“So, I guess you’re my aunt?” I say, my throat tightening slightly at the word.
Elle shrugs a little shrug. “You can call me whatever you like. I just recognize loneliness when I see it. I thought maybe you could just use a friend?”
I smile hesitantly, but my chest swells with gratitude. Emotion wants to bite the back of my eyes, but I push it back, determined not to cry. “I think I could use one of those right now.”
She smiles again. And I think I love her smile. It’s always so small. So unassuming. A hint of uncertainty in it. But it’s real. It’s supportive and genuine.
“I can’t even imagine what you’re going through right now,” she says, watching my face. “I know the pressure that’s on my daughter. But it’s nothing compared to what you have. And add all this to the mix?”
She waves a hand toward the House. Through the gigantic windows that lead into the ballroom, I can see people walking around. Other figures move in the bedrooms. Everyone has apparently returned.
“It would be a lot for anyone to deal with.”
I nod, continuing to watch the house. “I just…” I shake my head, trying to figure out how to word what I’m feeling. “I don’t really know how to trust anyone. There’s so much history that I’ve seen, but the past…hundred years or so seem to have brought around a lot of changes. They seem really important, and I missed a lot. Everyone is trying to fill me in, but I feel like I’m only getting one-sided versions. There’s all these new players I have to figure out.”
Elle lets out a little sigh. She nods. “I kind of ran away from it all at one point. I needed a break.”
“Really?” I say, looking over at her.
She nods. “My grandmother was my guardian for most of my life, and she died when I was sixteen. It was after Alivia and my brother got married, so they took custody of me. I lived here until I graduated high school.”
She looks around, and I can only imagine what her life must have been like.
A human girl, living in a House full of beings who would love nothing more than to drain her dry.
“My family has a reputation, too. A really dark one,” she says. “After all the drama, after everything everyone knew about me and my family, I left. Went to university. Moved to Boston on my own.”
I feel for her. Because after all that effort, here she is again. Mother to an upcoming Royal.
“It’s dramatic sometimes,” she says, looking over at me. “And beyond stressful from time to time. But it isn’t all bad. It brought me my family. My husband was actually a member of Alivia’s House for a few years.”
My eyebrows rise in surprise, but it does make me smile.
She smiles back. She steps forward and places a hand on my arm. The movement is comforting. “Logan,” she says. Her words are soft. “It’s okay to not be okay. And anyone who doesn’t get that right now just doesn’t matter.”
A flood of relief washes through me.
It’s okay to not be okay.
Emotion does push its way to the surface now. Tears pool in my eyes, but don’t quite break free. I bite my lower lip as I take a step forward. I wrap my arms around this precious woman, and for the first time, I feel it.
A connection.
A bond.
To my family.
“Thank you,” I breathe. “Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome,” she says. She actually runs a hand down the back of my head, smoothing it over my hair.
I release her, taking a deep breath as I wipe the tears from my eyes. I smile when Elle looks at me.
“I have to admit, I’m a little embarrassed to go back in there and face Alivia again,” I say with a little laugh. “I threw a bit of a tantrum earlier.”
She laughs, too. “I think she’ll get over it. If one is all she ever has to deal with, I think she’ll survive.”
The look in her eyes tells me the story of the past ten years of being a mother to three.
I laugh again, grateful for this woman’s insight and finesse. With a sigh, I look back toward the house.
“Stay with me?” I ask. Because I really am scared.
“Of course,” she says. And she slides her hand into mine.
Chapter 13
Together, we walk back across the grounds, and through the doors into the ballroom.
Inside, I see a man, a look of focus on his face as he heads from the kitchen toward the bedrooms. But when he sees us, he does a double take, instantly stopping in his tracks.
“Well, hello, Logan,” he says dramatically. He saunters over, his eyes stripping me down.
“I’m a little taken,” I say with snark. “I’d be careful if you know what’s good for you.”
He smiles, as if undeterred. Elle laughs.
“Logan, this is Christian Kask,” she introduces the man. “And this isn’t really flirting. It’s just the Kask way.”
His smile grows even more flirtatious as he extends a hand for me to shake. “Pleased to make your acquaintance.”
I smirk at him, shaking my head, but take his hand.
He’s good looking. That’s for certain. But he’s a player, through and through.
“Trust me, there are too many reasons for me to not lay the real charm on,” he says with a smile.
“Oh?” I question, raising an eyebrow. “And what are those?”
He smirks, and I can totally see how he operates. That charming smile, those bedroom eyes…
“One,” he begins. “There’s the fact that you look so much like Liv. Don’t get me wrong, Liv is a beautiful woman, and I certainly would have banged her in the beginning.”
I fix him with a look, but he only smiles again.
“But she’s family, has been for a long time.” And now I see the genuine spark in his eyes. “And then, two: your husband had my father killed, pretty brutally, a long time ago.”
Bam.
Smack me in the face.
My blood chills and I feel my expression slacken.
“Don’t worry, doll face,” Christian says. “You didn’t do it.”
I don’t know what to say or how to react. But thankfully I’m saved when someone else walks into the ballroom.
“So this is the woman who put Mom and Dad into such a tizzy.”
The man looks terrifying. Honestly.
His hair is bleached blond-white, but his features are sharp, hawk-like. His eyes are dark. His lips set in a thin line. I’m pretty sure he could cut me clean through with his gaze.
But he smiles this…smile. Wicked and gleaming.
Mom and Dad…he certainly doesn’t look like he should be calling them that. He looks like he’s close to forty.
“If you have any issues with my presence, you can file an official complaint to Roter Himmel,” I say, straightening, fixing him with my own gaze.
The look in his eyes changes, and his smile does, too.
“It is a pleasure to finally meet you, my Queen,” he says, bowing deep before me. “I’ve heard so much about you.”
I stand straight, tall. Rising above and reminding myself of who I am.
“Wow, Smith,” Christian says. “Think you can grovel any deeper?”
Smith looks over to Christian, his eyes darkening. “She may be Alivia’s daughter. And she may look like she should be in high school. But I will not forget who she really is, mate. I don’t see the harm in showing respect to the Queen who rules over us all.”
Christian’s expression falters. His eyes slide over to me, and look doubtful, maybe slightly fearful. And he tips forward in an awkward little bow.
Over the other noises of the house, my ears pick up on voices. Upstairs, to the north end of the house.
They’re yelling.
My brows furrow.
“Like I said, you put Mom and Dad in a tizzy,” Smith says, raising one eyebrow.
I look over at Elle in confusion.
“I think Alivia told Ian that your first meeting didn’t go quite as expected,” she says. “This,” she waves a hand in their direction, “is just how they communicate sometimes.”
“And somehow they’ve stayed married?” I question.
“They say make up sex is the best sex for a reason,” Christian says.
“Seriously?” Elle yells at him, her brows furrowing in annoyance. “That is my brother.”
He just shrugs and chuckles.