Walter de Ville's Advocate

Chapter Six

"Oh my gosh," Evie said, stopping in place as she eyed the display of food I had the staff arrange for her breakfast. "I've never seen such a beautiful selection of fruits, Danishes, and sausages – or, well, just in magazines and on the Food Network." She wore a snug pair of jeans, an oversized, burgundy sweater perfect for a cool morning, and with her hair mostly tied up with a colorful scarf I could see a myriad of earrings adorning her ears, as well as the golden loop through her septum.

I stood up, gesturing for her to join me. "Please, sit," I smiled, offering her chair to her. Once seated, I retook my own, and closed my books for the time being. "I trust you slept well?" I asked, hoping to get some insight into what Viktoria might've been up to last night.

Evie lifted a shoulder, "I suppose. Honestly, this place is kind of spooky." I chuckled since she didn't know the half of it. She slowly looked over the assortment of breakfast foods.

"Get anything you like. I've already eaten, but don't shy away from having a healthy and full breakfast."

"Well, I'm not sure why you think I can eat all of this," she laughed, grabbing an assortment of foods for her plate. "Will anyone else be joining us?" The way Evie asked that seemed to suggest that she thought someone in particular might also sit at the patio this morning. Did she see Viktoria and Lucy on their way back up to their rooms?

"Such as?"

Evie shrugged. "Oliver said that the Alexanders were staying here for the wedding, so I thought that maybe . . .," she looked around the table, "but there aren't enough seats here for the wedding of the century."

There are when the only two of importance – at least most importance – are already seated here.

"They have their own morning plans, though I know your little reunion will start around the lunch hour. Are you excited to meet everyone?" I grabbed a couple fresh strawberries, just so she didn't feel alone in her meal.

After an alluring moan as she bit into a raspberry Danish, she swallowed quickly. "Mm, yeah. I'm not sure if you know this, but I actually took one of those DNA tests a couple months ago; the ones that show you where your family origins are, or if you are predisposed to Alzheimer's disease?

"Anyways, I was having a low moment one night – you know – wishing my mom was here, and sent it off. I forgot all about it until I got a message from my cousin Oliver one evening." Evie shrugged and took a bite of honeydew wrapped with prosciutto. "Now, if I'd had paid for it myself, I probably would've been refreshing my email daily. Those things aren't cheap."

When Oliver Alexander had explained to me how he'd located a long-lost descendant of his family's bloodline, I had inquired more and discovered that these kinds of tests only cost about £90 – or $100 – and although I knew Evie was not wealthy, it surprised me that such an insignificant amount of money almost kept us from ever crossing paths.

Whether I was catching a lucky break after all these years, or if it was fate, I did not know.

Evie continued to feast on the delicacies upon her plate, and I found myself hypnotized by the activity. The slow drag of her thumb over her bottom lip, catching the stray icing there, and then gently sucking the end of her finger clean. Her eyes had been closed, but now they were fixed on mine; Evie knew full-well that I'd been staring at her.

"Are you sure you're not hungry?" she teased, gesturing to the rest of the pastries on the platter.

Oh, I was surely starving now, but I would not be satisfied by a mere confectionary delight.

"Like I said, I'm not hungry at the moment."

She pierced a cut of sausage with her fork, "I thought you said you already ate, not that you weren't hungry."