He wasn't lying about that last statement at all, considering the fact that he had been surprised to learn that she was a shifter, and then both a panther and a lion and then the carrier of a prophecy.It seemed like just when he thought he knew everything about his mate, the tables would turn, and it would be revealed once again that she was far more perfect than he had originally thought.
A true achievement, that was, considering the fact that Ryan was pretty sure he had fallen in love with her the moment that their eyes had met in the restaurant.
Though, sadly, El seemed blind to her own brilliance.
She sighed, her mood obviously lower on account of going to see her mother.That was the only likely explanation.“I just feel like I have all this free time on my hands, and I need to do something,” El insisted, shaking her head at the very thought of being one of those girls who stayed home and let other people take care of her.“You know, not everyone has the luxuries that I have, and I just feel like, all things considered, maybe I should try harder to help other people.I mean, it’s not fair that there are people starving out there while I go to sleep in a twelve-bedroom mansion every single night between silk sheets with a never-ending rotation of men,” El stated, prompting Ryan to laugh.“Besides, I think that this might be the first time that Annabel has ever tried to do anything for me.If I turn her down now, then it's very likely that things will never get better.But if I take the olive branch with a smile on my face and try to make the best of it...”El trailed off, her eyes glazed over with a whole plethora of things that she didn't seem to want to say to him.
Ryan sighed, knowing that there was no use trying to force her.While some of his brothers were definitely better at speaking to El, he had never been all that great at it.He was still learning how to be more emotionally intelligent, his whole mind altered by the fact that his mother had pretty much raised him to be as assertive as possible.Things like hesitation didn't really resonate with him, not yet, not when he had been taught to leap before he looked.
But Ryan knew that if he was patient with her, then eventually, she would tell him everything.She had proven time and time again that she trusted him, and while it still hurt that he wasn't the one that she turned to in times of distress, Ryan had come to terms with the fact that everyone had a different role in their relationship with El, and his role was to encourage his mate as much as possible.
He set to promptly do that by wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his head on her shoulder, inhaling in the sweet scent of the young woman and giving her a place to vent her frustrations if she so desired.
“Whatever you want me to do,” Ryan swore, his devotion to his mate never-ending.“I’ll do it.Wherever you want me to go, however you want me to support your goals, I'll do it.Never doubt that I would do anything for you,” Ryan stated, and then added, with a grimace, “even go to see your mother and your half-wit brothers on Mother’s Day.”
El laughed, pulling away from him with a smile, her heart obviously lifted by his kind words.Ryan was reassured in that, knowing that, at the very least, he was capable of lifting her spirits and bringing his mate back to reality.
At least until he remembered what reality was and the uncomfortable situation that they found themselves in.
“OK, so, babysitters,” El began, obviously as hesitant as Ryan was to give their daughter to any of the people that they knew but knowing that it was a requirement in order to go to the events tonight.“What you have to know is that being a businessman, my dad doesn't exactly do anything for free,” El admitted with a grimace, seemingly hesitant to admit the faults of the one parent who seemed intent on staying around.
“So, we have to reimburse him?”Ryan questioned, raising a brow at the idea of giving a multi-billionaire a paltry sum for watching his own granddaughter.
“Well, not hourly,” El said with a shrug, obviously thinking what Ryan was thinking at that very moment: that minimum wage wasn't exactly going to cut it when it came to her father, of all people.“But there's a vineyard on the way that I happen to know that he likes, and we can pick him up a bottle or two as a thank you, maybe even on the way back?”El stated with a hesitant smile, shaking her head at the very thought but not seeming all too capable of coming up with another idea.
“A bottle of wine for babysitting?”Ryan laughed, throwing back his head at the very thought.“God, you sure know how to keep things interesting,” he stated, the smile never leaving his lips as he looked up at his mate, obviously glad that his life had evolved into something of casual conversation and gifted wine bottles rather than the rush of kidnapping and death that had plagued them for the past year.
Things were looking up, the two of them had to admit to themselves.Life was beginning to settle down.Ryan nodded to himself, pressing another kiss to his mate’s jaw.
Unfortunately, no matter how much she told herself that things were growing quieter and that life was growing safer, El couldn't fight the small voice in the back of her head that insisted that something was wrong.Maybe she'd just been in danger for so long that she didn't know how it felt to be normal anymore.El hoped that was the case.
Chapter12
There was an unfortunately long list of rules of social etiquette when it came to visiting a place such as the Forsythe-Drew estate, and even friends and family were expected to abide by them.Luckily, El had known such rules since the moment that she could walk, and it seemed like Ryan and all of her mates seemed well accustomed to them as well, but every now and again, she had to stop and remind herself of exactly how things worked in her family home.
Largely because if she didn't, then it was very likely that Annabel would have her neck.
Therefore, because wealth did not scream, it whispered politely, El and Ryan did not arrive in a limo or anything of the sort.Not this round, largely because they knew how society worked, and they weren't trying to impress anyone.It was far more well-mannered for them to show up in a luxury, yet it was a seemingly well-maintained car driven by a driver than a limousine.After all, Annabel had once told her daughter, ‘Limos are for Midwestern Proms, fading Las Vegas stars, and lower middle-class bridal parties.’Such things were relegated to the realm of such tackiness as chunky highlights and Annabel's mind, and therefore, while El was well aware that they had an armored limousine for larger events such as restaurant openings and the like, she had protested when Adam had dared to suggest it, after all, they were driving to her supposed mother's home of all places, not a war zone.
Instead, they took the Jaguar, the 1986 Jaguar, the one done with powder blue paint that she knew Trip had spent one summer pouring his heart and soul into.
Ryan and El rode silently for the most part to her mother's home, the two of them both similarly engaged with their current pressing affairs.El with her charities and her plans for improvement for the pride compound, and Ryan with his portfolio of investors and evaluations of land for future expansions on Feral, the chain of restaurants that the brothers were working so hard to build.Aside from audibly stating a simple, muttered, “No, that would pollute the brand too much,” Ryan had not said much the whole entire ride to El’s mother's house.But to be honest, she didn't need him to say much.When you are in love, silence never feels uncomfortable; it just felt like another part of being with someone, and every now and again, Ryan would look up from his laptop and shoot her a smile, his leg bouncing on his thigh as he looked in her direction and made it too clear that he approved of the champagne colored dress that she wore that day, one that he had obviously bought himself.
One that he had made it very clear upon buying that he planned to remove himself as well, as many of her gifted pieces were intended, the men whom she shared her life with having far more voracious appetites than she had initially assumed, but El being left unable to complain as they guided her through orgasm after orgasm, endlessly tending to her needs.
It was hard to complain that a lover was too attentive, too giving.Obviously, her partners were perfect in all regard, and she wouldn't trade them for anything.Even if that anything was a chance to change her mind at the last moment and not be forced into an unfortunate dinner party with her mother.
Hesitation arose in El’s mind the moment that the wrought iron gates appeared, a small part of her protesting at the thought of walking through them.She didn't know why, but for some reason, after years and years of going through the same song and dance, she felt more off-kilter walking into her mother's house than usual.Actually, since her father had left her mother, El always felt somewhat odd entering her former residence.Her childhood home had somehow been majorly tainted by the incident, even though she would argue that it likely had been improved.Her father would probably say the same.
After all, for the bulk of her childhood, her parents had been screaming after each other about something or another, fighting about some affair or news item that would surely tear them apart.Then news of them divorcing should have been a vast improvement to anyone who was forced to live with them, and yet something about it put her on edge.Maybe it was the way that her mother acted like there was something greatly wrong that she couldn't state, like she actually needed El’s father in any regard, despite having said time and time again that he was nothing more than a useless lump who would surely drive his family’s company into the ground.
Perhaps something about her father had always grounded Annabel, bringing her back to reality and reminding her that the world did not revolve around her.That seemed possible.El hated to admit it to herself, but she was pretty sure that her father had a calming effect on just about everyone, judging by the way that he effortlessly handled his overly enthusiastic mate.
Regardless of what she thought of it all, El did her best to hold herself straight and look ahead as they neared the entry to the Forsythe-Drew estates, ignoring the frequent flashes of light that showed at the corner of her vision and had shown at the corner of her vision since she was a child.Photographers were just part of her life when she was with her parents.She had to remind herself.While she had been lucky enough to escape them on the compound with her daughter, coming back into this world would mean that, eventually, it was very likely that photos of her daughter would get out.The paparazzi were relentless, and they didn't care who they hurt in the pursuit of a paycheck.In some ways, that was deplorable, and in other ways, it was indicative of something that she knew she would never understand.Therefore, she did her best not to judge them.
And not to cringe as the giant, ornate gates opened at the side of her car, obviously recognizing the vehicle to be something that only someone of status would own.It was rare that anyone would ever telecom into the estate.After all, either you were someone who was recognizable to security, and knew the way in, or you were no one, and they didn't have time to bother with the likes of you.Thus was the world of the upper class.
And thus was the long, winding driveway of El’s past, the driveway that she had snuck down several times in her youth, escaping from her gilded cage in order to live like a normal teenager every now and again.Now, every time that she drove up it, she remembered the freedom that she once felt and the tightness in her chest every single time that she was caught out and about and forced to return to her parents’ home—at least until she was asked to move in with her grandparents and allowed to finally escape her parents' oppressive rule.
