CHAPTER TWO #3
Killian elbowed Enzo. “Now, now… don’t get too excited. My dad hasn’t even revealed his surprise yet.”
“Speaking of the wolf,” Enzo muttered under his breath.
The sudden change in his tone of voice worried Penny a little. He’d been so nice and pleasant so far, and now that Rick Goldman was approaching them, his energy changed completely.
“Mr. Salvador, how do you like the party?”
“So chic and intimate. Thank you for having me.”
Penny’s intuition screamed “fake”. Why was Enzo lying? Good manners, maybe? It was subtle, but she could feel it. He didn’t like her boss.
“Penny, thank you for coming. Now, if you don’t mind, I have a little task for you.”
“Absolutely.”
They stepped aside for a moment.
“Please be a darling and run upstairs. The children are ready.”
“Ready for what?”
“For their party, of course. This is all for them, to welcome them to their new family. Remember?”
She nodded. In her defense, it had been easy to forget. Looking around her, it didn’t look like an event for two nine-year-olds who could barely speak English. Nonetheless, she kept her mouth shut and did her job.
Juniper and Thorn were standing awkwardly in the middle of their room, waiting for her.
Neither her smiles, nor her compliments for the way they looked impressed them, so she sighed, took them by their tiny hands, and led them downstairs.
Stealing glances at them from the corners of her eyes, Penny had to admit they were both simply precious.
Blond hair, big, almond eyes, pale skin…
And they had a sort of nobility to them.
The way they kept their back straight and chin up as they walked, their self-imposed silence… There was something about these kids.
“Nina and Kosta,” she thought. “I wonder whether what brought you to New York all the way from Bulgaria was luck or something else…”
As they descended the stairs, they were welcomed with cheers, applause, and open arms. Suddenly, the energy in the living room changed. All eyes were on Juniper and Thorn. Even though she was between them, guiding them by the hands, she felt invisible. Not even Enzo was looking at her anymore.
“I’ll take them from here.”
Goldman lifted Juniper off the ground, and while he held her in his right arm, he took Thorn’s hand and advanced through the small crowd of smiling people.
A little panicked, Penny ran after him and did her best to adjust Juniper’s skirt, as it had ridden up her thin legs.
She didn’t understand what was going on.
The children were as passive and disinterested as always, but all these rich, powerful people around them…
they were delirious with joy. Was she missing something?
Sure, adopting two orphan kids from one of the poorest parts of Europe was something to be proud of and happy about. But, to what extent?
“Everyone, these are Juniper and Thorn Goldman. They joined our family three months ago, and before you get vocal about keeping them a secret, please understand it was in their best interest to allow them to adjust first.”
A couple of people nodded.
Marcia was standing next to her husband.
She took Juniper from him and placed her back on her feet.
Penny sighed in relief when the woman took a second to rearrange the girl’s dress.
In her opinion, it was too short as it was.
She stole a glance at Killian and Enzo. While Killian looked quite indifferent, Enzo was staring at the two children like he’d just spotted the eighth wonder of the world.
His brows were furrowed, and his jaw was tight and tense.
What was that all about? He seemed very displeased with the scene unfolding before him.
Penny looked back to Richard and Marcia.
They’d raised their glasses, and Goldman was just giving a long, excited speech.
One minute in, and Penny was bored out of her mind.
This man had a talent of using many words together without saying anything important.
Or, at least, his speech didn’t make any sense to her.
He was talking about how the second he’d seen them, he’d known the twins were born to achieve great things.
Yada yada potential, yada yada special, yada yada born under the Aries sun, yada yada Thorn will grow strong and invincible, yada yada Juniper will steal all men’s hearts.
She shook her head. Who talked like that about his adopted nine-year-olds?
Maybe it was a good thing the kids didn’t understand English.
Her gaze fell on their little faces, and she noticed they were both staring at the same person: Enzo.
Was that a smile on Juniper’s face? When she looked back at Enzo, Penny saw he nodded ever so slightly.
It felt as if there was an invisible connection between him and the two children.
“I’ve either drunk too much, or I haven’t drunk enough,” Penelope thought.
She made her way out of the crowd, grabbed her third glass of champagne, and headed toward the terrace.