PARADOX

twenty-seven

Chapter Twenty- Seven

Vega

November 2037

Kennedy Winters

We were running terribly late. My mum couldn't decide on an outfit so she got changed around three times, then she had to change her jewellery and then her shows twice. By the time we actually arrived at Mademoiselles, we were fifteen minutes late.

Brett was sitting inside. He was dressed smartly for a change, his pot belly stuffed into a white shirt and nice tweed trousers covered the rest of him. A rumble of annoyance started in my belly; it ruffled my feathers that he couldn't be bothered to wait for us outside. He was dressed in a smart suit and when he shook my hand, his felt slightly clammy as if he was nervous about something.

"We are so sorry that we're late. We got caught in traffic." She lied. We'd walked. A light blush coated my mum's cheeks as she pressed her lips to Brett's mumbling under her breath "I'll make it up to you later."

Grimacing I sat down opposite the two of them who shared the same side of the booth. Brett barely glanced at me as he held my mum's hand stroking the back of it lovingly. I didn't buy it for one second but she did melting like chocolate in his touch.

The waiter came over to serve us listing a bunch of menu items that I could barely understand. We all ended up ordering the same, Brett was the first one to choose so I could only hope he had good taste buds. Maybe then he could have a redeemable quality.

Fiddling with the ends of my sleeves, I twisted my fingers around one another as mum and Brett spoke. Their conversation seemed dull and I really didn't want to listen. Ever since my dad left, mum had been trying her hardest to find someone to fill the space in our lives, but I didn't think there was a gap, the gap only formed when she got swept up with a man and forgot that she has a child.

She gazed into his eyes like he was God and she was a measly peasant underneath him. My blood fizzled because Brett was lapping all the attention up, all he had done was sit on the couch half-naked and book a fancy dinner once. It was the least he could do after eating everything in our fridge claiming that 'shifters are hungrier than humans so they needed the food more'

When I told Damon that one, he rolled his eyes as he called Brett every name under the sun. It was in fact an over exaggeration and shifters didn't need to eat everything in the fridge so they could survive.

Damon had his own bias towards Brett. Knowing that he is a rogue shifter, he knew that there were very few rules that Brett would follow, and many he would happily break.

"Well, I hope you both have enjoyed your dinner," Brett grinned through his teeth looking extra demonic. He squeezed my mum's hand on the table as the waiter brought over a chocolate mousse that we hadn't ordered.

"I'm so happy that I met you Vi-Vi. You've made my heart light up in ways that I couldn't imagine. You've brought me back to life since the death of my mate Caroline and I will forever feel so grateful to you for that." He took a shaky breath standing to his feet. "You are my true soulmate, Vi and I can't imagine ever spending any time away from you ever again."

My eyes were wide in awe as she watched him kneel to the ground onto one knee.

"I am so thankful that you both have accepted me into your family and that means more to me than you'll ever know, I want you to carry my last name and become a part of my family as well. Violet, will you marry me?"

My head was in my hands, the entire restaurant was watching us. All I wanted was for the ground to open up and swallow me whole. The mortification was too much. Mum fell down to her knees beside him, tears welling in her blue eyes.