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That was how it always worked with the two of them. Mum would blow up about something, and look to Daddy to come in and start smacking heads together. Or any other man she could get for a price, apparently.
I wasn’t as nervous around her antics as usual. Whenever I remembered that I now knew a big part of what she’d always tried to hide from me, it shook the shyness that was a usual part of any close interaction with her. The glamorous woman I always struggled to feel even good enough to be second fiddle alongside. She probably knew it, too. No wonder she’d played things this way. Trying to get one up on her own daughter was just what I expected from my mother dearest.
“That is exactly what I’m showing her right now, Daddy. Look, I’m not naïve, I know sometimes people have to do things that seem really dirty, that aren’t always strictly legal. I appreciate that you’ve always put a nice roof over my head, and I’m willing to hear the details before I go judging you for whatever other life you have… But Devin says Mum crippled a guy just to maintain her pristine water glimpses. It wasn’t honour, or protecting the family, or anything that is even kind of on the nose but everyone does it so okay… it’s stupid, and nobody is denying it happened! How are you defending any of this?”
“There are such things as loyalty to one’s family, Julia, that you need to learn more about if you want to play at being a part of this world—”
Mum got in front of him again. “You precious little brat,” she screamed in my face—no Daddy stepping in to defend me, either. “You think you’re so smart, standing in judgement over me while you vow to give your everything to this man who swept you off your feet. Don’t think you’re the first girl to fall in love with a man who kidnapped her, not in this world. It always ends in the silly little bitch being taken apart, and I don’t always mean that in a metaphorical sense. Aside from that, if you think it’s scandalous to fight a shitty little scumbag with an interest in this situation he still won’t acknowledge… you’re going to hate finding out all that Devin O’Hare is tied up in.”
The thing was I could totally believe that. I was probably going to be really appalled by the sorts of things Devin got up to, no matter how many stories he had to tell me about how bad those men were he’d removed fingers and ears from or whatever. But it seemed like I was going to have the same feelings about what my parents did.
I was buried in this world already, whether I liked it or not. At least Devin had offered some sort of protection.
“Are you done?” I asked.
Mum’s jaw dropped. Usually I just cringed and muttered some sort of apology when she went off like that. Maybe asked if I could go back to my bedroom.
“We all do things for different reasons throughout our life,” I said. “You and Daddy might even be willing to calmly explain yours to me one day. Anyway, I don’t expect you to be in love with what I’ve decided to do, but you need to understand I’m going to do it anyway. And I’m hoping you’ll be able to put aside your disapproval for long enough to support me on the day, at least.” Devin would probably be miffed if there was a ceremony and they opted against attending. Ruining the climactic scenes of his improvised plan and all.
Daddy sighed. He glanced behind before he said, “You know damn well we can’t say no to this, Julia. Everyone will be there observing our absence.”
Everyone… I hadn’t gotten far enough in my thinking to realise that there would probably be a lot of expected guests, people Devin knew and my parents knew but I had never been introduced to. I hadn’t yet considered the organisation of my own wedding to be a good way to learn more about the ‘extended family’.
It was scary, thinking of being the central focus of a gigantic mafia-themed gig, but that was just because it had been a long time since I’d taken myself out of the house at all. Before I got psyched out of it, I used to sort of love showing up at parties I’d figured out were on from stalking the social media of local kids with no sense of privacy, the other attendees glancing at one another and whispering who is she? as I floated by, like I was Cinderella.
Having a wedding was probably a hundred times better than that feeling, because there was no doubt it was about one person in particular. I could picture it already.
“Well I’m glad,” I told my parents, “because I am planning to make sure this is one big party. The sort of event everyone talks about for years to come. It’d be a shame if you missed it.”
As it was sinking in for them just how much they were going to hate everything about this… Devin strolled back up the hallway. The instigator of this chaos, back to reap the fruits of what he’d sown.
Chapter Nine
I should have known he wasn’t going to wait to be called back like a good little boy.
“Ever
ything all right in here, sweetheart?” He practically danced past my parents, and slung an arm across my shoulder. I was pulled against his side, my breast pressing hard against his muscular torso. I hadn’t had time to put on a bra, so the contact lanced through me in a way that made me feel ready to slide back into bed before I’d even gotten breakfast… and maybe with company, too.
“Just thrashing out the details of the wedding.” I dared to tip my head against him, trying to feel the hard muscle I knew was packed around his shoulder through his sleek suit. It seemed a bit awkward to be playing around with this kind of intimacy when the most that had happened between us was that kiss that hadn’t exactly filled him with uncontrollable desire, and my parents knew damn well it wasn’t like we’d met normally and made a connection that way.
But the more I settled into the idea of what I was doing, the more I wanted to fuck with them—my parents, and Devin. Let him see if he could really keep up with me.
“I really want to tell them more of the things you’ve generously agreed to let me have my own way with, but I know we’re both starving after everything we’ve been up to, and Mum and Daddy just got home so they’re probably keen to sit down and relax… so you should just stay for breakfast, Devin. What better time to start bonding as a family?”
Devin made a choking noise that was a bit like a laugh and a bit like his organs were seizing up with horror. Oh yes, he needn’t think I’d forgotten about the way he had me snatched from my bed by such ineptly-selected grunts he’d had to peel one of them off me the morning after. I was going to give him the crushing psychological victory he craved, but he would have to make up for how he’d gone about it.
My parents were looking at one another, lost in their own world of strategising again. Daddy turned back to us, keeping his eyes focused in the region of Devin’s face with difficulty. “Of course that would be a good opportunity for us to clarify some of the details of this situation.”
He wasn’t quite managing to hide his voice shaking. Of course he was nervous: it had to be dawning on them that Devin had deliberately snatched our sense of safety from us, just as it had dawned on me when we’d arrived back at the house the night before. Before my first kidnapping, we hadn’t done much in the way of security. Perhaps my parents thought they didn’t need to, with their standing, but we’d all learned better.
Now Devin had showed my parents he could take their daughter from the protection of her home… they had to realise if they threw this offer of financial forgiveness back in his face, he might take something from them they actually cared about. We were all back at square one, and I guess that was a lot further to fall for my parents, because they’d never given me any reason to have confidence in them.
Devin gestured with the arm that wasn’t holding me. “Lead the way.”
His face remained neutral as he started walking, guiding me with his arm as if I could be expected to have no idea where my own kitchen was—following my parents as if he had no idea where the kitchen was. I was guessing right now he was smiling on the inside, though. He didn’t always share his feelings with those around him, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there. He couldn’t completely mask the shift in his mood while he was so close to me, though.
Without the wine haze of the night before getting in my way, I was now free to explore my feelings about that kiss I’d started. Unfortunately I was sketchy on a lot of the details, but I was certain on one critical one: I would never be able to figure out what made this man tick unless I got close to him. Closer than I had ever been willing to be with any other man.
