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“Time to go, Riane,” Cedra said, getting to her feet. She put herself directly between me and her former partner, and I thought perhaps she’d heard my yearning to slap Riane.
Ana stood behind us, blocking the meager light from the front windows.
Riane’s eyes panned across the room, taking in our determined faces. I could see the gears turning in her head, calculating her next move. Her chest billowed with breath, and I thought perhaps she would be foolish enough to continue this ridiculous conversation.
Then with a huff, she slipped the e-reader back into her bag and stood, flicking nonexistent lint off her slinky black dress.
“I’ll leave. For now. But I will get my half of the house and land, one way or another.”
I was so, so tired of being pushed around. My patience was wearing thinner than the heels on Riane’s feet.
With my hands on Cedra’s shoulder for leverage, I peered over her shoulder on my toes.
“No, you won’t,” I assured Riane.
There was an edge to my voice I’d never heard before. It made more than one pair of eyes in the room widen in surprise.
“I’ll make sure of it.”
There was a finality to those words, and I saw Riane’s chin tilt in the air as they sunk in. I wondered if this was enough to deter her from ever coming back for Cedra’s legacy, but I doubted it. Riane wore her greed like a cloak, and one confrontation probably wouldn’t cut it.
Ana opened the front door and pointed to the exit.
“Out,” she barked. “Now.”
With a tilt of her head and a click of her heels, Riane stepped out the door.
She wasn’t quick enough for Ana. The door swung forward, catching Riane in the ass.
“Hey!” she protested, the sound muffled by the wood.
“Oops.” Ana shrugged, looking none too repentant.
I breathed a sigh of relief, wrapping my arms around Cedra. She flowed against me, resting her chin on the crown of my head.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that, after everything that’s happened today.”
“I don’t understand how a person can change so much. I didn’t even recognize her.”
Cedra’s voice was muffled against my hair.
“She’s always been that way, Cee. But you were in love. You didn’t see the parts of her that were truly bad,” Ana sighed, cutting into our little bubble.
I turned to face her, still nestled against my Mate.
“If I haven’t said it yet, thank you for bringing your friends to rescue me. I don’t know what I would have done otherwise. I planned and planned to escape but came up with nothing. The house was so secure.”
“No need for any of that. Cedra is family. And so are you.”
She returned my smile of gratitude, but I had to squint to see it. The sun was setting in the distance, pitching the house into darkness.
“Ah, shit,” Ana grumbled. “The bloody panel is still out. The vendor has the new one on hold for me in his warehouse.”
I felt Cedra’s body go rigid with resignation.
Then she said: “Call your vendor. Let’s get it fixed tonight so the community can have some power.”
At that moment, Austy’s face pressed against the front window, her nose flattened comically on the glass.
“Everything okay in there?” she asked, her voice muffled.
Ana waved her inside. “We’re going to install the new solar panel. You wanna join us? Can you get Fend and a few others to meet us there?”
“A new one?” Austy’s eyes lit up. “How’d we get the money for it so fast?”
Cedra’s eyes met mine. “We were truly blessed this year.”
