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Sophia nods her head determinedly, and I know she’s going to point out just about every piece of art here tonight.
She runs off, and Chandler and I let her go ahead for a minute.
“Victoria and her parents are close friends of my family. Her parents are actually my godparents.”
I don’t know if that makes me feel better or worse about her.
“I grew up with her; she’s practically my cousin.”
I can’t help the snort that escapes me.
“I don’t think she views you the same way.”
He gives me a questioning look, but I just point to Sophia and walk ahead to catch up to her.
We let Sophia guide us through the gallery, and I’m surprised how much she likes it. I thought she would be bored within ten minutes of arriving, but with Chandler reading her all the stories behind the art and the artists, she seems to be entertained.
We spend thirty minutes looking around at everything, and I’m just starting to relax when a deep voice calls out for Chandler.
“Chandler Bishop, since when did you start coming to art galleries?”
The three of us turn to find a man headed in our direction. He’s about Chandler’s height with light brown hair that falls around his face and dark brown eyes that look almost black. He looks like he might be a few years younger than Chandler. His walk is confident, and you can tell that he grabs the attention of the room as he moves through it.
I turn to look at Chandler’s reaction to him, and the scowl on his face tells me he does not like this man. It’s interesting to me that there is someone he visibly shows disinterest in. I thought he liked everyone.
Once the man is close enough, Chandler nods at him.
“Damien.” His voice is cold and pitched deeper than normal.
He moves to stand just in front of Soph and I, blocking us from the man’s view, but it has the opposite effect, and the man’s eyes lock on me.
“And who is this beautiful woman?”
I’m surprised to find that he doesn’t know who I am. Everyone we’ve seen so far has known who I am. He holds his hand for me to take, and when I place mine in his, he turns it and brings the back of my hand to his mouth. I’m sure it’s meant to be a charming gesture, but all I want to do is yank my hand from his and wipe it off.
“Pleasure to meet you; I’m Damien Hawthorne. Chandler’s only competition.”
I look over at Chandler and he’s glaring daggers at Damien, he should be thankful looks really can’t kill.
“I’m Tanya and this is Sophia.”
Damien looks down like he’s just noticing Soph for the first time, and when she meets his eye, she takes a step back into me and scrunches up her nose.
“You’re not going to kiss my hand like that, right?”
Chandler lets out a guffaw, and I squeeze Soph’s shoulder.
“Sophia Roberts, that is not polite.”
She keeps eyeing him disdainfully, and I look to Chandler for help.
“Well, Damien. I think you’ve made my daughter and fiancé uncomfortable; I’d appreciate it if you backed off.”
His expression is open, and there is a smile on his face, but even I can hear the venom behind his words. Damien straightens and looks to Chandler with an expression that looks like he just discovered something great.
“Daughter? I didn’t know you had a kid, let alone were engaged.”
Damien looks to me again, and the predatory look he gives me makes my skin crawl. This is the second person to make me feel like I was just a pawn in some larger game that I don’t understand. The feeling of not belonging from earlier resurfaces.
