and squeezed softly.

“No longer.”

“No longer,” I repeated, squeezing back. I took a deep breath. “Why don’t those in charge do something about this?”

To this Ian laughed suddenly and hysterically.

“What?”

“Oh, Sophie Price, you’ll get the opportunity. Just wait,” he told me, still laughing.

“I feel like I’m missing something,” I smiled back.

“My mother is the executive mayor of Cape Town.”