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“Bellamy! Are you OK?” My mother’s voice is shrill and anxious when she answers, and I can tell she’s been worried. Worrying is practically an Olympic sport for Paula Harper, so it’s not surprising.
“Hi mama,” I say, unsure of how best to start the conversation despite all my rehearsal.
“Where are you? What is going on? Your father won’t tell me anything.”
I sit on the bed and stare at myself in the mirror as I listen to her rapid-fire questions.
“I’m safe. Tobias and Owen are protecting me until we figure out what’s going on.”
“Are you still getting married?”
I frown. “Why wouldn’t I be getting married, mama?”
“I wasn’t sure if things had changed since the shooting. Your father has been on the phone yelling a lot. He said it wasn’t safe to talk to you, or I would have called. I don’t have a clue what is going on. Why wouldn’t it be safe for me to talk to you?”
I lay back on the bed and throw an arm over my eyes. If my father thinks it’s not safe to talk to me, that means he knows more than he’s letting on. But I can’t tell my mother that. She’ll accuse me of still being bitter about him arranging the marriage in the first place. “We don’t have all the details yet, mama. But it’s better to be safe than sorry. Which means I can’t stay on the phone for very long. I just wanted to hear your voice and tell you I’m OK because you worry about everything. Are you at home or are you still in London?”
“London, but we aren’t staying with the Hunts anymore. We packed up and moved to a hotel the night everything happened. I don’t understand why. I thought this was supposed to be an alliance between the two families. The Hunts are treating us like we’re the enemy.”
She sounds whiny, as if staying in a five-star hotel is a major inconvenience, and I’m annoyed with her again. That my mother doesn’t seem to have any idea what is going on isn’t unusual. She doesn’t follow the family business. Not unless she has to.
“It is an alliance,” I assure her. “Things are just messy right now. Try not to worry about it. I’m with Tobias and we’re safe.”
“And how is Owen? I saw him get you out of harm’s way at the wedding. Please thank him for me.”
I smile. “I will, mama. He’s been wonderful. So has Tobias.”
“Where are you? Mrs. Hunt said you left the country, and your father said something about Las Vegas.”
I frown. How would he know that? Did Tobias tell his family where we were going? I didn’t think he had because he wasn’t sure who he could trust.
“My location is a secret in order to keep me safe in case someone is listening to our conversation.”
“That’s disturbing, Bellamy. Why would you say that?”
Sometimes giving my mother something else to worry about is the only thing I can do to stop her worrying about things she shouldn’t. Let her stress over whether someone is listening to our calls for a while.
“It’s not likely. But it’s a possibility, and I can’t be too careful. Anyway, I really have to go. I’ll call again when I can.”
“I love you, Bellamy. You looked wonderful in your wedding dress.”
I close my eyes as the call disconnects. I need to get up and put my curly hair products in my hair before it dries too much, or my curls will be unmanageably frizzy. But I’m suddenly overwhelmed with sadness that I may lose my family for good.
I haven’t been overly close to them in a long time, but I’ve always been able to call my mom for a chat if I got the urge. If they had something to do with this, it’s going to irreparably damage our relationship.
Placing my palms on the edges of the mattress, I push myself up and drag myself to the mirror where I get to work on my hair.
After I detangle it, I put my phone on speaker and dial Owen.
“Are you OK?” he asks, instead of saying hello.
“Yes, Sir. I’m fine. But I talked to my mother.”
“Did you call her, or did she call you?”
I frown. Why does he care?
“Bellamy.” His voice is laced with warning, and I swallow.
