Cash scooted closer. “And we love you. That’s why we have to keep you safe.”
Chapter Twenty
Lyon
Our mate lied to us for the first time, although I wondered if she would consider it a lie. For her, it was probably all about survival and seeing her in this state nearly broke me. When we asked her how she was doing after the whole baby thing, she told us he was fine. She insisted that she wasn’t worried about Luanna or Mark or the baby.
Her words were strong, but she wore that same fake smile she donned at the party, the one that anybody who took more than two seconds to glance at her would see was a facade. I didn’t push. None of us did. She was coming out of a situation we were learning was more horrible than we knew with each new reveal. She needed our support, not our judgement.
When we arrived home, Isabella said it was time to make bread. She insisted she had a craving for some fresh from the oven with melted butter, and perhaps there was some truth in that. What wasn’t yummy about hot fresh bread? But as I watched her knead her dough, I realized it was her punching bag. She was taking out every bit of frustration she had on it while wearing that stupid happy mask.
I was hoping that would be the end of it, that violently attacking the dough would be enough. It wasn’t. She threw on kitchen gloves, grabbed a brush that at first I thought was a toothbrush but apparently was designed for grout, and marched into the bathroom leaving the three of us standing there looking at each other.
“What should we do?” I wasn’t willing to stand here and wait for everything to be fine.
“I don’t think she’s scared.” York scratched under his ear the way he did when he was nervous. “At least not about somethinghappening to her. And I don’t think she’s pissed off either, at least not in the jealousy sense. She’s not married to Mark anymore, and she didn’t want to be.”
“Do you think she’s worried the omega will try and get money from her?” It didn’t make sense to me, but people did weird things for power or money, and it came really close to when Isabella got access to her money again.
“I don’t know, but we need to stop her. The bathroom’s already spotless. She did it yesterday.” Upon my insistence, we’d made a list of what days she could do what chores.
We didn’t want her doing all the cleaning. It wasn’t about that. We didn’t want her falling into the habit of doing everything. Yesterday had been bathroom day. The plan was taking even more off our plate, but this was the compromise we came up with.
I walked off, knocking on the doorframe and looking in the room. She was standing in the tub, the ridiculously small brush in her hand, scrubbing the tiles. The others joined me, one on each side of her, and she turned around, her eyes going wide. When we closed in on her, she looked at us, eyes wide.
“Do you guys need to use the bathroom?”
“No, we just want you to talk to us about what about why you’re wearing the mask.” I wasn’t going to tiptoe around this. That wouldn’t be good for any of us.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“If you don’t trust us yet, I don’t know how to help.” I turned on my heel and walked away.
I wasn’t trying to get a rise out of her or throw a fit. It was my attempt at being practical. There was no point in harassing her if she wasn’t going to respond.
Unsure where to go, I ended up on the back porch, taking in the fresh air while trying to figure out a better plan to help our omega. Direct confrontation was not it.
To my surprise, she joined me a minute later, the other two right behind her. She climbed onto my lap and snuggled in.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. I just…old habits die hard.”
“Are you going to tell us about Luanna?” The name she’d never mentioned once, only calling her “the mistress,” or less flattering things. It seemed like the logical place to start.
“There’s not much to tell.” But as she let the story unfold, there was a whole lot to tell. This woman wasn’t a victim too, like I’d suspected might be the case. Abusers abuse. That was their MO. And maybe she was one of those people who liked it because from everything I heard, the mistress was exactly where she wanted to be.
She had calculated from the beginning, making sure she got Mark, despite not being the one chosen. Her lack of connections would have made her “unworthy” in the eyes of his family.
The more Isabella revealed, the less her current emotions seemed connected to the cheating. They felt more connected to the baby and not anger…disappointment maybe? That didn’t make sense, though. Why would she care? She hadn’t wanted a child with him; she said as much.
“What aren’t you telling us?” York asked.
“I just I wonder if maybe I can’t get pregnant and if that would be okay.”
I pulled her closer to me, York’s hand on her back, Cash’s on her head.
“We love you.” I sent a quick plea to the Goddess that I didn’t mess this up. My way with words sucked. “You are our family, and if it is always the four of us until we go to the Goddess, we are happy.” I kissed her shoulder.
“And if we have a beautiful child with you, we are happy.” York kissed her cheek.
