The Addition

Chapter Thirty-Six

After a few minutes, Kaden helps me dry the tears off my face, and I dry the tears off his.

"Do you want to go back to the party?" Kaden asks.

"I'd be delighted."

I grab his hand and lead him into the great room. As we make our way through the door, smiling bigger than ever, we catch the attention of a few people in the room. Valentina's scowl is priceless as Kaden and I make our way to the dance floor. America, not surprisingly, is beaming.

Kaden and I sway to the music all night, with my head on his chest and his arms around my waist.

"Looks like the dancing lessons paid off." Kaden looks down at me and I smile.

Finally, at the end of the night, Kaden walks me to my room.

Before he walks away, I pull him close to me and kiss him quickly.

Kaden smiles. "Goodnight, my lady."
He kisses my hand and we leave each other, now stronger than ever.

~

The next few days in Italy are bliss. Of course, Eadlyn has her events and spends time with the suitors, but I dedicate most of my late nights to Kaden. Now we sit on the balcony of one of the parlors, backs against the wall and my cheek against his shoulder, staring at the stars, telling each other every last detail about ourselves.

"What's your favorite color?" Kaden asks me, not making eye contact, but clearly deep in thought.

"Purple," I answer, trying to find different constellations. "What's yours?"

"Blue," he replies, "Like your eyes."

"Stop it you sap." I blush, but he can't see under the dim moonlight. "Middle name."

He sighs, "Micah, but you already knew that. How about you?"

I echo his sigh. "Marguerite."

"Wow. Really?" He says surprisingly.

"Yeah, my parents were really into long names. Annabelle Katherine, Elizabeth Marguerite, Genevieve Carolyn, Charles Robert, Edward Fredrick, and Alexandra Bea."

Kaden sits up abruptly. "I thought Genevieve was your only sister." I look down, ashamed I've never told him the full story of my past and how I got here. He puts a hand on my cheek, making me raise my eyes to his. "I want you to be able to tell me anything." I nod, agreeing, and I feel so comfortable with Kaden, that I tell him everything.

I tell him about how my father is rarely around and how all my mother wants for me is to just find a rich husband and settle down. I tell him about when Annabelle moved out and joined the Peace Corps, and my mother making me apply for the boarding school. He continues listening, holding my hand tenderly as I explain how my mother was going to make me go to the boarding school and leave Genevieve, and that's when I woke up in Illéa, with no clue of how I got here.

Kaden pulls me in close when I finish speaking, and puts his hand in my hair.

"I'm sorry you had to go through all that. You're the strongest person I know."