Diamonds and Toads (A Modern Fairy Tale) PART ONE: DIAMONDS

Ch. 7

Copyright © K.E. Saxon 2010

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CHAPTER SEVEN

By the time they got around to eating, their dinner was cold and coagulated, so they ordered out for pizza. Chas waited until Delilah had taken a bite out of her second piece before he broached the subject that, even with all that had happened between them in the past three hours, still weighed heavily on his mind and heart: saving his family’s business, the only legacy he had, the only one he had to someday hand down to his own children, and more importantly, the mission his father had given him to do.

* * *

Chas reached across the table and took Delilah’s hand in his. She chewed and swallowed, switching her gaze from her food to his eyes as she lay it down on her plate.

“Thank you for tonight,” he said. “Thank you for the gift you gave me. I’m—I’m honored and humbled, Dee. Honored and humbled.” Sometime in these last hours of intimacy, he’d begun calling her by the diminutive. It fit somehow, fit her, fit this new level to their relationship. But most of all, it sent a warm tide of euphoria through her veins every time he said it.

She felt her cheeks flush and she moved her gaze to his shoulder. “I’m glad you liked it.” I’m glad you liked it? What a dweeb. She shifted in her chair.

He chuckled. “Oh, I liked it alright—that was plain, I think.”

Her hand flew into the pizza box and grabbed another piece. “Here, have some more! There’s loads left.”

He grinned at her, swept a stray lock of hair off her cheek with his finger and then took the proffered piece. “Thanks, don’t mind if I do.” He took a big bite, chewed, then swallowed loudly before saying, “You know…about this money management thing. I’m a little worried.”

Thank God! Another subject. No third degree about why she’d still been a virgin, as if it weren’t obvious. She cocked her head to the side. “Worried? How so?”

“I know you want to manage it yourself—and I applaud you for it. I do. But, Dee, you’ve got little to no experience handling funds of that size. There are so many pitfalls and landmines; I can’t even begin to enumerate them. It could all be lost in a heartbeat—and that’s literal, not even slightly exaggerated.” With a sweep of his hand, he said, “Hell, you know this yourself—look at what happened to your father’s fortune! Your family’s been living with the consequences of that nightmare for a lot of years now.” He sat forward, his arms on his thighs. “Reconsider. Let me invest the funds for you. I swear, I won’t lose a cent of it. In fact, you’ll gain even more wealth under my care.”

Delilah chewed her lip. How was she supposed to explain why she couldn’t let him have control of her money? Even with all they’d shared these past hours, she still wasn’t sure enough of the strength of their bond to tell him about the Perrault fairy legacy. Even she’d thought it a myth until the creature showed up in her life. No rational human being truly believed in magic, charms, and the arcane world of the fey folk. It was the stuff of legends, that was all. She clenched her hands together in her lap where he couldn’t see them. “I know you’re right about everything you’ve said, but try to understand. I need to do this for me.” She sat forward. “I will be careful with my money, though. I promise.”