From Ashes of Scandal to His Embrace (Laurinda) novel Chapter 33

Just thinking about what happened yesterday made Adolphus want to handle those people himself. He took a long breath, trying to calm the mess of feelings swirling inside him. He reminded himself not to scare Laurinda. He hadn’t even managed to win her over yet.

“Your injuries might look healed, but you’ve lost a lot of blood. It’s weakened your body and even hurt your foundation. You really need to take care of yourself.”

Not giving Laurinda a chance to say no, Adolphus turned to Helena. “Helena, can you get a month’s worth of ingredients for medicinal meals? I’ll write out the prescription.”

He picked up the pen and paper from the table and started jotting down the herbs with a steady, confident hand.

Laurinda glanced up at him, watching the way he wrote. For some reason, she couldn’t help but notice how nice his hands looked.

Eaton watched Adolphus, then glanced at Laurinda, who was still watching Adolphus. He looked amused, like he was watching a drama unfold.

When Adolphus handed the prescription to Helena, Eaton spoke up with a teasing smile. “So you’re taking over my patient now? Last time I asked you to help someone, you had all kinds of excuses. Now you’re all in. Tell me, do you two actually know each other?”

“No,” Laurinda said.

“Yes,” Adolphus said at the same time.

The second she denied it, Adolphus turned to her with a helpless smile. “We don’t know each other? After everything at the Adams family estate, plus at school, you’re really going to say that?”

Adolphus’s eyes made Laurinda feel a little guilty. She rubbed her nose and let out an awkward laugh. “Well, if you put it that way, I guess we do. We’re just not that close.”

York pretended not to notice. When it came to Laurinda’s health, he wasn’t about to back down.

Adolphus watched them with a flicker of irritation. He gently squeezed Laurinda’s cool fingers and spoke softly. “You’ll need to eat these meals every day. Are you going to stay at the Adams family estate, or do you have somewhere else in mind?”

“Can’t I just skip them?” Laurinda looked up at him. The thought of medicinal meals sounded terrible. She really didn’t want to eat them at all.

Eaton jumped in at just the right moment. “Those meals are all about timing and technique. Adolphus, you and Laurinda go to the same school. Why don’t you just cook for her at your place? If someone else does it and messes up the timing, the effect won’t be as good.”

“I can do that,” Adolphus agreed right away, picking up on what Eaton was really suggesting.