Chapter 11
Eleven
Iswallow hard as the three men and one woman all stare wide-eyed at us. One of the men actually has a piece of cantaloupe on a fork frozen in front of his mouth. I’d been so excited to have some human interaction and get out of that godforsaken tower that I hadn’t thought about who I would be meeting and how I might be received.
“This is Rapsody.” Kol thumbs toward me and continues to the right side of the table. He sits while I stand rooted to the spot.
The woman is the first one to break the ensuing silence, pushing back from the table. “Rapsody, it’s wonderful to meet you.” She walks toward me and envelops me in a hug. “I’m Anabelle, Asher’s wife.”
Anabelle smells like the wealthy women at church, and when she pulls back to smile at me, I watch as her big brown eyes look me over.
I can’t help but return her smile. “Nice to meet you.”
She’s in a sophisticated dress one might wear to an office and her brown hair hangs wavy to her breasts, but she looks to be about my age. Though I can tell from how she carries herself that her twenty-three is much more worldly than mine.
“Rapsody, we’ve heard a lot about you,” the man seated beside Kol says.
It’s nice to hear people call me by my real name rather than Lillian, a name that never felt true to me.
He rises from his seat and makes his way over to me, but instead of hugging me like Anabelle, he takes my hand and brings it to his lips, pressing a kiss against my knuckles. My face heats when I meet his dark, penetrating gaze. A tattoo of a wolf peeks up over the collar of his dress shirt, and his dark wavy hair has been styled back away from his face.
I can only imagine what Kol must have said about me, so I answer with, “Not good things, I assume.”
The entire room breaks out in laughter—everyone except Kol, whose gaze I catch with questions. He seems perturbed by the comment, as if he didn’t expect me to speak during breakfast.
Then why did he bring me?
I may not be used to being social, but now that I’ve been given the chance to interact with other people, you’d better believe I’m going to. Who knows when I’ll get the chance again?
“I’m Obsidian, but everyone calls me Sid. Glad you’ll be joining us today.”
I smile and nod.
“I’m Nero,” a man on the opposite side of the table says, raising his hand in greeting. “It’s good to meet you.”
It’s clear to me that he’s the youngest of the brothers, and unlike the two brothers I’ve already met, Nero has blue eyes that contrast with his dark hair.
“Rapsody, I’m Asher,” the last man says. “Why don’t you have a seat beside Kol?” He gestures across the table as Anabelle returns to the seat on his left.
“Thank you.” I nod and follow Sid over to that side of the table, where he slides his breakfast plate to the left.
“You can have my seat, Rapsody.” Then Sid gestures to a woman dressed in a housekeeper’s uniform in the corner, and she darts away, seeming to read his mind. I hadn’t even noticed her.
Sid pulls the chair out for me, and I slide in next to Kol. “Thank you.”
Seconds later, the woman returns and sets down a clean plate and cutlery in front of me. I smile and mumble a thank you.
I have a hard time concentrating, my eyes pinging to different locations in the large room. I glance at a crystal chandelier hanging over the long, dark wood table. I’ve never seen a table with this many chairs before. Despite the chandelier and some flickering sconces on the walls, the room is still dim, and it’s hard to tell if the paint on the walls is black or a deep blue. Paintings in ornate gold frames line the walls, and a large mirror hangs over the huge fireplace.
A long buffet table is set against the wall behind the head of the table, and above it is a large painting of a pretty woman with long, flowing dark hair and deep blue eyes. Eyes that hold sadness despite the upward curve of her lips. I admire the way the artist was able to capture such depth of emotion in her eyes, which is no small feat.
“Who is she? She’s beautiful,” I ask.
Silence greets me, and I still, fearing I’ve found my way into unwanted territory.
Nero clears his throat. “It’s our mother…was our mother.”
My chin dips, and I glance at the empty plate. “I’m sorry.”
I don’t know any details except for what Kol shared with me—his mother was murdered. After I ran off, I did a lot of googling on Kol Voss but never looked up his mother. It just didn’t feel right.
“You didn’t know,” Asher says from across the table. “Now, help yourself to whatever you’d like before these three polish it off.” He gestures to the center of the table and the platters of food.
I do as he insists, adding bacon, eggs, fruit, yogurt, and granola to my plate.
“So, will you be staying with us long?” Sid asks from my left.
I glance at Kol, knowing I’m only here because he’s allowing it and unsure how long he’ll allow me. “I’m not sure.”
“You don’t have anything important to get back to out west?” he asks.
“Is she on fucking trial?” Kol snipes.
Sid chuckles low in his chest. “Apologies, Rapsody. Sometimes I forget I’m not in a courtroom.” He smiles. Though on the surface it appears genuine, there’s something predatory underneath.
Anabelle saves me from having to think of a response. “What do you do for a living? Are you still in school?” She radiates warmth, and her smile is welcoming.
Though I appreciate her trying to save me, I’m not sure how to answer. Obviously, Kol hasn’t told anyone how I grew up.
“Oh well, actually I… I wasn’t working before I came here. I was…” I turn to Kol, but his head is buried in his plate. “I was supposed to be married, and I was going to stay at home and run the house. It’s what he wanted.”
Shame weighs heavily on my shoulders, and they slump while I push my eggs around my plate with a fork.
“Nothing wrong with that,” Anabelle says, clearly sensing my discomfort. “I think running a household is even harder than a nine-to-five job, especially once kids are involved.” She kindly doesn’t ask anything about my fiancé or the wedding or whether I’m married.
I give her a wan smile.
“Speaking of weddings…” Anabelle leans forward and looks around her husband at Nero. “How are the preparations for your big day going?”
“You’re getting married?” I say excitedly, happy to discuss anyone but myself and my sad existence.
Nero grins. “In the fall. We’re just putting the final touches on everything now.”
“That’s wonderful. What’s your fiancée’s name? How did you meet?” I lean back, knowing I need to tamper down my enthusiasm.
The other three men at the table groan.
“Her name is Maude, and we met when I stopped to help her with a flat tire.”
I lean my cheek on my hand. “How chivalrous.”
He carries on, telling me about how she’s perfect for him and explaining what her vision for the wedding is. It sounds as though it’s going to be an enormous affair.
“It all sounds so exciting,” I say when he’s finished.
“What about you, Rapsody? Would you want the party of the year like Nero’s bride, or would you be satisfied with something more subdued?” Sid asks me with a glint in his eye. His gaze flickers past me to Kol but swing back my way as if I wouldn’t notice.
“Me?” My eyebrows raise. “Oh no, I’d be happy with a wedding at city hall as long as it meant we were married.” The words slip from my mouth before I can stop them.
Kol stills at my side, fork half raised to his mouth.
My breathing becomes loud in my head, and every creak of the wood as people shift in their chairs is magnified.
Heat floods my cheeks. “I’m sorry, I?—”
“It’s fine.” Kol places a hand on my forearm.
Beyond when he was rubbing my back when I had my panic attack, it’s the first comforting gesture he’s allowed himself to give me. My uneasiness evaporates as I let the heat of his palm sink in.
But his touch is gone too soon. He whips his hand away as if my skin is as hot as boiling oil. I watch his fingers coil into a fist, resting at the side of his plate.
“I’m the same as you, Rapsody. Asher and I had a very small ceremony here on the manor grounds.” Once again, Anabelle comes to my rescue.
I take the lifeline she’s thrown me and try to hoist myself from the stormy sea. “Oh, whereabouts? I’ll bet there are hundreds of beautiful spots to choose from.”
“In the center of the hedge maze actually. It’s sort of a special spot for Asher and me.” She looks adoringly at her husband.
I feel Kol go as still as death next to me, and it feels as though the shadows in the corners of the room creep in closer. When I turn my head in Kol’s direction, he pushes back from the table, tossing his napkin beside his half-finished plate.
“You done?” he asks me.
“Uh, sure. Yeah.” I push back my chair and stand, looking around the table. “It was nice to meet you all.”
“We should have a girls’ night sometime soon,” Anabelle says with a smile, glancing in Kol’s direction.
“That would be great.” And I mean it. I’ve never had a girls’ night before.
Kol makes his way toward the exit of the dining room without waiting for me, and I hurry to catch up.
I don’t know why what Anabelle said was so upsetting to him, but against my better judgment, I want to be the one to make him feel better. Old habits die hard.