“Bullshit, Cole. This is all news to me as well, so you cannot be blamed for making choices while not knowing all the facts.” Poppy shifts uncomfortably on the sofa next to Nana, and I totally get that. The tone of her voice says a reckoning is coming when the two of them are alone. “We will not be accepting your resignation. You’ll just have to work hard with the new company, making it look shiny and new to the public eye, to make up for it.”
Dad looks down at the piece of paper in his hand, and I can see the wheels turning before he rips it up and tosses it in a trash can in the kitchen. “Mom is right. You are an asset, and we should have been more transparent. From now on, we’reallgoing to be transparent when it comes to important family business.” Dad looks to Cole, then Hope, who quickly agrees.
“Right, and as for you, missy…” Nana turns her gaze onto me. “If it wasn’t for you, we never would have known what was going on or who was behind the kidnapping. It was because of you that we were able to put everything together and find Harlow and Jaxon. It was because of you that Jaxon survived. If we didn’t know the story, they never would have looked at Luke’s parentage and worked out that Patricia was his mother. So stop blaming yourself for any of that. You are a hero, and we are forever grateful to you. You helped the family when we were all floundering.”
Nana’s words wash over me like a warm hug as I think back to what happened. I guess she’s right, but that’s not how I saw it. Maybe I just needed to hear about it from another perspective.
“But Iamdisappointed about the fact that you gave up speaking to your therapist. You know how much it helped you before, and it makes me very sad that you’re letting your mother’s words influence you again. Therapy can be short-term, or it can be a lifelong journey. What matters is that you put the work into what you need to be your healthiest, best self. It doesn’t matter how long it takes. We will all love you and support you even if you go to appointments until the end of your days.”
“Yes, I agree with Mom.” Dad takes a seat on the sofa next to me and wraps his arms around my shoulders, pulling me into a hug. “This is what is going to happen. You are going to start seeing your therapist again—at least twice a week if we can arrange that. You will need to join a meeting as well.” He breaks off and looks a little lost, not knowing how to go about that.
Riku jumps in to help him out. “I can organize that. There’s an online option, so Jacinta can attend no matter where she is geographically.”
“Excellent, because my next suggestion is that you get out of LA for a while, maybe away altogether. Don’t you think it’s time you had a look at some of the places you inherited?” Dad suggests gently, but I can see he’s not going to take no for an answer.
“Okay,” I agree, saying the only thing I can right now, and he hugs me even tighter.
“Good girl, kiddo. I don’t want you returning until the thought of going out in public doesn’t cause crippling fear. I want the old Jacinta back, the take no prisoners, ball busting Jacinta who laughs in the face of the paparazzi.”
“You just need to learn to deal with your insecurities in a healthy way. Before, you would lash out at people like you did Harlow. When you stopped doing that, you found another way to cope with it. Your therapist will help you withhealthycoping mechanisms.”
“And you never have to go out in public alone again. I mean, you have got me after all.” The guys have been quiet through the whole thing, but Alex speaks up now, unable to help himself, and it dissolves a bit of the tension when he gets a chuckle out of my dad. “Or any of us really,” he adds, and my dad’s arm tightens again, just minutely, before I feel him relax.
I guess having another one of his other daughters in a multi-men relationship is not easy to swallow, but he does such a good job of hiding it. I’m sure there is a conversation in the future for these guys, much like the one he had with my brothers. Poor Dad, I would almost bet money that he’s going to have to have the same conversation again with the McCallisters, but that’s the price you pay for having three daughters. Heaven help him if the next two are girls as well. By the time they are teenagers, they are not going to want traditional relationships if all their sisters don’t have them. God, I want to laugh, but I’ll wait for a more appropriate time. Maybe when Hope, Harlow, and I are alone.
“Thank you. All of you. I promise I will do everything in my power to get over this. I should have spoken up sooner. I know all of this is on me, and I don’t want any of you blaming yourselves.” My gaze goes to Cole and Ash specifically, because I know the two of them are beating themselves up about it. It then slides to Riku. “Riku, you’ll be coming with me, right?”
Dad gives me another squeeze. “Yes, we feel that it would be prudent for you to have a permanent bodyguard. You’re a very wealthy woman now and could be the target for some more unsavory ideas. Normally, I would suggest you not hide the fact that you’re also in a relationship.” Riku stands up and starts to argue, but Dad cuts him off. “Sit down. I will make a guess that you haven’t done anything too unethical, though I see the way my daughter looks at you and you at her. It’s a matter of time. But for Ash’s sister’s sake, for the moment, we need to make it look like she’s only in a relationship with him. So you four will stay back in the States and continue on with your lives.” He points to Jace, Alex, Shane, and Cole, who start to argue. “I didn’t say you couldn’t visit for work purposes. Maybe Jace needs to consult with Jacinta or Shane needs to photograph her estates for insurance purposes. Maybe Cole needs to visit to implement a publicity campaign for Ash and Jacinta’s engagement.” Dad’s suggestion appeases the guys, and they settle down. “Ash and Riku will accompany Jacinta.”
“I think the castle in Romania would be the best place to start. It’s fairly remote and a good place for her to do some healing. It’s also one of the biggest, so it may take the longest time to catalog.” Poppy is looking at something on his phone. I’m assuming it’s a list of my and Jax’s assets. “While you’re there, you can decide if you want to keep it or get rid of it, then we can either appoint an estate manager or a real estate agent.”
I know I should probably kick up an argument about them making decisions for me, but it’s kind of nice having it all taken out of my hands. Decision-making is outside my wheelhouse at the moment, which really highlights that I need therapy again. “Okay, that sounds good. But are we sure there’s internet out there?” Poppy and Dad assure me they will make sure there is so I can do my therapy and attend NA meetings.
Nana claps her hands together in glee once the final details are agreed on. “Excellent! And while you are dealing with all of that, Hope and I will keep the tabloids busy with snippets of wedding plans, which should keep his nasty grandma off your tails until we can sort all of that out.”
ChapterSixteen
A month later
Jacinta
The snow on the peaks of the Carpathian Mountains shines brightly as the sun peeks through the clouds for the first time in days. I wrap my arms around me as I look out over the mountain range from the master bedroom balcony of the castle. Yup, the Bucataru estate is an honest-to-goodness, gothic-style, Vlad the Impaler inspired castle, with parapets and a drawbridge and turrets. I mean, I shouldn’t have been surprised considering the place back home, but this makes that look like a two-story house. There are so many rooms in this house that I don’t think I’ve gotten to all of them in the month we’ve been here.
Turning from the gorgeous sight, I head over to the fireplace and throw another piece of wood on the flames. Most of the castle is thermally heated by the hot springs that run underneath its foundation, but up here, at the top of the turret, more is needed at this time of the year.
When we first arrived, we discovered the castle had been kept in good repair by an appointed family who had worked for the Bucatarus for years. They had spent the last twenty years making sure it didn’t crumble into disrepair. They greeted me like I was their own long-lost family member and have been a blessing. A couple in their fifties, Andrei and Ana Marie still take care of all of our needs. We’ve kept to only using a few rooms in the house—the kitchen, a living area, and a couple of bedrooms.
The wood crackles and burns, the sound comforting in the quiet room. When Ana Marie first showed me the room, I thought I’d been carried back a couple of centuries. The room has slate flooring and raw stone walls, which do little to hold in the heat. The carpets underfoot were threadbare, so that was one of the first things we replaced. The dark wood and wrought iron bed frame is so big an army could sleep in it, but the brocade curtains were moth ridden and dusty, as was the mattress, so they joined the pile in the dumpster. Within days, all those things were replaced. It’s amazing what money and a family name can do, no matter where you are in the world. This time, it wasn’t the Summers’ name paving the way, but I was okay with that.
A cozy writing corner is where I’ve set up my laptop for my NA meetings and sessions with my therapist, and I have made good progress over the last four weeks. We’ve really talked through the root of the problems, making plans and discussing strategies I can use if the pressure ever starts to become too much again.
I missed Thanksgiving with my family back home for the first time since I’ve been a Summers, but the guys, minus Cole, who spent it with Spencer, all made the trip over, and Ana Marie cooked us a feast worthy of a king.
There hasn’t been much for Riku to protect me from here, and I feel guilty that he missed Thanksgiving with his family, but they have been incredibly understanding. We did a FaceTime chat with them on the day of, and I met his mother and father and got to speak to Aimi, Lacey, and Kiko. They’d informed him he was going to be anojiagain. Kiko was wearing a shirt that said, “Best Big Sister in the World.”
He’s spent most of his time installing a state-of-the-art security system that rivals some of the most secure places throughout the world. I think he’s been having fun in his element. He keeps calling Simon, who I’ve discovered is his second-in-command, and having him overnight stuff to us. He asked permission to turn one of the rooms into a security center, and he and Andrei have been all over the castle, setting up motion detectors and cameras and who knows what else.
I smile as I think back to Alex’s face when he saw the castle. I swear the boys were like children in a candy store, and I felt like we were the Scooby Gang as the six of us explored the building.
