they show up, I’m going to feel like the biggest asshole for having doubts. I should trust them, should trust the connection I know we all felt.
But I can’t help the shadows creeping around the edges, whispering that this was all a game of vengeance to repay me for the harm done.
Chapter 28
Beast
It feels strange walking into this house again. Strange to know that this time, if things go as planned, we won’t be leaving in any permanent way. I glance at Gaeton, but he’s got his arrogant grin in place. That tells me as much as anything. He’s not comfortable, and he’s not sure how this is going to play out. Saying that we want to be together is all well and good, but if Cordelia decides that she isn’t a fan of the idea …
Then we’re left with two options. Take Isabelle and run, cutting her off from her remaining family. Or walk away for good.
I hate both those fucking options, so I’m invested in ensuring no one has to make any tough choices. I brush Gaeton’s arm. “Steady.”
“Steady as a fucking rock.”
The door opens before we get to it, and I nearly miss a step at Sienna Belmonte grinning at us. That expression never means anything good. She stands back and opens the door wide. “Come in, come in. You’re nearly late.”
I exchange a look with Gaeton and we walk through the door. The house looks nearly the same as it did a month ago, which is strange to me. Orsino’s passing from this world should have more physical consequences. There should be more in evidence here. It’s an odd thing to expect; it’s not as if Cordelia’s priorities right now are on redecorating.
Sienna strides down the hall, leaving us to pick up our pace in order not to be left behind. She gives another of those unsettling grins over her shoulder. “I don’t think I have to say it, but I’m a fan of clearly marked action and consequence. As such,” She slows. “If you hurt my sister, I will take you into my lab and make you wish for death before I finally let you cross over. I’m very good, and I can make it last a very long time. Do we understand each other?”
She’s not bluffing. Sienna is incapable of bluffing. I hold her gaze. “We’re not going to hurt Isabelle.”
“Then I suppose we’ll never have to worry about it, will we?”
I expect her to take us back to the private dining room the family uses on a daily basis. Instead, Sienna leads us down the wide hall meant for entertaining. To the banquet room. There’s no other description for it. Orsino knew how to put on a show when the situation called for it, and everything about the dining room is designed to impress, from the size of the table to the paintings hanging along the walls of the room. The table is large enough to fit twenty people easily, and it’s already half-filled when we walk through the door.
Cordelia sits at the head of the table, Muriel standing at her shoulder. The latter watches every person in the room with an intensity that says if anyone steps out of line, she’ll strike first and ask questions later. Sienna takes the chair at Cordelia’s right hand, the seat on the other side of her occupied by a plus-sized dark-haired man. David. He’s chatting with a man on his other side that I don’t recognize, as if this is just as normal dinner. David’s always had that skill, if normalcy can be termed a skill. He puts everyone around him at ease.
I should be clocking the other people at the table, but my attention snags and narrows in on Isabelle. She sits at Cordelia’s left hand, her back to us. Her hair’s been piled up on her head, leaving her long neck bare, and she’s wearing a cheery yellow dress that should look out of place in this gathering where everyone is dressed in muted colors. But no, she’s a beam of sunshine in this room and I take a step toward her before Gaeton nudges my shoulder.
“Focus,” he murmurs.
Right. There’s a song and dance to perform, and we can’t afford to skip any steps. I glance at him. “After you.”
He gives a faint smile. “You’re just looking for a shield.”
“Cordelia likes you more than she likes me.”
Now his smile broadens. “Everyone likes me more than they like you. It’s my winning personality.” He