FAYE
I had never felt so unprepared in my life. As Alexander’s car rolled to a stop in front of his mother’s house, I could barely keep my palms from sweating.
The place was enormous, elegant in a way that carried both authority and warmth. Not like some mansion meant to intimidate, but graceful and commanding, the kind of house that told you its owner belonged to a legacy older than you could wrap your mind around.
I could immediately see where Alexander got his taste. It was a beautiful sight. Still, none of that beauty did anything to calm the nerves thrumming through me. Meeting his mother… under these circumstances? It was almost cruel.
When the door opened, I braced myself. I had imagined a woman draped in regal severity, someone older, with gray hair swept up in a stern bun, th
