A Deceptive Beauty

Chapter Twenty Five *

Kai was pissed. He still couldn't believe Kaiden let her go. Now he was suffering, because he missed her so damn much. This past week, he missed her bright smile, her stern and stubborn but teasing attitude, her soft lips...

Instead, he was dealing with Charlotte's verification. Kaiden had wrote letters to Lenore's and Charlotte's alibis, to bring them in. For Charlotte, he wrote to her father, the inventor. For Lenore, he wrote the the viscount, Luther Hollingsworth. Both had a credible reputation.

Today, the inventor was going to come. If Charlotte was proven to be who she claimed to be, she would be allowed to return home. After all, she was in love with Sebastian and would no longer be any use to Kaiden, even if he didn't like Belle more.

And today, Belle was supposed to return. He didn't know when, but she had promised it would be today. He wasn't sure how long her journey was but she would probably get back to the castle in the afternoon. Even perhaps at night.

All day, while he was supposed to be getting ready to greet the inventor, he had been thinking of what he'd do once Belle came back. Kaiden had stolen the goodbye so he would take the welcome back.

Kai was going to kiss her crazy before admitting how much he missed her. He would whine to her, no matter how unmanly that would make him, about how he barely interacted with the other three girls, consequently making him bored without her company.

Charlotte and Lenore held no interest to him and Kaiden. Valencia, however, was still a vixen and was too alluring for comfort. But neither him nor Kaiden fell for her trap.

Not that he was going to tell Belle about any of that.

A knock on the door made Kai open his eyes.

"Dearie? There's a visitor," Mary's voice sounded from the other side if the door. The inventor must be here.

Kai sighed. He would have to temporarily relinquish control to Kaiden now. Mary was still a little uncomfortable around him, although she was getting better. However, there was no need to be around the inventor. After all, he had terrified him the first time.

Kai remembered that when he took Charlotte, he had done it by bargaining with her father. He had threatened the inventor to allow his daughter to stay with him until the end if the year, in exchange for keeping his family's life. The inventor had been sworn to secrecy and had been forced to tell Charlotte that the duke had offered her a stay at his castle.

It was a wonder that the inventor agreed to see him again. Even though he didn't know about the difference between him and Kaiden. But in the letter, Kaiden did explain that he could take back his daughter.

Kai transitioned and let Kaiden take control. His eyes blurred from a blazing gold to a bright green.

"I'll be right there. Can you go get Charlotte for me?" Kaiden called, getting up to his feet. He tugged on his thin jacket, straightening it up so that he was more presentable.

He made his way out of the room and down to the waiting room, where Charlotte's father was waiting. The only reason he knew that he was there was because Mary usually told people to wait there.

Kaiden put on his calm and controlled persona, convincing himself that things will go his way. It was highly unlikely that something could go wrong but it was always nice to have a pep talk.

He already had a little chest full of valuables, for the inconvenience of taking Charlotte away for a few months. It was bribery, and he knew it, but the man should be happy: he gets a sum of money and his daughter back.

It was there when he realized a small, stupid detail.

He silently groaned to himself. Charlotte already proved herself to be who she claimed to be. Kai had threatened her father, in her house. Not Agatha's little cottage in the dark of the woods. And he definitely didn't threaten a witch's family either.