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Forty-Eight
Camille
I wasnervous when Lena invited me into her country-style kitchen.
This time, I hadn’t dressed up to visit with Brennan’s family, instead wore a simple pair of black slacks, a thin cashmere jacket above a camisole, and my bracelets that helped me cope with motion sickness for the drive upstate. My hair was tucked into a loose ponytail that I hoped hid the bald patches, while also taking off some of the pressure on my scalp. No one else had dressed up either, and from last Sunday, I knew that wasn’t normal.
The men had been in suits, Aela, Aoife and my sister had worn expensive dresses. Now, they sported jeans and sweaters, Aoife had a sapphire-tinted woollen dress on that complimented her hair with cute ballet pumps on her feet, but Aela and Innie wore sweaters, yoga pants and UGGs. Victoria, of course, was dressed like a miniature First Lady, but I took no notice of her. I could imagine her going to a rave dressed that way.
Yesterday, three of the brothers had stormed a compound and gone to war to liberate me and my sister.
Today was about comfort.
Today was about family.
I’d already been greeted by everyone, the brothers and the sisters-in-law like I was a soldier returning home from the battlefield, and even though I’d blushed, their acceptance had mattered more than their praise. Seeing Shay and Victoria being introduced had eased things for me too—teenagers could be cute when they were so awkward.
Unfortunately, the greetings were just the start of things. I’d hoped we’d get right into eating, but Lena had invited us into her kitchen, where she took a seat at the head of the kitchen table.
There, she’d declared, “Join me, Camille, Aoife, Aela, Inessa, and Victoria.”
The setting might have been homely and cozy, but her order was as regal as anything else.
I did as she asked, my sisters and new in-laws obeying too, and in the doorway, I saw Brennan looming, waiting for her to call him in.
She clucked her tongue at the sight of him, then waved him into the room.
He surprised me by moving to my chair, gesturing at me to get out of it, taking that seat, then dragging me onto his knee. Lena smiled a little mistily at the sight, while Inessa grinned, and Aoife and Aela shot each other surprised glances, Victoria simply rolled her eyes. Me? I felt a bit giddy at the possessive hold in front of the woman who mattered the most to him.
“Everyone around this table has gone through something that they shouldn’t have.
“Aoife, Aela, you know my heart bleeds for what you have both endured. So that’s why you’re here. Because we need to come together, at a moment like this, to know that we’re bound in ways that few families are.” She cast Victoria, Inessa and me a glance. “I know what it is to be held hostage, girls. I know what it is to be taken.” Inessa started to argue, but Lena raised a hand. “You got away, but you know the fear of being snatched. Of your life sinking to its knees around you as your routine is held against you and used as a means of getting close to you.” Inessa’s shoulders hunched. “Then, there’s my boy, Brennan. He’s steeped in guilt for something he didn’t do, for a duty that should have never been given to him in the first place, and that’s my fault. This, here, is a safe space. For us all.”
“Ma, that’s not fair to you. You never asked for that to happen,” he rasped.
“It’s dead fair. I should have told your father to give me a guard for the morning. That task should never have fallen to you. It changed you, Bren. You were my sweet-hearted lad, then you turned dark.” Her voice waned, but even as something flickered at the back of her eyes, something I’d seen in Brennan’s, she shot us a smile as she repeated, “This is a safe space. The safest in the world. Only Aela hasn’t lost her mother,” she whispered, shame flickering in her eyes, “and by no means have I been the best one. My boys will agree. I’ve let their da get away with too much, and I’ve done things I’m ashamed of. Even this week, I let them down.” She sucked in a breath. “But I can keep trying. That’s all we can do in this life—try. I’m here, and I’m what you’ve got, so I’ll do my best to do your mothers proud. Aela, whenever you need me, you know I’m here. For youandShay.”
“I do, Lena. Thank you. I appreciate that.”
She shrugged. “If I can help, I will.”
I wasn’t sure if I could ever call on this woman who was more like an empress than a mere matriarch, but I whispered, “Thank you, Lena.” After Aoife, Victoria and Inessa murmured their thanks as well, I asked, “What happened?”
Brennan tensed beneath me. “Ma’s got a dress shop. One of my duties was to take her to her store and to wait for her guard to show up. This particular morning, I was in a rush. I didn’t go in. They were waiting on her inside. I didn’t know. I just dropped her off... They took her.”
Another person might have asked why, but I was born to the life.
Even Aoife, who I knew wasn’t like the rest of us, had to know.
Business.
Always fucking business.
“I’m sorry,” I said simply, and I reached over to place my hand on Lena’s. “Truly, I wish you hadn’t had to go through that.”
Her smile was half-hearted this time, and her expression wobbled, the strength she projected wavering as her mask dropped. It might have been years ago, but to Lena, it was as close to her as our attack was. “I wish so too.”
A booming laugh sounded over in the corridor, making me jump, Victoria as well. Lena’s mask reappeared within seconds, but when Aidan Sr. came wandering in, his boys around him, a grin on his face, I wasn’t sure if it was a mask, or her exasperation was real enough to jerk her out of the past.
