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“He must have come back early,” Dad replies in a low, dangerous voice. “And he didn’t tell us.” His gaze snaps back up to me. “How long has he been there?”
“Since the wedding,” I reply, flabbergasted. “Didn’t you guys know he was there?”
“Lucas must have invited him,” Mom surmises, her expression panicked.
“Guys, what’s going on?” I ask, shifting in my seat. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Mom says in a placating tone. “It’s just...”
Dad shoots her a warning look, and silence falls over us. The sounds of the water and the intermittent chirps of the birds are the only things breaking the tension. I glance at Violet, half-hoping for some kind of sisterly telepathic explanation, but the look on her face tells me she’s as out of the loop as I am.
“Vivian,” Dad says slowly, drawing my attention back to him, “I don’t want you around Theo Emmerico.”
“Huh?” I blurt, and I’m ashamed to say that my first reaction isn’t alarm, but disappointment. What the hell is wrong with me? “Why not?”
“Why not?” Mom replies. “Whynot? For starters, how about the fact that you’re married to his brother, and he’s one of the most dangerous criminals in the entire—” But she stops herself abruptly.
“What do you mean, most dangerous?” I demand, and it occurs to me just how little I actually know about the man who’s staying in my home. It doesn’t help that he’s kept me at arm’s length since that morning after the bar incident.
“Vivian.” Dad’s tone is low. “In this world, sometimes you have to ask questions, and sometimes you have to know when tonotask questions. Do you understand?”
“No,” I reply. “Not even a little.”
Dad sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Theo Emmerico is... complicated,” he explains at last. “Considering how delicate the situation between our two families is, there are some things—”
“I got that,” I mutter, sensing that Mom and Violet are exchanging looks.
“—that are better left unsaid.”
“So that’s it,” I say, throwing my hands up. “You’re just going to tell me to stay away from him, but you won’t tell me why or who he is?”
“You’ll learn soon enough,” Dad responds cryptically, his eyes drifting over the three of us: me, Mom, Violet. “Until then, suffice it to say that I don’t want anything—or anyone—getting in the way of what we’re trying to accomplish.”
I blink. Is... is he threatening Theo? Or is he threateningme? “What is it you think I’m going to do?” I ask, my heart racing.
“I don’t know,” Dad replies. “But it would be unwise for you to be up close and personal with him right now.”
“I don’t understand,” I say, looking from one parent to another.
“You don’t have to,” Dad says, and with that, he gets up from his chair, rejoins his handlers and Rhys, and the group of them retreat back inside.
I’m not sure what just happened, and I’m not sure I want to know.
Frustrated, I head for a shady spot by the trellis, Theo at the forefront of my mind. The thought of not having him around, as ridiculous as it is so soon into our acquaintance, is almost as scary as the thought of him being dangerous enough to rattle my parents. And that’s a pretty damn scary thought.
As I cool off from the bright sunshine, my mind goes back to the way he almost killed the guy who attacked me, and then to the look in his steely eyes that morning when it looked like he was about to kiss me again.
“You okay, sis?” Violet asks as she slips into the hot tub nearby.
“Yeah, sure,” I lie.
Even behind her sunglasses, I can tell she doesn’t believe me. “Is there something I should know about?” she asks.
“I could ask you the same thing,” I joke halfheartedly.
“I’m as in the dark as you,” she replies, and then mutters, “as much as I hate it.”
That makes me laugh, but as we lapse into silence, I can’t shake the thought that my perfect, marriage-ready life is about to get upended any moment now.
