Truth (Betrothed #10) - Penelope Sky Page 0,77

of pie and coffee. Catalina handed a gift to Damien.

“You didn’t have to get me anything,” he said as he tugged on the bow.

“You always get me something,” she argued.

“But you’re my little sister,” he said. “I’m supposed to.” He continued to rip through the wrapping.

I sat next to her father but didn’t try to make small talk with him. He didn’t strike me as the kind of guy that needed to fill the silence with words because he was uncomfortable. I watched Damien open his gift, a watch to add to his collection.

“Do you have family?” Richard asked, seeming to understand there was a good chance I didn’t.

“Yes. My brother and his wife are coming over to my house tonight for dinner.”

He nodded. “How do they like Catalina?”

I almost scoffed. “They love her.”

“No surprise there,” he said with pride.

“My brother is my twin, actually. A few months ago, Catalina spotted the two of them having dinner. She didn’t know I had a twin, so she assumed I was two-timing her. She chased down my brother on the sidewalk, told him off, and punched him in the face.”

Richard smiled, like he found the story as funny as I did.

“And that was how they met.”

He chuckled. “And they still like her?”

“It made my brother like her more, actually. That’s how we are.”

“Catalina is a lot like her mother, certainly in appearance. But I don’t think she realizes she gets more of her feistiness from me.”

“Yeah…I noticed.”

“I’m very proud of the woman she’s become. I never raised her to choose the right man to take care of her. I raised her to take care of herself. So, when she chooses a man, she doesn’t do it because she needs him, it’s because she wants him.”

I stared at the side of his face, seeing a young man in his still-bright eyes. “It took me a while to convince her to give me a chance.”

“She’s stubborn,” he said immediately. “She also gets that from me.”

“You aren’t stubborn at all,” I said honestly. “Damien is, though.”

He chuckled at my joke. “Yeah, he is.”

Catalina handed a gift to Anna. “This is for you.”

“What did you get her for Christmas?” he asked me, continuing our quiet conversation.

“Ballet slippers…in pink.”

He turned his head more toward me, giving me his entire attention. His eyes shifted back and forth as he looked into mine, like he needed further explanation.

“Ever since she got hurt, she’s been afraid she’ll never dance again. But I know she will…it’s just a reminder.”

Approval moved into his eyes. “She probably loves that more than the ring.” His eyes shifted back to them, seeing Anna pull out a top with a scarf.

I noticed he was different with me than his children. I’d heard him interact with his daughter in her apartment, and he was so kind, gentle, affectionate. He was nothing like he was now, as if there was something about me that brought out this side of him. He wasn’t even like that with Damien.

Why?

“I noticed you aren’t wearing your ring.” He didn’t glance down to my right hand where my skull diamond usually sat. “Does that mean you turned it in?”

“Not yet.” I absentmindedly rubbed the naked knuckle, feeling slightly off-balance without the weight in place. “Still tying up loose ends. But I have a successor in mind.” When I realized what he’d said, I turned back to him. “How did you know about the ring?” The Skull King always wore a piece of jewelry that symbolized his power. My brother and I got our hands on the rings and wore them as representation. But I didn’t see how he would know that—unless Damien told him.

He turned his gaze on me completely, his eyes focused. “This stays between us.” He lowered his voice further, making sure the other three didn’t overhear us.

I nodded in agreement.

He leaned toward me, his elbows against the armrests, the loose skin on his arms covered with old freckles. “Because once upon a time…I was the Skull King.”

I didn’t see Catalina the same way anymore.

Her father’s secret changed everything.

After my family went home that night, I left all the dishes in the sink to clean tomorrow, but I didn’t care about that right now. As much as I’d enjoyed having Balto and Cassini over, celebrating our first Christmas as a four-member family, my mind had been somewhere else.

Now I had a secret I could never share.

Without having to ask, I knew Damien had no idea.

If he did, he wouldn’t hate me