2. Pax
Chapter 2
Pax
S ummer lunch parties should be called summer nightmare parties. It’s too damn hot and sticky to be outside and yet the hosts for today’s event couldn’t be bothered to hold it indoors. There are too many of us to fit inside the tents, so I’m standing in the middle of the backyard- sweating my ass off- even though I’m wearing linen shorts and shirt.
I stand by the hedges, looking out over the water, watching as the tides ripple in the sand before dragging some of it away. My mind wanders to the night I took Thea to the beach and how happy she looked digging her fingers into the sand, while the waves tickled her feet. I rub my chest, trying to ease the ache I feel there. Fuck, I miss her.
I tense as a body comes to stand next to me. Shoving my feelings down deep where nobody can see them, I smooth my face into a mask, waiting for Finley Jefferson Rhodes, Jr. or J.R. as he’s called, to say something. It’s been three months since the announcement of my petition to marry Eloise. Finn might be happy to be out of his contract, but I’m not so sure his father shares in his joy.
“Beautiful, yet dangerous.” He says, pointing to the ocean. “The waves. The sea. It’s beautiful. Calming, yet dangerous, to anyone who doesn’t know how to navigate the swirl of the water. Riptides appear out of nowhere. One minute you’re swimming straight on a direct path to your destination, and the next, you realize the waves have pushed you way off course.”
He pauses, taking a sip of his drink before continuing. “That’s why they tell you to swim diagonal to the shore if you’re caught in a riptide. If you stay in the current, or fight to keep moving forward, it’ll pull you out to sea, further from your goal.”
He clasps my shoulder before walking away. I turn, watching his departure, and take it all in. What’s the point of any of this? If Thea were here, she’d be irritating the guests, or complaining about the heat and trying to sneak out early. Watching her be a brat would be a welcome break from the monotony of it all.
Finn and Holden are across the lawn. I miss my girl, and I miss my brothers. I take a step towards them, but Eloise’s approach cuts me off. “Pax, there you are!”
Her voice grates. The too syrupy smile nauseates me, and her touch makes me want to slice off my flesh. I look back over to where Finn and Holden are standing. Their backs are now to me.“What do you want, Eloise?”
“There are people who want to congratulate me on my upcoming engagement.”
“Then go get congratulated.”
“They want us, together.”
Staring down at her, I say, “I don’t give a shit about congratulations. The only person happy about this arrangement is you. So go suck up all the praise and leave me the fuck out of it.”
“You’re supposed to cooperate. Or shall I tell your father?”
Tattle telling little twat. “I am cooperating. Nothing he said when he forced me into this arrangement suggested I had to listen to people wish me well. I have to go through with it and can’t tell everyone that I’m being blackmailed. That’s what I’m doing.” I finish my drink and order another one from a passing server.
“Don’t you think you should give drinking a rest? I don’t want a drunk for a husband.”
People are watching, so I lean forward and say, “And I don’t want a frigid shrew for a wife, but I guess we’ll both be disappointed for the duration of our union.” I peel her hand off of my arm. “Now go smile and be ecstatic for the both of us.”
She finally leaves me alone and the first thing I do with my freedom is make a beeline for the bar and order two fingers of bourbon. I’d ask for the bottle, but there are things expected of me now that I’ve moved to elevate myself above my Trium, and people here I still need to impress. Drunk and pissed off would be the wrong impression to leave them with.
The upside, it would piss my father off, and as much as I wouldn’t mind doing that, he might use any perceived infraction on my part as an excuse to take it out on Thea. My gaze drifts over the room, seeking out Finn and Holden again. They look just as unhappy as I do about being here. On the surface they’re perfectly poised, and appropriately sociable. But I notice the small details, like Finn smiling with too much teeth, and Holden’s plastered to the wall, not even pretending to engage with anyone.
I finish my drink, then order another. As I turn away from the bar, I spot Finn and Holden entering the house. When neither of them returns, I know it’s because they’ve left without me. I’ll need to get used to being left behind from now on.
With that sour thought bouncing around in my head, I gulp down my drink.