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The dreams Daar had of bringing his brother into his empire were gone. But Robin? Therein lay an opportunity.
She could never sit at the table like her father might have, but with a mind as sharp as hers, she could be of use to Daar. Marry her to the right man and maybe, just maybe, they could have a new kind of family enterprise.
Daar had told the chancellor that he was loyal, but family came first. Things were changing. Skilton’s disappearance was simply an indicator of that. If Robin were to inherit her father’s estate and her mother’s businesses, if she were open to doing his kind of business, maybe they could keep it all in the family.
It was good to have plans. With Skilton gone, there was no way to tell if things would smooth out or if this was merely the first step toward the end.
Time would tell.
Wednesday. Ravenwood Restaurant, New Orleans, LA.
Robin stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. She was still fairly numb, which wasn’t uncommon after a family get-together. For once, her shortcomings hadn’t been a topic of conversation. That much was a relief. But nothing had really changed.
Uncle Daar and Dad talked while Robin and Saaina were expected to remain quiet. When Mom had been alive, things had been different. Mom had butted into conversations, she’d spoken over Uncle Daar. He’d hated it. At times things had been uncomfortable. Robin couldn’t recall what was said or discussed, only that she’d sat ramrod straight at the table on multiple occasions staring at her cutlery, willing herself to be invisible while wishing she was more like Mom.
She wished she knew what Mom had been discussing back then. Maybe things would make more sense now. But Robin had been too young then to really grasp what was going on.
Another woman slid into the restroom, reminding Robin this wasn’t her private reflection room. She finished drying her hands then stepped outside.
Harper stood against the wall, hands in his pockets. He looked up the moment she stepped out and smiled.
He winked at her and his smile widened. “I was about to send a search party out to look for you.”
“Sorry,” she mumbled.
“Don’t be.”
He held out his hand. For a moment she just looked at it.
Dad would never debase himself to reach for his wife. Mom had complained about that, about wanting to be chased. So why had she fallen in love with Dad? Why had she stayed with him?
These were questions she would never get answered.
Robin took Harper’s hand in both of hers and let him lead her out the front door of the restaurant. All the rich, delicious food felt as though it were rotting in her belly now.
“Want to talk about it?” Harper asked softly once they’d put some distance between themselves and the parking attendants.
“Wait, the car…?”
He gently tugged on her hand and kept walking. “They’ll keep it a bit longer. Talk to me?”
Robin had thought she was prepared for this. It had been her plan, after all, to crash Dad’s dinner with Uncle Daar. Everything had gone off so well. So why was she out of sorts? Why did it feel as though she’d been a punching bag tonight?
They’d ignored her. She had nothing to feel bruised about.
Harper extracted his hand from hers only to wrap his arm around her waist. “We don’t have to talk about it…”
She needed to say something. Where to start?
“It’s just…hard. Being around them sometimes, I mean,” she said.
“Yeah?” Harper paused before continuing. “I noticed you didn’t say a lot.”
Robin rolled her eyes. “Growing up Dad used to tell me women should be seen, not heard. Mom would laugh at him and tell him to stop being… I don’t know. When she died, my uncle introduced Dad to Saaina pretty quick and everything changed. They like to say it’s cultural, that women should defer to men when speaking. But I’ve met enough people from Syria and the like to know that… My dad and uncle are just jerks about some things.”
She swallowed before her mouth ran away from her.
“How’d you grow up around that?” Harper asked.
