Page 208 of Vexatious Queen

Warm hands gripped me, and I turned my head to see Nash talking to me, but his words made no sense. I squinted at him. He mouthed one word, but it took three tries before I understood. Nash pointed to the chair and helped me sit down.

He kneeled in front of me, and suddenly all the guys were there, even Myles holding Lip as he cried. They wore the same concerned expression while a torrent of emotions and memories assaulted me. Each one brought with it something more painful than the one before, like they were testing how much I could take before I broke.

The noise of the room crept back in stages. Everything was there, but muffled. The clink of a glass made me jump. I turned my head when I heard a loud laugh. A moment later, it all came crashing back.

Dimitri was laughing and pounding the table as he pointed at Vadin, whose face was red and angry, fists balled.

“She was going to blow your head off. What were you saying about family loyalty?”

Ethan approached us and whispered something to Myles. He nodded and handed Lip over to him. If Ethan was in any pain, it never showed on his face. He marched for the door with Lip’s face buried in the side of his neck.

“This was an epic dinner. I’m so happy I came,” Ronan said to Romeo with a smile. “I thought your family had great parties, but this one just took all the awards for fucked up family drama.”

“I don’t know. I would’ve liked to have seen someone get spanked on the table,” Romeo asked, and I shook my head.

Who the fuck does that?

“Good point.” Ronan laughed.

“Princess, say something. Are you okay,” Nash asked.

I nodded, but my voice wouldn’t work. I glanced around the table again, and my eyes fell on Dean Henry. He sat still as a statue, but his eyes were fixed on me. I swallowed hard.

“You…knew?”

He didn’t say anything, didn’t nod, didn’t look away. There was just a cool mask of stone, but his eyes were filled with sadness.

“Answer me! Did you know this whole time that my mother was alive?”

The room quieted, all attention focused on his response.

Dean Henry slowly stood and buttoned his suit jacket.

“I think you already know the answer to that. You don’t need me to confirm or deny.”

That was close to a yes as I was going to get, and stupidly, the tears spilled over then.

“I trusted you.”

His expression softened, but there was no guilt.

“You did, and you should continue to do so,” he said.

“How can I trust someone who lied to my face?”

“I’ve never lied to you. If you’re looking for someone to blame, then by all means, be angry with me. I’ll take the knock on the chin for you. But I have a duty to protect you, Wayward, and the Curators. You have always known that, and I’m not the one who set this ball rolling.”

He stared at me like he was trying to convey yet another message that he wasn’t allowed to divulge.

“In time, I hope you’ll understand that it doesn’t matter what I know, or even what I wish I could share, only what I’m allowed to say. I’ll see myself out.”

“Curators, they have their nose in everything,” Dimitri said. “How have you not gotten yourself shot by one of them yet with all the slimy shit you’ve done,” he asked Vadin.

“I should be asking you that question. How did you weasel your way out of the investigation that they had against you?” Vadin held up his finger. “Don’t bother denying it, I have my sources, too.”

Dimitri shifted uneasily in his seat.

“How do you know about that?”