Page 48 of Branded

“Black is fine. Thank you.”

We sit in silence for a moment, the sounds drifting from other parts of the house. Eleanor studies me over the rim of her teacup with that assessing gaze I’m getting used to.

“You’re doing well, it’s obviously been an easier transition for you than it was for me, given how you grew up,” she finally says.

The praise should feel good. Instead, it feels like another trap closing around me.

“Eleanor—”

“Auntie Lenny.” Hadley’s voice precedes her appearance, the four-year-old barreling into the room with Harper right behind her.

“Hadley, inside voice,” Eleanor says automatically.

“Sorry, Grandma.” She lowers her volume by approximately zero decibels.

Eleanor leaves, and I’m alone with the twins, their warm little bodies pressed against my sides on the sofa. They smell like sunshine and dirt and something sweet—candy, probably, snuck from somewhere they aren’t supposed to help themselves to.

“Are you going to stay forever?” Harper asks suddenly.

“What?”

“Are you going to stay with Uncle Seb forever? Or are you going to leave like Mommy left Daddy?”

My chest tightens. “Your mommy died, sweetheart. She didn’t choose to leave.”

“I know. But she’s still gone.” Harper’s voice is matter-of-fact, but her hand finds mine, small fingers gripping tight. “Daddy says sometimes people leave even when they don’t want to. He says that’s just how life works.”

“Nathaniel is right.” I squeeze her hand. “But I’m not going anywhere right now. I promise.”

Two years. I can promise two years.

“Good.” Hadley snuggles closer. “We like you. You’re fun, and you know about horses, and you don’t treat us like babies.”

“You’re not babies. You’re four.”

“Exactly!” Hadley says, attitude sky high as she rolls her eyes. “That’s what we keep telling everyone!”

The moment is interrupted by raised voices from the dining room. Not quite shouting, but close. I can’t make out words, but I recognize Sebastian’s voice and Walker’s, both sharp with tension.

The twins tense beside me.

Before I can respond, the dining room doors burst open, and Sebastian strides out, his face dark with anger. He sees me on the sofa with the twins and stops, visibly forcing himself to calm down.

“Lennox. We need to talk.”

“Sebastian.”

“Now.”

The command in his voice makes something cold settle in my stomach. The twins scramble off the sofa, clearly sensing this isn’t a conversation they should be part of.

“We’ll go find Daddy,” Hadley says, already tugging Harper toward the hallway.

“See you, Auntie Lenny. Be nice, Uncle Seb,” Hadley says as they disappear around the corner.

Then they’re gone, and Sebastian is crossing to me with predatory focus. He grabs my wrist and pulls me to my feet.

“What’s wrong?” I ask.