“I didn’t—” I stopped, exhaled, then pinched the bridge of my nose. “Griffin, please. Not now.”
Jane swiped furiously at her face. “You all just stood here acting as if nothing happened. Like you’re normal.” Her voice rose again. “But youkill people.”
“Not all of us,” Griffin said quickly. “I don’t. I can barely kill a spider, and even then I apologize?—”
“Griff,” Dimitri barked.
He shut up instantly.
But Jane was spiraling, chest rising too fast, breaths short and shallow. Her gaze kept bouncing between us and then looking around the room.
Griffin looked between us like he was watching a tennis match played with live grenades. “Should I—should I go get someone? Mom? An adult? A therapist?”
“No,” Dimitri and I said in unison.
Jane pressed her shaking hands to her temples. “Does Poppy know? Does she know you murdered our—our?—”
“Jane,” I cut in sharply but gently. “Your father wasn’t who you think he was.”
Her face crumpled. “I want my sister, I want her right now.”
“Listen,” I squeezed my eyes closed before I opened them again. “You can’t tell Poppy. Do you understand me?”
“Are you going to kill me if I tell her?”
Fuck. Shit.Shit fucking shit.
“I would never, ever harm you or your sister. But you can’t tell her because she deserves to hear it from me.”
“She’s going to hate you,” Jane whispered as she looked down at the broken glass between our feet. Slowly, she nodded just once. “I won’t tell her because I don’t want to hurt her. But you need to stay very far away from me.”
It felt like my heart was shattering into a million pieces. I’d fucked up so badly, but there was no going back now. Jane looked at Griffin with tear-filled eyes. “Will you take me to the chocolate fountain? I think you’re right.”
Griffin froze like a deer in headlights, a half-chewed strawberry dangling between his fingers. He stared at me helplessly, silently begging for instructions.
I swallowed the mountain of emotion burning in my throat and waved him off.
“Go,” I rasped. “Stay with her.”
He nodded frantically, more serious than I’d ever seen him, and gently guided Jane away. She clung to him like he was a life raft—and he didn’t complain. Didn’t crack a joke. Didn’t even look back.
I stood there alone in the middle of the wedding reception while laughter echoed around me, music played, and fairy lights glittered above my head.
Inside, everything in me felt dark and hollow—like the bottom had dropped out. I scrubbed a hand over my face, breathing hard. I had to tell Poppy.
I should have told her already. I should’ve told them both. But every time I imagined the look on her face…the way her chest would cave in…the way she’d push me away for good…
I fucking couldn’t, and now I was out of time.
Chapter Forty-Six
Poppy
“That wasthe prettiest wedding I think I’ve ever been to!” I gushed as Don drove us back to Emeline Cristof’s home. There was still alcohol buzzing through my veins, and I never wanted the night to stop. Not to mention, the feel of Ivan all over me and I didn’t have to hide or worry. Jane sat in the back of the SUV with a cup of chocolate and a bowl stacked full of desserts. She didn’t say anything and watched the lights and people outside her window.
I looked over at Ivan, and he was doing the same, though minus the chocolates and desserts.
“Okay,” I dragged the word out. “Did something happen tonight?”
