What the hell have you done to the Longfields?
Ursula's urgent text hit me like a slap, and right now all I want is for the ground to open up and swallow me whole. God, my friend, if only you were here holding my hand. I've got Annia Vandereck right in front of me, in the middle of a crisis, confessing she's a lesbian and only into women like Evangelina, and she has zero intention of going to dinner. On top of that, Mr. Longfield is counting on me to bring her, and to complete this deadly triangle, if I actually manage to convince her, we'll walk straight into Killian and Lucius ready to throw punches over me—because of ego, jealousy, or worse, actual feelings. What the hell am I supposed to do?
My best move would be to let everything go to hell, but that could drag me down even further—Ursula's hatred, getting kicked out with nothing but the loss of Mary Garden. So I follow Mr. Longfield's advice and tell Annia what comes straight from the gut, no script:
"I need to confess something right now. You don't know me, I don't know you, but I'm only brave enough to say this because it might actually help in all this madness: Killian and Lucius are out there about to beat the shit out of each other, and it's all because of me. Look at me—I'm not even that pretty, definitely not an Evangelina—but for some reason they both want me at the same time. And here's the part that's really going to blow your mind… I'm just the new gardener."
Somehow, that caught Annia's attention immediately. She dropped her defensive posture and leaned closer.
"Wait, you're actually part of the mansion staff? Hold on—never say you're not pretty again in your life, you hear me? Look at yourself. You've got two different eye colors, and they're incredible, and your body is absolutely enchanting. Everything about you is small, but sexy as hell. I get why those guys are obsessed, trust me. Now I need the full story. You wanted to know something about me? Fine: I'm a hopeless romantic."
She leaned in even closer and whispered:
"Don't tell Evangelina, because she'll use it to squeeze more money out of me, but I'm with her because I have this stupid, secret hope that one day she'll actually fall in love with me. Look at her… isn't she gorgeous?"
I turned to look at the redhead. She was lounging in one of the armchairs across the room, one hand slowly massaging her neck. When she noticed us staring, she gave us a sensual smile and blew a kiss our way.
I answered without thinking:
"I think she's the most beautiful creature I've ever seen."
Annia sighed. "See? How could I give that up to marry some guy, Longfield or not? My love story is never going to be straight. I'm one hundred percent sure of that. But tell me… how can we help each other?"
I joked back, "You go out there alone and fix everything with the brothers while I stay here with Evangelina. After seeing her, that sounds like the best plan ever."
She burst out laughing so hard she had to clutch her stomach. When she finally calmed down, she grabbed my hand and said:
"Nobody ever talks to me this honestly because I'm a Vandereck. I like you, Carmilla."
I jumped in quickly. "Look, our best shot right now is to go to that dinner, but like this: you and I walk in arm-in-arm, laughing like none of this matters. Once we're all sitting down, I'll give you the opening so you can tell Killian straight-up that you'll never touch him because he's a man—nothing personal, all that. Then we'll head to the dock, drink, relax, and laugh. I promise there won't be any huge scandal."
Annia thought for a few seconds and nodded. "Okay, but you don't leave my side for a second, and you have to tell me every twisted detail of your love triangle with the Longfield brothers. This is amazing—it feels like a real novel. Here's the deal: you protect me so they don't crucify me at dinner, and in return, by the end of tonight I'll tell you which one of them loves you more. But… should we bring Evangelina so Killian knows I'm not lying?"
I made an exaggerated angry face. "Don't you dare bring that supermodel, movie-star, magazine-cover girl anywhere near the Longfields or me, or we'll all end up fighting over her—and I'm not losing my virginity in some kind of orgy."
Annia laughed again and teased, "Wow, you're a virgin? Nice. Me too—I've never been with a man, and I never will be. Oh, Carmilla, meeting you was a miracle. I was terrified until you showed up." She squeezed my hand. "Help me out—tell them we'll be at dinner in twenty minutes. And what the hell am I supposed to wear?"
Don't judge me, my friend. I wanted to hate her, but I couldn't help putting myself in her shoes. Billionaire or not, she's just a girl who wants to be loved. We went behind a door that led to a massive bed. The redhead followed us, and Annia—acting like we'd been best friends forever—stripped right in front of me to change into a delicate blouse. She has full breasts and strong arms. Evangelina came up behind her, wrapped her arms around her, and started squeezing them. I had to look away at first, but when they didn't stop, I glanced back and watched them kiss. It was… pretty hot. Until the redhead winked at me and my face burned bright red. I cleared my throat.
"Okay, okay, back to business. Twenty minutes. We need to go."
Annia skipped the makeup but sprayed on a striking perfume, slipped on some gold bracelets, and pulled on loose designer pants that actually looked amazing on her. We both fixed our hair in the mirror with our hands and headed out. Evangelina gave her a deep kiss goodbye, and while she did, she stretched one arm and casually brushed my breast, pretending it was accidental. When I didn't say anything, as we walked through the door she openly grabbed my ass. I spun around and shot her a warning look. I have to admit… I liked it. I'm so screwed, aren't I? The redhead blew us another kiss and closed the door behind us.
We walked down the hallway arm-in-arm. Thank God we didn't have to fake the laughter—everything I said made her crack up. Just telling her Killian was the blond and Lucius the one with black hair had her doubled over, holding her stomach. I don't blame her; the whole situation is completely insane. But when we saw the guys waiting for us in the distance by the door, clearly trying to pretend they hadn't just been fighting, Annia stopped dead and whispered:
"Is that Killian? Am I supposed to marry Thor? Now I get why you like these guys."
Lucius stepped forward first, respectful as ever.
"Annia Vandereck, I'm Lucius. It's finally a pleasure to meet you. This is my brother Killian, and I don't need to say how welcome you are in our family. You two are going to make a great couple."
Killian shoved past Lucius, walked straight up to Annia, and pulled her into a hug.
"Sorry about all of this. You can run away anytime you want."
She joked back, "I think I'll run away with Carmilla right now, but then my dad would kill me and all that, which you already understand, so we might as well enjoy this dinner."
As we sat down together at the table and they served some fancy appetizer I couldn't even pronounce, Killian started talking about his life and his interests, inviting Annia to share hers. He said his favorite sport was boxing, that he'd trained in MMA, that he loved engines and speed, and hated traveling in anything he wasn't piloting. She agreed with almost everything except piloting helicopters or planes, laughing at how terrible she was at anything that required constant focus. Then, at the same time, they both looked at me and asked:
"What about you, Carmilla?"
While nearly choking on my salad, I answered naturally:
"I have a passion for beauty. I can't stop admiring everything nature has made to perfection. Obviously I love flowers… and I'm also crazy about these two Longfields."
I didn't look at Killian or Lucius's faces, but Annia burst out laughing again, and soon everyone joined in.
I added more seriously, "But honestly, one day I'd like to teach. I want someone to share my love for flowers. Sometimes I picture myself years from now with my own daughters, doing exactly what my adoptive mother did with me… and that gives me peace and happiness."
Under the table, Annia squeezed my leg, signaling it was time. I casually asked her:
"Is it normal that your perfume is driving me this crazy? I don't know what it is, but I'm looking at you like you're the most delicious thing on earth—the same way I look at Lucius when he smells like that. He always smells like angels rolled around in a field of Turkish roses, agarwood, and sandalwood."
She looked at me strangely. "What the hell? How did you pick that up? That's exactly what's in my perfume—Shumukh."
Lucius, surprised, said, "Same here, but I usually mix it with an iris root base. Wait… why are you wearing a men's fragrance?"
Annia answered, "Iris pallida root? Clever. No wonder Carmilla said angels—it really is the closest thing to a heavenly scent…"
Like an idiot, I asked, "So Shumukh is a perfume?"
Killian explained, "More like a work of art. It costs a million and a half, so Annia clearly chose it on purpose. But I already have a pretty good idea why. I want her to feel safe telling us the truth. After all, let's be honest—the wedding is happening no matter what."
Still stunned, I pointed at Lucius and Annia. "You two wear a million-and-a-half-dollar perfume? God, that's cheating. It should be illegal to walk around with killer pheromones like that. I have zero defense. But sorry, Annia—Killian asked you a question. Do you want to answer?"
She simply said, "It's obvious… women. I like attracting them, conquering them, kissing them, and falling ridiculously in love with them. Only them."
I took Annia's hand and told him, "Well, that's one more thing you have in common with Killian."
Everyone laughed—except Lucius, who was texting with a sour look on his face.
I asked what he was doing.
"Sending Dad the surprise of the night," he answered.
That surprised me, and I didn't like it at all, but Annia, Killian, and I laughed so much that the rest of dinner flew by—full of jokes about how to decorate the venue or both of them walking down the aisle wearing cowboy hats and Colt pistols on their hips.
We were about to head to the private dock when my phone buzzed. Ursula's message left me breathless:
"What the hell happened? Mr. Longfield was over the moon because you got Annia to come to dinner, but now he says you have to clear out all your things from your room first thing tomorrow morning… that Lucius is behind it. You've just lost everything. What did you do?"