Chapter 43

Lucianne, Xandar and Christian skipped lunch in the dining hall for lunch at Christian’s home. Annie had wanted to meet Lucianne ever since Xandar first told Christian about finding his mate at the annual meet-and-greet.

The cousins and Lucianne herself really wanted to start digging into the audits, the real ones, so it sounded like lunch at the residence of the Duke and Duchess was the perfect plan. Lucianne was also concerned with how Ellia, Ben and the other two families were holding up,

so when Xandar asked if she wanted to go, she didn’t hesitate to say yes.

Christian’s villa was about the same size as Xandar’s but the interior had more portraits: Xandar explained that Christian had been fascinated with art for as long as he could remember. His wife, Annie, loved flowers, which explained the colourful flower beds around the house, and the many, many tall vases and small pots at every corner of the rooms in their home.

Lucianne was quite nervous about meeting Annie. Xandar told her that Annie was nice but Lucianne wasn’t sure if they would click as friends. Things would get rather awkward if they had no common interest to hold a simple conversation. That was the reason why Lucianne could never get close to females who only talked about make-up, latest fashion trends or celebrity news. She never kept up with those things. She mentally planned to just get Anniet o talk about flowers as a last resort to avoid any awkwardness.

Christian strode quicker than usual after he entered through the front doors of his home, making his way to the guest lounge where Annie was waiting. It was the first time Lucianne

saw Christian walking ahead of Xandar. The Duke didn’t look back as he made speedy steps t o his wife of seventeen years. 2

Xandar and Lucianne made it to the lounge just in time to see Annie in Christian’s embrace a s the Duke pecked a sweet kiss on the Duchess’s cheek before muttering an affectionate ‘Hey’ to his wife, looking deeply into her eyes. Her eyes matched his affection as she pecked a kiss on his jaw.

and its lights brought out the colors of the posh

a curious cat. Lucianne was so caught up with the sophisticated lounge that she merely offered her mate a shy smile as her hand reached out to

plain pink shirt and white shorts. Even so, she was anything but plain-looking because her facial features made everything she wore stand out in her own way. With a warm smile, she reached out to give Xandar a brief hug before

smiled graciously as she offered a bow and said, “My Queen, it’s a pleasure to finally

had clearly been briefed b y Christian about the new bowing formality. When their eyes met again, the

and to Lucianne’s surprise, pulled Lucianne into a brief hug like she did with Xandar. After letting her go, Annie said, “Christian did say you weren’t

still not actually.” Lucianne admitted sheepishly. “And I prefer if you could just

fair!” Xandar exclaimed. “Babe, you only let me call you ‘Lucy’ days after we met! You

her sometimes-childish mate, “Xandar, I let you call me your sweetheart in less than 24 hours after we first met. Don’t you think that beats

a moment before he said, “It’s debatable.”

is then.”

think you could convince Christian to do the same?” Lucianne asked, despite knowing that

‘My Duchess’ for the entire first year and a half after our marriage, and even before we were engaged? I mean, seriously, what is it with this man

sed

his mate before holding her close to the side of his body and pecking a kiss on her cheek as he muttered, “My Duchess” into her ear. Annie’s mock look of annoyance was quickly replaced with a

seen before and it looks really good on him.” Lucianne said like an excited little girl. By her side, Xandar’s thumb started stroking her waist, and he kissed her

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