Kaser, the other younger brother, at only ten years old, winked at me from beside Cillian. Fable darted her eyes to me, gauging for a reaction, and I couldn’t understand how Dad had agreed to this.
“What about Mom?” I asked, turning to face Dad, but Stone’s face also flashed in my mind. How could I continue to see him if I was constantly surrounded by the Cantini family? “We’re in the middle of the Panic. You can’t manage Mom and the nights without me.”
Dad took my hand and gave it a squeeze. “The wedding will be here before we know it. We would have to let you go eventually because who knows how long this Panic will last? Now’s a better time than ever to figure out a new routine with you gone.” He patted the top of my hand and looked into my eyes. “Don’t worry about us. We’ll be all right. We always figure it out. Plus, you did say the boutique is costing you more to run than what it’s bringing in. Viola agreed to set up a sewing room to get the dresses done so you can temporarily close the shop until the Panic ends.”
Close my boutique?I was in a daze, staring at the empty space where my dinner plate used to be. “Is this about money? Did they buy me out without my approval?” I didn’t mean for my thoughts to be spoken out loud, but I couldn’t help but wonder why Dad would say yes when I was the sole provider for the family.
“Oh, don’t be ridiculous,” Viola exclaimed. “The boutique is still in your name. No one is taking it away from you.”
Dad’s gaze steered across the table, then he lowered his voice. “Now is certainly not the time and place.”
“It will be great,” Camora agreed, lost in her own world and distant from the tension surrounding her. “Finally, a buffer in the house.”
Viola leaned in. “I will not allow my daughter-in-law and the mother of my future grandchildren to stay at acottageand risk her life in trying times. You will stay here,” she leaned back and straightened her posture, “where I know you’re safe.”
I pinched the insides of my palms with my sharp nails. Such a selfish thing to say in a room with my family. “My grandfather built thatcottagewith his two bare hands. Please, don’t insult the dead with your masked disrespect, and don’t forget the family I would be leaving behind in such trying times.”
“Adora,” Dad warned.
“Ronan, it’s okay.” Viola’s chin tipped upward when she looked at me. “I apologize. You’re right. I didn’t mean it to come across the way it did. I’m sure this will be hard for you.”
“Hard.” I tsked, catching Cyrus’s gaze with my own. “You’ve been quiet. What do you think about all this?”
The candlelight glowing between us reflected off Cyrus’s black hair. As if he had all the time in the world to answer, he ran his fingertip around the base of his wine glass in deep thought.
His tired eyes lifted to mine, and he dropped his head to the side. “For over twenty years, I’ve known you as one of my best friends. I care about you, and we deserve this time together.”
I sucked in a breath, feeling my chest rattle at realizing this was happening.
In minutes, I was moving out of my home and temporarily closing my boutique. I was slowly losing all that was mine in such a short amount of time. At least if I were going to be married to Kane, I would lose it all with purpose.
How could Cyrus not see that this marriage was only putting a wedge between my sister and me? At what point did he feel comfortable with this decision? It only made me wonder what he would gain from our arrangement.
“And who will be watching over me as I sleep?” I was reaching, trying to pull at any reason I could to buy more time. “It wouldn’t be appropriate for us to sleep in the same room until the marriage is official.”
“I will,” Kaser interjected with a wicked smile.
The table collectively laughed.
I was alone with my anger.
“That’s why we have Alice, dear. She’ll be assigned to you. There are noshiftsin this house, and you’ll be perfectly safe and have a full night’s rest each night. You’ll need it with all the event planning,” Viola assured, then her voice dropped in degree. “You will be safe here, Adora.”
“Safe,” I repeated. But instead, it left me feeling smothered.
My family had left.
It’d pained me to watch them leave.
They were only minutes away, I knew this, but it wasn’t just them I was leaving. It was my family home, too. It was my boutique. And Mom. And I didn’t have a chance to say goodbye.
The Gothic home was locked down as soon as the sun dropped from the sky. The sound of locks and deadbolts clicking into place echoed throughout the manor. Then a single bell chime let everyone know that the night had started. No one could leave. No one could enter. Except for the Shadows.
Cyrus led me up the spiraling staircase to the top of the tower where the guest quarters were. Only an oil lamp lit the way and cast our shadows in the narrow hall that looked like spirits. Our steps echoed in this part of the manor I’d never been to, where it was colder with walls made of stone. At the top was a living space, a bedroom, and a massive bathroom.
“Here we are,” Cyrus said, walking to the large, curved window that overlooked my beloved black sea. He placed the lamp on a desk beside the window, drew back the curtains, and crossed his arms over his chest, peering out into the melancholy night.
I walked around the four-post bed, clutching the mahogany spindle.
