“Cass is staying with me.” He felt her stiffen but ignored it as he took his own jab. “She didn’t want to impose.” He didn’t know what was up with this family, but whatever it was, Cass didn’t need the added weight of their shit on top of everything else. “Thank you, though,” he tacked on, not bothering to hide the lack of sincerity in his words.
A hint of color swept over Rhea’s cheeks as her eyes narrowed. “Impose? She should be here, doing her duty to her family.”
He held her glare, refusing to look away. He wasn’t the one being a bitch. That was all her.
“And what exactly is my duty, Mother?” Cass had clearly had enough. Her question hit the air like a bullet, slamming into her parents, who jerked as if they’d been electrocuted.
Chapter 5
Cass
As Rhea sputtered, Cass met her mother’s glare with equal fire. After not even ten minutes in her parents’ presence, it was clear she wasn’t welcome. An old rage seeded with hurt came roaring back with nauseating familiarity. Family duty? What a crock. They have no idea what family really means, but damn, can they ride the duty train into hell.
“Your grandmother is dead,” her mother all but hissed.
And whose fault is that? Cass fought not to let the vicious, illogical accusation tear free and instead ground out, “I’m very aware of that, which is why I am here.”
“Truly, Cassandra? You’ve never been one to care about presenting a united family front.”
She jerked under her mother’s ugly insinuation and vaguely felt Grayson’s body go rock solid. She tightened her grip on his shirt as unexpected pain sliced through her. She should have known this would happen. Her mother was nothing if not predictable. But why does it have to still hurt?
And just like always, she proved she was her mother’s daughter by striking back. “I’m not here for you or Pythia.” It was her mother’s turn to flinch, but Cass was too pissed to care. “I’ve come because it’s about Yaya, who’s the only one around here who knew what it meant to be family.”
Her mother gasped. It was echoed by Sofia, a result Cass had not intended. Her father did what he always did—he stayed out of it—but he did lay a hand on Rhea’s arm. Cass caught the silent sign of support, and resentment flared. Without fail, the two always stood as one, regardless of who they faced down. Which meant nothing had changed. She wondered why she kept expecting it to.
“Okay, I think maybe we all need to take a breath here.” The man at Sofia’s side stepped between Cass and her mother, his hands up, palms out as he tried to take things down a notch. “This is a difficult time for everybody.”
A thin layer of condescension rode under his words and slithered over Cass’s skin. With some serious effort, she bit back the two-word response that would have sent her mother into an apoplectic fit. It didn’t help when Sofia stepped up behind him, her hands twisting together, her face a shade beyond pale, her shoulders hunched. Seeing her sister like that was another cut, just as painful as the first. Sofia’s response was the same every time Cass and her mother got into it—a visual reminder of the collateral damage their clashes inflicted on her.
Coming here was a mistake.
“Russ is right,” Swanson said. “Perhaps we should take just a minute. Maybe sit down with some coffee.”
“No.” Cass held her mother’s icy glare and her father’s equally disapproving one for a long moment before turning to face Swanson. Her lips felt rigid as she forced them into a polite curve as she reached for, and found, a calmer tone. “No, thank you. We’re going to go.” There was nothing to be gained by sticking around.
Swanson inclined his head. “Of course.”
Following her lead, Grayson turned her toward the door so they could leave, but Swanson’s brief touch on her arm brought them to a stop. His face held sympathy and concern. “You have the information on the service?”
Doing her best to ignore her silently seething parents, Cass managed a nod.
“Good,” he continued. “Perhaps you’ll have more time after the reading.”
Gods, she didn’t want to come back. Hell, she didn’t want to be here at all. She managed another, stiffer nod and headed toward the door.
“Cassandra, the reading of the will will be for family only,” her mother bit out.
With freedom just a few feet away, Cass stopped, forcing Grayson to do the same. She caught Swanson’s mouth tightening into disapproving lines at her mother’s all-too-obvious power play. Turning just her head and matching her mother’s frigid tone, she informed her, “As Grayson stated earlier, he is family. My family.”
Russ shot her mother a frown, but then Sofia reached out and touched his hand, gaining his attention. When he turned to Sofia, she shook her head. Russ’s expression darkened, but he simply pulled her into his side. Sofia was tense for a second and then relaxed as if startled by his touch, but he wasn’t watching her. He was watching Cass and her parents with an unsettling intensity. Whoever Russ was, he meant something to her sister. What he wasn’t was an Ambrose.
Cass looked at Swanson and asked quietly, “Will he be there?”
The arrogant amusement that flashed over Russ’s face set her teeth on edge.
“Yes,” Sofia answered before the lawyer could. She glanced at their parents as her tongue touched her top lip, a nervous tell, before she turned back to Cass. “Russ is my fiancé.”
The unexpected pronouncement left Cass stunned. Fortunately, Grayson stepped in with his congratulations. Only when she caught Sofia watching her did Cass get her shit together and gave her sister a hug. “Congratulations, baby girl.”
