Chapter 89

To my surprise, Victor was right. Family dinners at the Klein’s home were not always formal affairs.

Lana and Harry wore nice, but casual clothes, and Victor told me Lana had helped prepare the meal.

“Cooking is a hobby of mine,” she explained as she removed an apron covering her skirt and blouse.

“Do you like to cook, Daisy?” she asked as she took her seat at the table.

“Sometimes,” I said. “I like to cook better than doing the dishes.”

I wasn’t as uncomfortable as I thought I would be despite Victor and his father being lost in talk about business.

Lana occasionally joined in. She seemed as knowledgeable as the men. She was an excellent role model.

Best of all, my fears of ruining the dinner by doing something clumsy were laid to rest in the first ten minutes of the meal when Harry accidentally spilled his wine.

Lana raised her eyebrows when he continued to discuss a new client of Victor’s as the wine spread across the linen tablecloth.

Saunders appeared at his elbow with a dry cloth to clean up the spilled wine. “Excuse me, sir,” the butler said twice before Harry responded and allowed him to clean up the wine.

Lana made an exasperated sound and turned to me. “Daisy, Victor mentioned you spotted another Delacroix at the library.”

I cleared my throat before speaking. “Um …yes, the painting is in a glass case behind the librarian’s station. It’s a beautiful pastoral scene.”

“I would like to see it, “ Lana said. “Maybe I’ll go with you when you return your books.”

“That will be two weeks from today,” I told her.

“I’ll pick you up after school that day instead of Victor,” she agreed. “Saunders, will you please place the date on my calendar?”

Saunders nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

When I lived in the city, I could walk wherever I wanted to go. Since I moved in with Alex, somebody had to pick me up and take me wherever I needed to go.

It was starting to bother me. I was more than old enough to drive now, yet I didn’t have my license.

“Victor, while you’re teaching me things, would you please teach me how to drive?” I asked sweetly.

Victor looked up from his plate. “A car?”

Lana rolled her eyes so hard I could almost hear it. “Of course, a car.”

Victor squinted at his mother. “She doesn’t have a car.”

“Teach her with your car,” Lana said. “I’m sure Alex would happily buy her a car after she has a license.”

Harry looked at his son’s pained expression and began to laugh.

“She can’t learn to drive in a brand new Lamborghini,” Victor insisted while ignoring his father’s laughter.

“Why not?” I asked. “It has a steering wheel, a gas pedal, and a brake pedal just like any other car.”

“Victor, don’t you have your car well insured?” Harry asked. “I taught you to never take chances with your valuable property.”

“We’ll see,” Victor told me and changed the subject. “Dad, how is the Shelton deal going?”

“It’s coming along,” Harry replied. “We stand to make a six-figure profit in the first quarter.”

Lana and I glared at Victor, but he ignored us and kept talking business with his father.

I tried to follow what they were saying, especially when Lana and Harry disagreed about an investment opportunity that Lana wanted to try.

I thought Harry should trust her judgment more, but it wasn’t my place to say anything.

But the food was good, and the company was pleasant. I needed to learn more about business matters, so I could understand what they were discussing.

After all, I was expected to take over Alex’s business one day.

The meal was over before I knew it. I was surprised how comfortable I felt in Lana and Harry’s home.

Victor looked at me and stood. “We need to get going, Daisy.”

“Thank you for a wonderful meal,” I said.

Lana and Harry seem like a well matched couple. They were a smart, attractive power-couple. There was no animosity between them, but I saw no true affection between them either.

When we were in Victor’s car, he brought up his parents.

“This was the first time you spent much time with both of my parents. What do you think?” Victor asked.

“They seem like… a well-matched couple.”

Victor smiled. “Yes, I guess that is a better term to describe a couple married for convenience and business purposes.”

My eyes widened.

“Oh, Sorry. I didn’t know,” I apologized.

“Why apologize? I learned from their example of marriage. There is nothing bad about it,” Victor said with no particular expression on his face.

Is that why he cared nothing about marriage and love?

But Lana and Harry seemed happy enough even though it wasn’t the type of marriage I wanted.

They loved their son, yet I wasn’t sure if he was the glue that held them together or if there was something unseen beneath the surface.

Anyway, I had no right to judge anyone.

I changed the subject and brought up driving lessons again.

“If I buy a car, will you teach me how to drive?” I asked.

Victor hesitated a moment. “Sure.”

I was going to ask him why I couldn’t learn in the Lamborghini when Diana and Adam suddenly spoke.

“Wouldn’t a quick run be nice?” Diana asked.

“Just for a little while?” Adam agreed.

I looked at Victor and nodded.

“Okay,” he agreed. “We’ll shift in the rose garden again.”

Shifting came naturally to me this time. Diana and I enjoyed a run around the entire perimeter of Alex’s land with Victor and Adam.

We stopped to rest at the top of the hill above the mansion while watching the full moon rise.

We lay in the high grass next to each other with our heads together, watching shadows drift across the moon.

“I waited for this moment all my life,” Diana said.

“It feels like it’s taken eons to find you, Diana,” Adam added.

It was such a romantic scene that tears came to my wolf’s eyes. I could sense Victor was moved too.

But in the next second, the moment was spoiled. Victor’s wolf rolled over and away from mine.

He landed on his feet but stayed low as he sniffed the air. A growl rumbled low in his throat.

“I smell the intruder again,” he said. “Let’s pretend we are running a lap around the field, but when we get close to his position in the woods, we will dart into the trees and seize him.”

We followed Victor’s plan, but when we dashed into the woods where the intruder’s scent was the strongest, but he was already gone.

“Should we follow his trail?” Adam asked.

“No. We won’t catch him now,” Victor replied. “He could be in his truck by now.”

“I think it was Noah’s wolf,” Adam declared. “The scent is similar to him while he’s in his human form, and he thinks he has a right to Daisy.”

“I wish he would leave me alone?” I declared. “I can’t stand him, and he only wants my inheritance.”

“I’ll speak to Alex and ask him to officially announce our engagement soon. It’s the only way to make males like Noah stop pursuing you,” Victor declared.

“Daisy has school in the morning,” Diana reminded us.

“Let’s do another lap around the field, and then we should call it a night.”

“Yes,” Victor agreed. “And she has a long day tomorrow. Besides your business lesson after school, we have the art gallery opening tomorrow night.”

“I’ve been looking forward to the opening,” I said. “I’ve been researching the artist online, and I think I will enjoy viewing her work.”

Victor’s wolf gently nuzzled my ear. “You give me a reason to be proud of you every day.”

“I’m glad,” I responded. “Now, let’s go for that run.”