TIA'S MATE (Shifters of the Bulgarian Bloodline Book 1)

by Dalia Wright

  “Sure thing,” sang a too-happy Eva. She proceeded to rifle through the closet, completely forgetting about how she’d snuffed Lida out the night before.

  Lida lathered and rinsed as quickly as she possibly could, shaving so fast that she nicked her leg with the razor. She pulled her hair back into a tight bun, put on a pair of her mother’s fake diamond earrings, and walked out in a towel. Before climbing onto the loading dock for the plane, her mother had pressed a small jewelry box into her hand filled with hidden gems. It was the only thing that made Lida miss home—the scent of her mother still lingering on the box, and the costume jewelry which she enjoyed collecting.

  To her surprise, Malcolm was standing in her room. His back was to her, and he was talking to Eva about something. Serena lay like a starfish on her bed, her long hair fanned out like a halo. Stuck between a bathroom and a hard place, Lida cleared her throat nervously.

  “Oh, I didn’t notice you standing there,” Malcolm said. “Oh dear, is that what you’re wearing to brunch? Mrs. Henderson won’t be happy with that.”

  Lida laughed. “You like it? It’s a new style I’m trying out. Maybe Louis Vuitton will even carry my line someday.”

  “Girls in small towels?” I’m not complaining.”

  “O-kay Malcolm, we should probably head downstairs to the car.”

  Serena pushed Malcolm out of the room but not before he could turn around and wink at Lida. She rolled her eyes and flopped onto the bed.

  “What was that about?” Eva asked.

  “Nothing. He’s just a silly guy. And since when do you care? You’ve been nothing but cold to me since the minute I got here.”

  “Mmm, I don’t know about that. I’m always up for a good gossip topic. And Malcolm? I don’t think so. He normally never says a word to us during these kinds of events, keeping to his room until it’s over. I’m surprised you got him to speak more than three words to you.” She paused, tossing a lilac blouse at Lida. “I didn’t see him at the party last night.”

  “Right, me either. I was on the way to my room when I saw him reading with the door open and Serena passed out behind him.”

  “They’re so cute together,” Eva said, raising an eyebrow at Lida.

  “Agreed,” Lida said, quickly gathering her clothes.

  “Mmm,” Eva commented, grabbing a black pencil skirt and handing it to Lida. “Try this on.”

  She turned around and began fishing in the closet for a pair of flats. Lida rubbed her face with her fingers, trying to coax the stress out of her veins. What was going on? It was as if the moment she stepped onto the Stone territory she was engulfed in another world.

  When she finished getting dressed, Eva tugged her downstairs and towards the limo. The other limos had already left, which meant Eva and Lida were late. She had no idea who was waiting for her behind the tinted black windows, but was told there were two others riding with them. When the driver held the door open for Lida to climb in, she was surprised to find Wyatt and Malcolm sitting across from her. Emma slid in next to her and signaled to the driver that they were ready. They sped off like a dark bullet beneath a clear blue Lida.

  “So, who’s hungry?” Eva asked.

  “I’m starving,” Wyatt said, eying Lida. She stared at her hands, which were clasped tightly in her lap.

  “Why is it called brunch if we’re eating at nine in the morning?” Lida asked.

  “Mostly because the upper crust wants to drink. It’s actually a running joke in our family. The only reason we call it brunch is so we can mix alcohol with our waffles.”

  “Ah,” Lida said.

  They arrived outside what looked like an enormous wooden castle. They were to be eating in one of the reserved rooms at a cluster of white tables with candles in the center. When Lida entered the building, she gasped. It was enormous on the inside, with sweeping curtains and large oil paintings hanging on the walls. There were bright gold chandeliers on the ceiling and poinsettias in every doorway. There were about thirty of them in total, adults, children, and young adults. They were led to a small room with golden walls and a thick red carpet. Sunshine spilled through the French doors and illuminated the tables.

  “This place is beautiful,” Lida said. “Where are we sitting?”

  “Oh, there’s place cards,” she said. “Let’s go find ours.” She linked arms with Lida and dragged her towards the tables.

  Eva was definitely up to something though Lida wasn’t sure what. And they’d entered into one of the cars without Malcolm’s girlfriend. She feared breakfast would be strange, and wondered how much longer she could keep this a secret for. Lida knew that the instant she told Wyatt about what had happened, he’d call off the deal. If she were honest with herself, she wasn’t sure she even wanted to go through with it anyway.

  When they found their place cards, Lida noticed she was sitting between Malcolm and Emma. Emma sat next to Wyatt, who sat next to Laura. In between Laura and Malcolm was a girl Lida had yet to hear of. Her name tag read Pia with a curly drop cap.

  “Well,” Emma said, clearly annoyed that Laura was at the table. “Let’s sit down.”

  Lida took her seat and unfolded her napkin. She had a nervous habit of turning paper napkins into pieces of origami, which was unfortunate as that napkin was made entirely of cloth. Slowly, their table filled with both familiar and unfamiliar faces. Abby, Rob, Serena, and Penelope sat down at the table.

  Lida heard Eva suck in her breath before leaning towards Lida and whispering, “It’s going to be a long day.”

  Chapter 5

  Serena came from a family of landowners that had built property near the Everglades dozens of years ago. She went to school at Yale University and studied English. Eva was the daughter of two powerful male investment bankers. When asked about her mother, she claimed that she hadn’t spoken to her in over a decade and no one knew where she had gone. It seemed to Lida that both Serena and Eva were in competition for Wyatt and Malcolm. Serena had her claws sunk into Malcolm and Eva was consistently trying to persuade Wyatt into conversation.

  It drove Lida crazy to watch the other girls fawning over her fiancé and the man she was secretly in love with. She’d realized earlier that morning that she and Malcolm hadn’t used protection, and had been internally stressing out about this all throughout breakfast. Every couple of minutes one of Wyatt’s family members would lean into Lida’s ear and ask if she was okay.

  “I’m fine,” she would say politely, staring down at her plate full of food. She’d lost her appetite due to stress and confusion.

  As for Malcolm and Wyatt, they seemed to both be vying for her attention. She’d never had this much male attention before and wasn’t quite sure how to handle it. While Wyatt was more on the romantic side, Malcolm was cunning and constantly shooting her looks. She caught him winking at her over his pink champagne, or nudging her knee with his foot ever so slightly. The slightest touch from Malcolm or quip from Wyatt sent her reeling. She had to figure out something to do and quick or else she would wind up back in Russia all alone.

  “Where will the wedding be held?” asked one of Wyatt’s cousins.

  Wyatt shot Lida a glance which instantly froze the heart in her chest.

  “We plan on getting married at St. Peter’s chapel,” Wyatt said.

  Lida excused herself and rushed off to the bathroom, confused by Wyatt’s shift in attitude.

  Does he know? She thought to herself.

  Suddenly Malcolm appeared behind her in the dimly lit hall.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked. “We’re going to get caught!”

  “Which is exactly why I followed you,” he said coyly. “An audience is always fun.”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said but was quickly engulfed in a kiss from Malcolm. He took her breath away, pressing her against the wall and pinning her to a painting.

  “What are we doing?” Lida asked. “This is wrong.”

  “Do you really feel
that way?” Malcolm asked, looking deep into her eyes.

  “I don’t know what I feel anymore,” she said.

  They continued kissing until a waiter interrupted them, needing to sneak past.

  “We should probably get back to the table,” Lida said. “We’re going to get in so much trouble.”

  “You get back. I’m going to smoke a cigarette and pretend that’s where I’ve been the whole time.”

  He kissed her on the forehead before disappearing through the kitchen and out the back door.

  Lida couldn’t believe what was going on. How had they not been caught yet? Even at the table, Malcolm had been flirting with her nonstop. He was attentive, and so handsome that he’d begun to haunt her dreams. When she got back to the table, Wyatt asked why her face was so red.

  “I was just talking to one of the waiters and he was teasing me,” Anna lied.

  “And where did Malcolm get off to?” Serena asked, cocking an eyebrow at her.

  “I think he passed by and said something about going out for a smoke.”

  Serena chuckled to herself before digging back into her bacon and eggs. Lida spent the rest of breakfast without an attitude. And when she got home later that day, she fell asleep in her bed and took a long nap.

  For the next few weeks up to the wedding, Lida proceeded to lose her appetite before gaining it back full force. Every day she tortured herself over the fact that she was secretly in love with Malcolm. She found she couldn’t stay away from him, and they stole away with one another every chance they got. Even Wyatt could tell that they cared about each other a little too much. And on a stormy night about a month before the wedding, Wyatt cornered her in the kitchen to ask her what was really going on.

  Lida had woken up in the middle of the night with an insane craving for hot cocoa. Fearful to take a pregnancy test, she’d avoided it and the growing bump in her stomach. She was in the middle of stirring miniature marshmallows into her drink when she realized she wasn’t alone.

  “Hi,” Wyatt said, startling her. There were small blue lights illuminating the kitchen, an invention from Eva of all people. She’d become weirdly obsessed with decorating in the past few weeks, and the house was now filled with strange plastic seashells and colorful fairy lights.

  “Hey,” Lida said. She made to kiss him on the cheek but he pushed away from her.

  “We need to talk,” he said but his tone was surprisingly gentle, kind even.

  Lida swallowed once, hard. She wasn’t sure what to say or how to begin to apologize for what had happened. Luckily, she didn’t need to speak for Wyatt already had a lot on his mind.

  “I know you’re in love with Malcolm,” he said.

  Lida’s face turned a million shades of red, which became purple when mixed with the blue lights.

  “Did Abby say that? Because you know she likes to gossip—”

  “Lida stop. No one had to say it to me. I noticed it. It’s the way you’ve been acting around him. Even when you’re not together, I can tell you’re subdued, thinking of something else.”

  “But I don’t care about him like that. It’s nothing, I swear. I’ll be a better wife to you I promise.”

  “I know you’ll make the perfect wife someday,” Wyatt said, smiling down at her. His smile was a genuine one, and confused Lida.

  “Really?” he asked.

  “Yes. You’ll make the perfect wife to my brother.”

  “What?”

  “I know you’re crazy about him and he’s crazy about you, too. So why not admit it to each other? We don’t have to call the wedding off.”

  “But what about my parents?” She asked, her eyes wide with fear.

  “Already taken care of,” Wyatt said.

  “What?”

  Wyatt went on to explain that he’d already paid the dowry and had wire-transferred the money over earlier that day. Lida couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Every word Wyatt spoke was like a blow to her heart. He had to be the kindest, sweetest man she’d ever met. And he was supporting her and Malcolm’s union. She no longer had to hide anymore. Just the other day she and Malcolm had made love to each other in the broom closet, as they knew no one would be going in there any time soon. They stole kisses when no one was looking, and held hands underneath the table whenever they could. Lida was in love with Malcolm, but every time he’d asked her she’d lied.

  “It’s just pre-wedding jitters,” she told him over and over again.

  “Then why do you keep coming back?” Malcolm would ask, swallowing her up in a passionate kiss.

  “I…” Lida would begin, the words at the tip of her tongue. But she didn’t know how to say it.

  “I am in love with him,” She confessed to Wyatt in his kitchen.

  “I’m happy you were finally able to admit it,” he said with a huge grin on his face. It had been difficult for Wyatt to form affection for Lida because of their situation. But with Malcolm, it had developed honestly, slowly. The feelings they felt for one another were pure and stress-free. It was all Wyatt could have wanted for his baby brother.

  “I just want you to be happy,” Wyatt confessed. “I’ve come to care about you so much. But the truth is, I’m in love with someone else as well. I’ve always had feelings for Eva.”

  “Wow,” Lida said, practically choking on what was left of her cocoa.

  “And while we’re discussing the truth, you should probably take this,” Wyatt said, handing Lida a pregnancy test.

  She protested, giving him the same lie she’d given Malcolm dozens of times. But it was time to face the truth. Lida was pregnant with Malcolm’s child. She hadn’t slept with Wyatt once, mostly because he claimed he wanted to wait till after the wedding. In reality, Wyatt had been stressed out over the situation with Eva. She’d recently left her boyfriend but had been staying away from him so as not to stir the pot. Luckily for Wyatt and Lida, everything was about to work out for them.

  “I thought you’d want to cancel the wedding,” Lida said. “We’re still going to have it?”

  “We are,” Wyatt said, a large grin spreading across his face. “We’re actually going to have a double wedding.”

  “Oh my god,” Lida said. She couldn’t help how excited she was. She raised her hands to Wyatt and embraced him, congratulating him on his newest engagement.

  Wyatt thanked her, giving her a celebratory kiss on the cheek. As they spoke to each other about their plans and the fact that her parents would still be attending the wedding, a figure appeared in the doorway. It was Malcolm, wearing not his pajamas but a three-piece suit with a bright blue tie.

  “She’s all yours,” Wyatt said, hugging his brother.

  Lida looked up at Malcolm, confused as to what was going on.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  He chuckled, smiling at Lida. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you for the past week but I couldn’t find the time.”

  He got down on one knee and reached out for Lida’s hand. Malcolm explained to her that since the moment they met, he couldn’t keep his eyes off her. She’d been the most beautiful woman to grace his presence and even though she was supposed to marry Wyatt, he couldn’t let that happen.

  Malcolm explained that he’d always been a player and that he’d dated around before but his past relationships meant nothing compared to Lida. As he spoke, she felt hot tears rolling down her cheeks. His words shifted something deep within her core, making her realize that there were people outside of her family that cared about her unconditionally. Without warning, Malcolm lifted from his pocket a small felt box. He opened it only to reveal an enormous pink diamond.

  “Lida…I know our situation is unconventional and that we only just met but I’ve never fallen harder in all my life. I can’t waste another moment of my life without you as my bride. Will you do me the honor of making me the happiest man alive?”

  “Yes,” she said, laughing through her tears. “Absolutely yes.”

  He leapt to his feet and li
fted her into the air, twirling her around the kitchen in the stale blue light. Lida felt like she was Cinderella and had finally found her prince charming. She’d been transformed from an impoverished girl from a different country into the soon-to-be wife of a multi-million-dollar family. But she wasn’t after their money. She was after the compassion and brilliance which was Malcolm.

  As he looked down upon her in the light of the kitchen, heavy rain pounding the walls around them, he thought of how lucky he was. He’d told Serena earlier that day that things just weren’t working out between them anymore.

  “How did she take the news?” Lida asked, curious about Malcolm’s well-being.

  “She took it fine. I think she knew it was coming, especially because of how we were acting at brunch the other day. She packed her bags earlier today and flew back home.”

  “Wow,” Lida said. “I can’t believe you left her for me. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world.”

  Malcolm’s soft lips curled into a grin. “You were already the luckiest girl the second you walked onto the Stone premises.”

  He walked over to the fridge and fished around for a bottle of champagne. Finding only white wine, Malcolm shrugged and uncorked the bottle regardless. He also grabbed a canister of whipped cream and a case of strawberries. He sat down on the floor and motioned for Lida to do the same. Lida grabbed two mugs from the sink and placed them between her and Malcolm’s legs.

  That night, they consumed almost two bottles of wine and the entire crate of strawberries. Malcolm also found a case of chocolate-covered blackberries in the back. Giggling, Lida placed a raspberry in Malcolm’s mouth. They kissed and everything tasted like chocolate and fruit. Malcolm undid his tie and shed his jacket, the muscles in his chest protruding through the satin of his dress shirt.

  He pushed her onto her back, kissing down her collarbone and exposing her breasts on the cool tile floor. It was still late enough that the other guests were sound asleep and would not be waking for several hours. Lida was wearing a pair of purple satin pajamas that slid out from under her with ease. Malcolm loomed over her body like Tarzan observing Jane, wondering where he would strike next to claim his woman.