Chapter 18 #2
Cirella’s eyes are wide with terror as she whispers, “I’ll explain everything. I promise. But please hide. Please. Please. Please.” Tears well in her eyes, brimming over the edge. “In my wardrobes. Under my bed.”
She ushers us back, and we let her push us to our knees.
“Promise me, whatever happens, you’ll stay hidden,” she begs.
“What?” I scoff.
“Promise me,” she urges. “No matter what.”
“We promise,” Asher says, and to my dismay, I agree.
We burst into action, fully sinking under the bed.
It’s a tight fit with our height and size, but we disappear behind the bed skirt, out of sight, facing the door with our bent legs against the back wall.
“Please keep Gus safe.”
She shoves Gus under the bed, pushing him past the thin fabric, and I scoop him into my hands, pulling him into my neck. He settles in without struggle, like he’s just as scared as she is.
Glancing over at Asher, I find him staring back with shock, and he mouths the words, the slightest bit audible, “What the fuck?”
“I don’t know,” I exhale. “I think we’re about to find out though.”
Swiftly, she takes a few deep breaths, seemingly calming herself before rushing to the door. “I’m coming! I’m so sorry!”
A moment later, I hear the click of the bolt shifting out of place and the door abruptly opening, air whooshing from the force before it bangs against the wall.
I recognize Adrianna’s voice clear as day.
Even clearer though, I recognize the collision of a firm slap reverberating off of someone’s cheek.
My entire body jerks, and I’m ready to rush out from under here and break Adrianna’s fucking hand because I know damn well it wasn’t Cirella who struck her.
“I’m sorry.” Cirella’s voice is frail and soft, like she’s walking on eggshells, and I hate every fucking second of it.
“You insolent brat. I told you to never lock that bolt.” She chuckles softly, no humor in the sound, and my blood turns to ice. “It’s a good thing we had to swing back for the night so I could catch you breaking the rules.”
“I’m sorry,” Cirella apologizes again.
I look over to Asher to anchor me so I don’t break my promise because it’s becoming increasingly impossible by the second.
Ash nods sharply, giving me the encouragement I needed to stay put, and he mouths, Don’t.
“I’m sure you are,” Adrianna scoffs.
Her heels click across the floor toward Cirella’s dress forms on the far wall, and my lungs freeze when I see her cat trailing behind her.
Shit, what if he sees us?
“I see my gown still isn’t finished. You realize the rehearsal dinner is in six days. Are you trying to make me look like a fool?” Adrianna scowls.
“N-no. No, never. It’ll be ready, I promise,” Cirella assures, staying in place.
“It’d better be. Or I’ll make another visit to the house to collect some more trash.”
“No.” Cirella’s voice is stronger, surer, and I’m so proud of her, but she shrinks back down as Adrianna turns to her, taking a step closer. “Please.”
“You’d better make sure that dress is done by the time I get back, or it’s allllll gone. Do you understand me?” she warns, and my brows furrow.
I’m desperate to know what they’re talking about and even more desperate to berate some sense into that woman.
“I promise,” Cirella states. “It’ll be perfect.”
“I believe you,” Adrianna hums, strolling back over to her.
Cirella stays rooted in place, not cowering back a step, which I wouldn’t blame her for.
“I know you don’t want your dear stepmother to look bad on her big day.”
The floor falls out from under us. There’s no way we just heard that correctly, right? Stepmother? No … that can’t be true.
My head whips back to Asher as his head shakes in disbelief.
What the fuck?
Her cat purrs, the noise far too close for comfort, and I turn to see him a mere foot from us. I pull Gus tighter against me, shielding him completely from the cat’s view.
Please, God, don’t look over here.
“Don’t lock your door like that again. I need to be able to check on you. That’s how our deal works.” Her tone is nothing but lethal.
“I know. I understand,” Cirella promises.
“Duke,” Adrianna calls for her cat as she throws the bedroom door open.
He trots along, finally letting me exhale, and he disappears with the evil woman.
The door slams shut, and the click of her heels fades down the hallway. We give it a second, not wanting to leave our post too soon.
“You can come out. She’s gone,” Cirella whispers, still standing by the door, still shrinking herself and her voice to the shell of her being.
We wiggle out from under the bed, Gus carefully in my hands. Ash and I both get to our feet, and I look up, finding my anxious girl with her arms wrapped around her waist.
I don’t know whether to fire off a thousand questions or wait for her to start at her own pace.
Asher makes the decision for the three of us.
“Stepmother?” he whispers cautiously. “Is that true?”
She holds our stare, watching both of us carefully as she considers the question herself. Slowly, she nods, that same fearful look in her eyes.
Good God.
Adrianna is a fucking monster, more than we could’ve imagined. Because if Adrianna’s Cirella’s stepmother, she’s the goddamn evil bitch who’s instilled this fear in her.
The slap sounds in my mind, pissing me off all over again.
I’m filled with anger, but I try to soften my voice, “I’m guessing that’s not the first time she’s struck you.”
“It’s not,” Asher says certainly. “I spoke with Cirella in the house the other day, concerned about the marks on her. I didn’t know she was … well, her at the time.”
“That will be the last to strikes you,” I swear to her. “She will never touch you again. We won’t let her.”
A humorless laugh leaves her. “Unfortunately, you can’t control that.”
“The hell I can’t,” I scoff, my voice sharp.
She steps forward, her hands up in front of her, approaching me with caution. “It’s okay. I’ll be done with her soon. Then it won’t matter anymore.” Taking a big, deep breath, she strides forward again, taking Gus into her hands. “Thank you for keeping him safe.”
“I have a thousand questions,” I warn her.
She gestures to the bed. “I know. I’ll answer every one of them.”
Ash and I sit on the bed as she retrieves the rolling stool by her workstation, sitting a few feet away from us, Gus perched on her shoulder.
She sighs heavily. “My name isn’t Cirella Matthews. Well, my name is Cirella. But my real last name is”—her big blue eyes study us nervously—“Chamberlain.”
My mind starts racing. Chamberlain.
“Patrick Chamberlain had a daughter?” My question is fast and breathy with uncertainty, but I already know the truth from the haunting look in her eyes.
Her gaze shifts anywhere but on us. “Yeah. He kept me hidden from the spotlight so I was safe from all of the watching eyes and scrutiny. He never intended to keep me quiet forever, but once he passed away when I was twelve, it didn’t matter anymore.”
“And Adrianna was your stepmother?” Asher asks.
She nods. “My dad had gotten lost in her spell, just like yours is. He trusted her to care for me once he was gone. He left her everything in the will. I couldn’t have escaped her if I tried.”
My mind immediately waves a red flag. “He left her everything?” I pause, trying not to harass her with too many questions at once. “How long did they know each other?”
She shrugs. “Before his passing? A year? Maybe more?”
“That’s it?” I ask, uneasiness churning my stomach. “And he left her everything?”
She nods again.
That doesn’t make sense.
Patrick Chamberlain was a brilliant businessman. If he cared enough to protect Cirella from the public eye altogether, he wouldn’t have risked handing everything over to a near stranger.
“You saw the will?” I push further, finding it harder and harder to believe.
“Yeah. We had to meet with the lawyers and everything.”
I don’t buy it. That can’t be right.
I have a feeling there is more going on with that than it seems or even she knows, and I intend on getting to the bottom of it.
But I drop it for now, knowing that harping on it won’t help her at this moment. Or change anything she’s been through.
“You could’ve told us—” I confess but Ash cuts me off, the next question already flowing from his mouth.
“Wait, she said something about a deal.”
Cirella’s hands fidget in her lap, her shoulders curved inward. She’s shrinking herself, probably without even realizing it.
I intend to break that habit of hers. She should sit tall without worry, confident and free.
We’ll get her there.
“Yeah,” she sighs with embarrassment. “Please don’t hate me when I tell you.”
“We could never,” I promise her truthfully. “Ever. Just tell us everything.”
And she does, unloading it all, like a fountain of confessions that just can’t stop until it’s empty. She tells us how Adrianna drained her family’s riches, the only asset left being her parents’ house.
She made Cirella promise to hide her true identity so she could marry my father and sink her fangs into a new family.
In return, Cirella would get the deed to her family’s home.
If my father knew how truly wicked she was, he’d never agree to marry her, and having firsthand knowledge from Cirella would ruin Adrianna’s chances altogether.
“Thank you,” I tell her truthfully.
“You guys aren’t mad?” she whispers, her body wound tight.
Asher lifts his hands, palms up. “Come here.”
She remains frozen for a few heartbeats, but eventually stands to her feet and walks over, stopping between us. Carefully, she reaches over and sets Gus on her nightstand, who rushes to some fabric and curls up.
Asher crooks his finger and gesturing her closer to him. He wraps his hands around her hips, guiding her between his legs before reaching up and cupping her cheeks.
“I can never be mad at you. Not for that. Are you kidding?” he scoffs. “Nothing gets between us. Especially not her.”
A shaky exhale leaves her trembling lips, and I can tell she’s still struggling to believe him.
“O-okay.” She softens a little, her muscles loosening as she drops her forehead to his, tears pooling over her lashes.
More and more, she seems to accept our words, her quickened breathing starting to settle. Slowly, she melts into him, her knees dropping to the bed as she straddles his lap and wraps her arms around his neck.
A sob tears through her, heaving and guttural as we give her space to just be. “Thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank us for this, baby. That’s what we’re here for. We’ll always have your back,” I promise her, and she lifts her head enough to turn to me.
Her face is contorted with anguish, no masks or shields hiding her vulnerability. “You guys have no idea what you mean to me.”
A soft smile tips my lips up. “Trust me, the feeling is mutual.”
She reaches out with her left arm toward me, and I scoot closer, grabbing her hand and pulling it to my lips. I press a gentle kiss against her fingers, and then she cups my face before returning her arm around Ash’s neck.
“We’ll get your house back,” Asher whispers, and I know that to be true.
Fuck, if it comes to it, I’ll buy it from Adrianna for triple the price. If money’s all she wants, I’ll give it to her.
Cirella’s eyes shut, her head resting against Ash’s shoulder, and another big sigh leaves her, one that you can only make after coming out of fight-or-flight mode. I can’t help but wonder how long she’s been stuck in it.
But I’ll make sure that Adrianna feels it ten times harder and ten times longer for what she’s put Cirella through.
Ash rubs her back, up and down, until her breathing evens out and settles. I bet she’s exhausted from all of this.
Which is exactly why I keep the other million questions I have to myself. I can ask them later, after she gets some much-needed rest.
Sleep comes sooner than any of us expect as she drifts off a minute later. She’s limp in his arms, but he secures her in place, not budging an inch.
We sit there for what feels like forever and a second, all in one.
Sooner or later, she stirs awake, her eyes widening with surprise. “Oh God, I did not mean to do that,” she whispers, sitting up instantly, her cheeks reddening.
Asher smirks. “Drool on me anytime, Princess.”
A knock sounds on the door. She jumps, but I raise my hands to try and calm her.
“Are you guys still in there?”
I recognize Griffin’s voice immediately.
Crap. I forgot they were here.
“Go,” Cirella orders. “I think I’m going to head to bed early anyway. And I’d better fill Jules in before she breaks down my door later tonight.”
“Oh, so she knew all about your little secret, huh?” I tease her.
“Who do you think helped me sneak into the party?”
She bites down on her lower lip, and I suddenly want to slap myself and kiss her senseless, all at once.
How could a small eye mask have fooled me this much?
I should have recognized her immediately. Her plump, heart-shaped lips. The way she chews on her bottom one when she’s nervous. The bright blues of her big eyes. All of the signs were there. We were just blind.
“Are you sure?” I ask her, wanting to be sure she’s okay before we leave her alone.
Leaning over to me, she slides her hand along my cheek, pulling me to her, and my lips quickly find hers.
She kisses me tenderly and passionately, as if it’s the last one she’ll ever have, and I’m a bumbling full by the time she pulls away, putty in her hand.
Righting herself, she kisses Asher, her blonde hair falling forward as she rocks against him. When she sits back, there’s a confidence in her aura, one I’d love to see more often.
“I’m positive.” She smiles, wetting her lips.
“I don’t want to leave,” Asher drones immediately with hooded eyes and parted lips. “I don’t need friends anymore actually. Fuck them.”
I roll my eyes, smiling, secretly feeling the exact same way. “Let’s give her some time to rest. We’ll check in on you later, okay? We’ll text you.”
She nods, happiness in her eyes, crinkling the corners. She’s so goddamn beautiful. I will the image of her to burn itself into my brain, wishing to see it every time I close my eyes.
“Good night, Cirella.” I stand up, grab her chin, and kiss her forehead once more.
Turning back to Asher, she grins and slides off his lap. “Good night.”