Promises Forgotten
Chapter 56

Three years later.

“Honestly, I don’t know how I agreed to this. You know I don’t do this shit anymore.” I huffed, looking in the mirror.

“One, it’s for charity. A charity that we frequently work with and help out. Second, your brother is actually putting this on. You haven’t seen him in two years, Z. It’s getting ridiculous.”

Sighing, I shook my head. “I have a reason for that, Evie. It’s not all going to go away.”

“I get that, Z but he is still your brother. You help him from the shadows and he doesn’t even know. It’s ridiculous. Just confront him.”

“At a charity event with a red carpet and all the kids there.”

Evie let out an exasperated growl. “For f**k’s sake, Zachary Anderson, grow the f**k up. I swear to god.”

“Mom! F**k is a bad word!”

“Then why did you say it, Elliot?” She called back.

“Shit!”

I looked out the door. “Elliot!”

He chuckled. “Sorry, Dad. Rissa is ready, as am I.”

I walked out, rolling my shoulders and adjusting my sleeves. It had been so long since I dressed up for a red carpet event. Usually, we handled everything from the background. All photos of the eldest son of the Anderson family nearly disappeared as soon as I moved to LA. I couldn’t have been happier about it. Even with growing my business as much as I had, I still was rarely the one in the limelight anymore and I was relieved. The toll it took on Adrian and Nicole, though, was hard to watch. The media was not kind to them, and it was only made worse by them both lashing out.

A year ago, Nicole filed for divorce and moved back to France with their daughter. They had moved back a couple months ago, trying to make it work, but it was a tough road. My brother had not been faithful while they were only separated and the media ate it up. I tried to help with damage control as much as I could, but sometimes it was out of my control.

“Sorry, I’m ready.”

Evie walked out and my knees went weak. She was in a long, silk, red dress. It hugged her lithe frame and seemed to settle on her curves perfectly. Her hair was down, swept in waves to the left side. It’ was a spagetti strap top, and her bionic arm has its matte black plates on it. It was no longer strapped to her body since she received surgery for them to connect her muscles in her shoulder to the arm itself. She now could do so much more and with so much more ease. Her request? Just that it had different plate colors so it would match her outfits.

“You look incredible.”

She blushed and smiled. “Why thank you. You clean up nicely yourself. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen you so flashy.”

I held my hand out to her and she walked to me, strapped black heels clacked against the kitchen floor. Pulling her close, I kissed her and she replied with the same fevor.

“We are gonna be late if you guys continue.”

I broke from her lips and looked at Elliot. He looked dapper in his grey three-piece suit. His hair was slicked back, and he was wearing a red bow tie that matched both Evie’s dress and his little sister’s. Clarissa came to us fairly quickly after we moved back to LA. She turned three a month ago and she was my princess. Named after Evie’s mother, she was sassy, stubborn, and cute. I was wrapped around her finger, and she knew it.

“Shall we?”

I nodded and reached out, Rissa running into my arms, and I picked her up. Elliot took Evie’s hand and we left the house we rented out for the week. Our trip wasn’t supposed to be a week, but Elliot presented a list of things he wanted to do while in New York and it would absolutely take a week to go through them all. We rented a limo for the night and the two kids were ecstatic. We sat quietly for the ride, watching the kids as they messed with all the buttons.

“You can’t kill him while we are there.” Evie took my hand and laced her fingers with mine.

I pulled up her hand and kissed it. “Silly. I’ll wait till he goes to the parking lot.”

She chuckled. “Two birds, one trunk?”

Shaking my head, I bit my l*p on my retort, but I saw the mischievous glint in her eyes. She was reading my mind.

“You’re right. They wouldn’t fit in one trunk.”

I burst out laughing and brought her into a k**s. “God, I love you.”

“Excuse me. I am your goddess and you dare to name another god?”

“Forgive your champion. He loves you more than anything and never thinks of anything other than you.”

She smiled, cupping my face. “I love you, too.”

Kissing her, I grasped her h**s and slid her closer to me. My tongue entered her mouth and I felt the thrill every time I touched her. Not once did my love wain. Not once did I lose the pull to her. If anything, it got worse. If I was going to be gone for more than three days, the whole family went with me. I couldn’t stand being away from them that long, and vice versa.

“Maybe I should just donate, leave and we can conceive number three tonight.” I mumbled against her lips.

She laughed softly. “If you’re up to it, then by all means, I would love to see you try.”

Leaning back, my eyes sparkled. “Really?”

A red blush was covering her face, but she nodded. I could feel my smile widen and I kissed her lips, nose, cheeks, and jaw. She tried to swat me away, but I held her tight. Evie laughed and snapped her fingers. My eyes widened and I looked as the kids now turned to me. They raced over and started tickling me. My hands let her go as I was forced to battle with my two children, who were laughing hysterically.

By the time we pulled up to the red carpet, I had managed to subdue the kids and fix everyone’s hair. Evie looked out over the crowd and the number of reporters with cameras. I saw her stiffen and I took her hand, kissing it.

“You have me. I’ve got you, my love.”

“Until you decide to rush off to kill you brother.” She mumbled.

I chuckled. “I promise I won’t. Let me go out first. I’ll get them to calm down for a moment and then I’ll bring you out.”

She nodded and moved away from the door. Taking a deep breath, I tapped on the window and the driver opened the door. Stepping out, I shook out my jacket before I buttoned it. I stepped away from the driver for the moment and smiled at the crowd of reporters.

“That’s Zachary Anderson!” Someone screamed and suddenly the whole place erupted in yelling and flashes. Sighing, I smiled and waved for a moment.

Once the flashing calmed down a little, I reached in for Evie. She looked at me with her light brown eyes, filled with fear. My hand touched her cheek and I brushed it with my thumb.

“Nothing to fear, my goddess.”

Evie nodded and stepped out of the limo. She walked a couple steps from the limo and the lights flashed even more. Reaching my hand back in, I let Rissa take it first. She stepped out in her red, princess dress and double buns on her head. I bent down and looked at her.

“Don’t worry about all the flashes, okay? They are only taking your photo. Every princess needs to get used to her royal subjects wanting to take photos. Can you be strong and not be scared?” Rissa nodded and I smiled. ”Good girl.”

Elliot climbed out next and there were even more flashes. He took a deep breath, but was a staggering picture of calm. There was a small smile that graced his face, and he took his little sister’s hand. I reached out and took Evie’s. Together as a family, we headed down the red carpet. Every so often, we stopped. And with Elliot and Rissa standing in front of us, we allowed photos to be taken.

“Well, if it isn’t the playboy himself?”

My eyes widened and I looked at one of the press allowed on the red carpet. Going over, I shook hands with Jasmine. She was wearing a lovely blue dress with her press badge around her neck and a mic in her hand.

“It’s been a while, Jasmine. How are you doing?”

She laughed. “Fine. Your brother has managed to pay for my second house.”

I rolled my eyes. “Don’t I know it. I would have paid for a second house with all that I’ve tried to help in regarding them.”

“Do you mind an interview with the family?”

I turned and motioned Evie and the kids to come to me. Rissa ran up to me and I picked her up, setting her on my side. Elliot took Evie’s hand and she walked over to us. Placing a hand on Evie’s back, I leaned down into her ear.

“Jasmine is probably the only reporter I trust. This will be good press for the charity if you’re okay with it. She knows the line.”

Evie turned. “I trust you.”

Nodding, I turned to Jasmine. “Let’s do this.”

She nodded and turned to the camera, motioning it on, and the light turned red. “We are here at the charity event put on by Anderson and A. Wright CEO Adrian Anderson. We have seen some familiar faces today, but none as familiar as our very own Zachary Anderson, elder brother to Adrian Anderson. It’s been a while since we have seen you on the red carpet.”

“It’s also been a while since I’ve been in the tabloids, so I’ll call it a win.”

She laughed. “It seems you brought the whole family here. Could you introduce us?”

I nodded. “This beautiful goddess here is my wife, Evelyn. Elliot is my son and Clarissa is my daughter.”

“It’s Rissa. Rissa is Rissa.”

This made the crowd laugh.

“From what I understand, you play a big role in their charity, even though you don’t flaunt it, is that true?”

I was taken aback, and I smiled. “You’ve done your research; I’m surprised someone was able to trace it.”

Jasmine laughed. “Don’t underestimate me Zachary.”

Evie looked at me and I nodded my head. Her voice rang out clearly despite her nervousness. “This particular charity is near and dear to my heart, actually. I was one of the kids they helped. My mother died when I was a toddler, and I was raised by my dad. He sadly died my junior year of high school. This charity stepped in and helped me more than I can express.”

Jasmine was shocked, but Evie had a soft smile on her lips. “This charity gives kids a chance when they have no one left. It’s why we support them so much and want to make sure that they can help as many kids as possible.”

“There is no doubt that this is a wonderful charity, but I didn’t realize it was so near and dear to your hearts.”

I looked at Evie and she looked at me. I brushed the stray tear from her cheek. She nodded and took a breath. Looking back at Jasmine, I grinned.

“It’s important to remember the kids that we might not see suffering just because we had everything we needed, or our own kids are lucky enough to have what they need.”

“Zachary Anderson, Evelyn, Elliot and little Rissa, we thank you for coming over and speaking to us. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your evening.”

I smiled brightly as did Evie. Rissa gave the cutest little wave and blew a k**s at the camera whereas Elliot bowed like a prince. Rolling my eyes, I wondered when my family became such goofs. We headed off the little interview platform and down the rest of the red carpet. As we walked up the steps, Elliot helped Rissa while I helped Evie. We made it up the steps and there was a small line for a final photo with the background of the charity logo. Past the line, my eyes widened.