"Are you all right, Parker?" Griffen asked, rising from his seat. Parker waved him back down.
"I'm fine. It's just a little wine." Glancing down at her dress, she shrugged. "I'm glad it's white. Red would have given the dry cleaner a challenge." Looking around at the concern on her siblings' faces, at the embarrassment coming off her aunt Ophelia in waves, she said firmly, "I'm fine. Really. No harm done."
"Parker," Ophelia said, her cheeks flushed, "I'm so sorry, I don't know what's gotten into Bryce lately–" She trailed off. Ophelia knew Bryce wasn't well loved by his cousins, but I wasn't sure she knew exactly why. She reminded me of my mother, so blinded by love for her son, she couldn't see clearly who he was. "I'll have your dress cleaned, of course," she finished weakly.
Parker waved her off. "You'll do no such thing, Aunt Ophelia. Really, it's just a little wine. Please, don't worry about it."
I grabbed a napkin and helped Parker dry her dress. When I was close enough not to be overheard, I murmured, "Tyler did something to your wine glass."
"Seems likely," Parker agreed. She eyed the broken glass on the floor. As soon as we'd mopped up most of the wine from her dress, she took one of the damp napkins, crouched down and piled the broken pieces of glass in the center.
Savannah arrived with a fresh wine glass. "You didn't have to clean that up. What happened?"
Parker shook her head, bundling the pieces of the glass in the napkin and tying off the ends to make a little pouch. Under her breath, she said, "Can you keep this aside? I'd like Hawk to take a look."
Savannah stared at the pouch of glass shards for a few seconds before Parker's request made sense. With a brisk nod, she took the pouch, saying only, "I'll just take care of this. I'm about to bring in the salad. Do you want me to hold it while you change?"
"No, I think I'll stay. It's only a little wine."
Her voice so low only Parker and I could hear, Savannah said, "None of the food was left unattended. Only the table settings. I'll get you a fresh setting and put the rest of this aside in case we need to give it to Hawk."
Her eyes carefully avoiding Tyler's end of the table, Savannah set the pouch of glass pieces on top of Parker's place setting, gathered her silverware and water glass, and carried it all from the room. Moments later, she returned with the day maid in tow and began to serve the dinner salad. Parker's place setting was quietly replaced. Only Griffen and Tyler seemed to note the change.
Conversation resumed. I shot a quick look at Tyler, to find him sullenly staring at his mostly empty glass of wine. Had he tried to poison Parker? It seemed obvious to me that he'd been waiting for Parker to drink that wine, and since it had been served to the rest of the table, it couldn't have been the wine itself.
I'd noticed that Savannah often set the table for dinner early in the afternoon, when she had more free time. Parker's glass could have been sitting on the table for hours. Plenty of time to drop something inside. Time for it to dry unobserved, waiting for the wine to disguise its presence.
"Am I being paranoid?" Parker asked in a low voice.
"If you are, so am I," I said. "Even with the extra guards, I don't like this. You're too vulnerable."
Parker sighed. "I know. I want Hawk to find out if there was something in that glass."
"He will." I picked up my own glass, then set it back on the table. Suddenly, I wasn't in the mood for wine. "After dinner, I want to talk to Griffen about my proposal."
Parker straightened, her brows pulling together. "I haven't agreed to leave," she whispered.
"I know." I took her hand, squeezing her fingers with mine. "But I want Griffen's take on all of this. He has the same training as Hawk, but he's also your brother. He won't want you exiled any more than you want to be sent away. But I need to know if he sees a strategy we've missed. Because if Tyler did what I think he did to that glass, I don't think you can stay here."
Eventually, one of Tyler's schemes was going to work. I had to get Parker out of Heartstone Manor before Tyler got lucky and took her out himself.
ChapterThirty-Eight
PARKER
Tyler left Heartstone Manor after dinner, saying something about finding better company in town. Standing in the front hall with Nash and Griffen, my personal guard lurking in the background, I kept an eye on Tyler. I didn't relax until he disappeared down the hall to the garage. The slam of the door echoed all the way to where I stood, the sound easing my nerves. Tyler was out of the way, at least for a while.
A good thing, because I had some thinking to do, and it would be easier on my own.
"Parker?" Griffen's raised eyebrows told me this wasn't the first time he'd said my name.
"Sorry, I'm just distracted." I dragged my eyes from the hall to the garage and focused on my brother and Nash.
"Do you want to come with us?" Nash asked. "You should be part of this conversation."
I looked between them, taking in their concerned faces, knowing they needed to feel like there was something they could do to solve the problem of Tyler. Nash was right. I should be a part of any conversation about my future.
Nash was right about a lot of things. I wasn't safe in this house. As long as Tyler was here, I would never be safe. Every time I thought about leaving, being exiled from my family, my home, I wanted to bawl like a child. It wasn't fair. I didn't want to go.
