This isn’t my first time in Luke’s house, but there’s almost an eeriecalm before the stormfeeling seeping through me. Clutching Luke’s hand like he’s my lifeline, I have to appear hard like I was with Sidney.
I can’t let William Foster know how much I despise him for what he’s done to Luke over the years. I can’t even begin to imagine what he endured. My ass still aches from the belt and Luke went easy on me. It still about destroyed him.
His father hurt him far worse than a few lashes on the ass. I’ve traced some of those scars with my fingertips, wishing they weren’t there. Wishing there was a way to remove them and take away the pain associated with them.
I won’t let him touch Luke ever again.
The atmosphere gets more oppressive the closer we get to the dining room. When we step in, servers rush to our chairs to pull them out. Luke leads me to them and we both sit. The servers buzz around us like bees and fill our water glasses.
His father isn’t here yet, but there’s an additional place setting next to his.
I glance at Luke. “Someone else is coming?”
Luke’s brow furrows before he clears it. His eyes are like ice when he looks at me, but it’s not to lock me out. It’s to protect both of us.
“He didn’t mention.” Luke glances at the setting. His tone is steady. “It could be anyone. Fuck, he could have a girlfriend for all I know. Or married some poor woman to drag her into this crazy façade of a family.”
Swallowing, I put my napkin on my lap. I don’t know how I’m going to eat. This is the part I’m not going to be good at. Faking that his father doesn’t turn my stomach. That I don’t want to grab a belt and beat him until he has scars like Luke’s. I slide my hand under the table to take Luke’s.
He flinches his fingers away from mine for a second before he locks our fingers together. I draw in a breath and wait.
The door opens and William Foster walks into the room. Neither of us stands as he walks to his seat, but passes it and pulls out the other chair.
“Come.” The word is an order and I jump at the tone.
A girl with blond hair trudges in with her head hanging. Her hair covers her face, but she’s about my age with a nice dress on. When she reaches William, she lifts her brown eyes to mine and I almost gasp.
Penny sits in the seat across from us, looking miserable. She glances at William with fear in her eyes before taking the napkin and draping it on her lap.
Luke doesn’t make any acknowledgement of Penny as his father takes his seat.
My mind can’t stop racing. What the fuck is she doing here? This isn’t at all what I expected.
Is this why she needed to talk to Luke earlier? Why didn’t she just say it? What the hell is going on? Fuck, what if she’s the new wife? No, that can’t be right. I’m sure Penny is younger than me.
Luke squeezes my hand under the table, and I quiet my racing thoughts and blank out my expressions.
“You two know Penny Wright.” William holds his hand up and the servers bring in plates to set before us.
Tonight, it’s steak with a creamy potato dish and broccolini. I don’t make a move to start eating as I lift my gaze to Penny’s. Her eyes plead with me, but she doesn’t say anything.
“From school.” Luke cuts into his steak like there’s nothing weird about a random classmate who wanted to be my friend and needed to talk to him today sitting at his dinner table. What if she’s the leak? Fuck, what does she know?
William sits back in his chair and temples his fingers before his lips. His eyes sparkle. “I see you wore a dress, Miss Davidson. It’s so nice that someone follows my orders.”
I swallow hard, but don’t say anything. If he asks me to get up and twirl, I’ll vomit all over his table.
Penny glances at William before returning her gaze to me. It’s like she’s trying to tell me something without telling me.
“Miss Wright will be joining us here at the house.” William glances at her. His eyes narrow. “Eat.”
She picks up her fork with shaky hands.
“Why would she do that?” Luke raises an eyebrow and releases my hand. He sounds cold and efficient. The opposite of everything I’m feeling.
I cut a very small piece of broccolini off and put it in my mouth to chew on. It probably tastes divine, but it might as well be ash in my mouth.
William smiles and glances at Penny with almost something like love, but more coveted. “Penny is your half-sister.”
