Chapter 49
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I give her a soft smile. Diana has always been kind to me each time I’ve visited. I have no reason to distrust her, but I’m a little hesitant to discuss Kane with anyone. That’s their Alpha, after all.
I suppose I can still talk about some of the things on my mind and just avoid mentioning him.
“It’s just about this dinner I’m planning,” I begin. “It’s for the Alpha King’s departure, so it’s a big deal. But I’m having trouble getting any help from anyone because of certain…complications.”
Complications meaning Bianca stripping me of all and any resources.
“So now I’m trying to do everything on my own, but I’m hitting road block after roadblock,” I say with another sigh. “I can’t even cook. I mean, I can’t cook enough food by myself for over thirty people. Not unless I plan on serving everyone cereal.”
Diana gently laughs at my last sentence, causing me to join her. I’m then surprised to feel her hand softly and suddenly placed over mine.
She still smiles at me as I stare at her.
“You know…I’m a pretty excellent cook and I have a lot of experience catering for large parties,” Diana tells me, giving me an insinuating look.
“Oh,” I pop out, surprised as I blink at her.
“If you’d allow me to,” she states. “I’d like to help you.”
As I return back to the packhouse, I’m feeling lighter and more hopeful as I get right to work with Diana. She has called in reinforcements, bringing other nurses and previous employees from her catering days.
with her.
Together, we get right to work. Diana and I spend an hour planning the menu before she sends someone out to get ingredients. Then we’re all on clean up duty, undoing all of the damage that Bianca and her minions did to the dining hall. With all of their help, it doesn’t take long to fix.
We continue planning the flow of dinner, finger foods we’ll set out beforehand, and the general decorations for the room. I actually find myself enjoying the preparations, falling easily into a rhythm that makes time start to fly by.
It grows later and later into the night, but none of us seem tired. Still, we word hard alongside one another. I’m so focused on the task at hand that I almost don’t realize that Kane is suddenly standing within the room.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, stopping in front of him with a stack of plates in my hands.
I realize how quiet the dining hall is around the room. As I glance behind me, I notice that everyone else in my prep crew is gone, which means they’re likely back in the kitchen to help cook. Kane and I are
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completely alone.
I turn back around, lifting my gaze to him. Meanwhile, Kane’s own stare scans the room, studying the general display. Though we’ve done a lot, we still have a lot left to do.
Finally, his eyes slide to me.
“I came to discuss the banquet with you,” he states.
“Okay…,” I begin, wearily. “What about it?”
I can see the vein in Kane’s neck move as he swallows, his gaze still hard.
“Bianca has a lot of experience planning these things,” he says. “If you give up now and let her take over, then it’s not too late. She can do it.”
My eyes widen at his words, my arms shaking with the weight of the plates still in my arms.
His words are like a punch in the stomach, especially considering all the work I’ve been doing over the past four hours. His expression doesn’t change as he continues to stare down at me, but my own anger quickly builds.
“I don’t need her help,” I press coldly. “I don’t need any of your help.”
I then brush past him, going to put the plates down on a banquet table set up at the side of the room.
“Evelyn,” Kane begins, his eyes hot against my back. “It might be better for the interest of everyone if you let her take over. You can’t get all of this done by yourself on such short notice.”
I hold back the urge to scoff, realizing that Kane is unaware of the crew inside the kitchen. He truly doesn’t realize I have other help – help that I actually want. He truly thinks I’m trying to pull this off all on
my own.
I don’t care to correct him.
“I don’t need help from you or Bianca,” I say, turning back to him. My features are now cold, but plain.” Now if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.”
Once more, I rotate away from him, getting back to my preparations. And Kane lets me. He offers no other arguments or attempts to change my mind.
He just leaves.
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