Ten minutes later, they were all seated, and the first course served. The conversation returned to archaeological finds and current events.
Evan sat at the dinner table and tried to ignore the golden-eyed Adonis across from her. The dining room was massive. She could have directed her attention to any of the dozen portraits that graced the walls or the spectacular explosion of crystal above her head lighting the room. She could have admired the meal of rack of lamb prepared in a Mediterranean style with olives, capers, and tomatoes. She could have listened to Atlas March tell a story of speaking at an environmental summit of world leaders to discuss clean mining. None of those held even a sliver of the appeal of the man opposite her. He practically smoldered. Evan had to fight to look away. He, on the other hand, was enduring no such hardship, captivated by the seductress all but sitting in his lap.
And yet, as Evan examined him, she saw something else in that golden gaze, a distance, a deadness. It was the same look he had the day he scared her off the beach. The man across from her was not the kind, gruff, funny Miguel from the caves. He was robotic and intimidating. Evan almost laughed at the idle thought that perhaps he was a gigolo. She shook herself from her irrational justifications. Miguel was on a date, and he was enjoying it.
Gemini March fed Miguel a bite of her lamb, uncaring that the man had the identical meal on the plate in front of him. Miguel's lips closed around the fork and pulled the morsel into his mouth. He wiped the juice from the corner of his lips with his thumb then watched while Gemini sucked the pad. Every bite, every lick, every swallow was like some erotic dance.
Thankfully, Evan's mentor didn’t seem to mind interrupting the show.
“Gemini is an unusual name, Miss March. Is there a story behind it?” Dr. Emberton inquired.
Clearly annoyed at being torn from her lover, Gemini turned to Omar Emberton and explained. “I ate my twin.”
Emberton sputtered, “What?”
“In the womb. My mother was pregnant with twins, but the other baby died, and I absorbed her. Dad used to say that's why I’m a lot to handle. There are two people inside me.” She cupped Miguel's face and returned to her seduction.
Evan hid a smile. Emberton had never looked so sorry to have asked a question.
Jamal, her friend and fellow doctoral candidate, leaned his head next to Evan's and whispered conspiratorially, “I’d say get a room, but it's too fucking hot. My friends are never going to believe I’m having dinner with Gemini March.”
“Eat your dinner and stop trying to take her picture. It's so freaking obvious,” she scolded.
Jamal scoffed. “Gemini doesn’t care. All she does is get her picture taken. Besides, she's too busy letting that guy grope her to notice.”
Jamal leaned in and placed his hand on the back of Evan's chair. Movement across the table had her glancing up. Miguel had snapped the stem of his wine glass, and Gemini was sitting on his lap, dabbing the stain on his shirt. He held Gemini's hand as she blotted the wine, but his honey-colored eyes were on Evan. She averted her gaze.
Evan's own aggravating issues with intimacy smacked her in the face, and she gripped her fork like a vice as she chased a pea around her plate. She had never felt jealousy, never even felt arousal outside of those fleeting moments in the caves with Miguel. Yet when she returned her attention to him, watched him slowly chew his meat, a fresh glass of red wine poised at his lips, she felt her breasts grow heavy and her body heat. Shaking off the unwelcome attraction, she diverted her attention to her meal.
It was an unforgivable sin in this region to dislike olives, but Evan had always hated them. She had tried dozens of varieties to no avail. Moreover, when she left them on her plate, it was frequently an irritating topic of discussion. Employing the diversionary tactics she had learned as a young magician, she spun her wine in her glass on the table with one hand and deftly hid the olives under the parsnip puree with the other. Pleased with her subterfuge, she glanced around. Across the table, Miguel gave her a knowing glance, popped an olive into his mouth with a wink, then returned his focus to his lover.
Gemini March beamed her satisfaction. She appeared as pleased with Miguel's attention as she was with Evan's deprival of it. The model seemed to view their frottage as evidence of a battle she had won. Evan almost laughed out loud. She couldn’t imagine Gemini March ever losing such a contest. Evan quickly turned to listen to her mentor discuss the excavation.
“Evan, tell Joseph about your discovery in the caves.” Omar Emberton encouraged his protege.
“Oh, well, I’m not quite sure what it is I have discovered, if anything,” she stalled.
“Please tell us,” Joseph urged.
“Well, some boys near the dig site…” She stopped and started again. “Let me back up. At our excavation, we have discovered small stacks of stones the Talaiotic people used to indicate areas of importance: grave sites, ceremonial centers, places of worship, et cetera. A child of one of the local archaeologists told me he had seen similar markers in the caves near the shore.” She had the full attention of the table as she continued. “The boy and his friends imagine themselves young treasure hunters,” she laughed. “They guided me to the spot in the caves where they had seen similar markers.”
“That was you!” Atlas exclaimed with dawning realization. “You were the young woman Miguel shooed off the beach last week.”
Evan felt her face heat. “Yes, I am fascinated by the small stacks of stones the boys found. While they are not Talaiotic, they are of significance. Probably late fourteenth or early fifteenth century.”
“Ah-ha!” Emberton pointed his fork at Joseph. “Now she has your attention.”
Evan looked between the two men. Then she glanced across the table at Miguel, who was giving her his undivided attention. For a moment, she couldn’t breathe. His face was so beautiful, his eyes so predatorial, yet somehow kind. It was as if there were two men inside of him.
Gemini shook her empty wine glass like a bell demanding a refill.
“Please continue,” Joseph repeated.
Evan explained how she discerned the age of the markers and how many she had found. She told them about the gold links and the sealed-off entrances to various caves deep in the system. Her tale enthralled the men. Gemini March had pulled out her phone and appeared to be checking social media.
“Do keep us apprised,” Joseph insisted. “Omar and I are North African. The Moors have a long, troubled history on Mallorca. I would be most interested in anything you find.”
“He speaks without hyperbole, my dear,” Emberton added. “The most insignificant relic of the Moors is intriguing to my old friend.”