Chapter 56
The kitchen was dimly lit, and Adria glanced back, watching the sun rise behind her. A haze was in the air as she made her way to the kitchen. Adria looked down and saw her hands. They were small, but her brain registered that this wasn’t real.
She was vaguely aware that she was dreaming.
This time, when she moved into the kitchen, it was like a play that hadn’t started.
Her mother was cooking breakfast?
As soon as she thought about it, her mother was there. Her dark hair was up in a high bun. Adria watched as she hummed a tune while stirring something on the stove.
Except her mother hadn’t been here. It was smokey because no one was around to stir the dish.
At the thought, her mother vanished, and the room filled with smoke.
Adria played with her mother’s cookbook as she went by. The mountain emblem running under her fingers.
The symbol meant something, but Adria found herself moving on.
Alexey had died in this kitchen, and Adria had to know why.
Moving to the pantry, Adria held no hesitation as she ripped the door open.
At first the closet was dark, but as Adria watched, the room started to take form.
She remembered Alexey. Remembered him tied to the chair.
As if on cue, he appeared in front of her, bleeding.
But who was in here with him?
Adria waited. Like magically the culprit would surface.
Then suddenly there was a voice.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
The voice.
It wasn’t Jonathan.
Adria pictured a white smile, full of teeth.
A face so sure of himself.
Maxim.
Adria woke up in Bryson’s arms. For the first time in weeks, the tangled mess of her dreams finally made sense.
After the attack at the hotel, she had been sure her feelings about Maxim were correct.
But this new memory surfacing put the nail in the coffin.
Not only had he betrayed her, but he had betrayed her father.
Alexey had always been a kind man. He didn’t deserve to die like that.
Bryson was sound asleep next to her, and Kaydon and Seth were nowhere to be found.
She moved with gentle care, slipping free of his embrace. Adria pulled on a shirt and shorts, and padded down to the breakfast room.
Voices from her mother and Xander carried down the hall.
“Soph, I don’t like this line of thinking, and I don’t care for the way things were handled yesterday,” Xander said as Adria drew near.
“Everything is under control,” her mother replied.
“They could have gotten hurt,” Xander responded, and Adria stilled outside the threshold.
“But, as always, everyone is fine,” her mother said.
“If my organization is to be utilized for your vendettas in the future, I expect to be included,” Xander said, then softened his tone: “Soph, you promised—no more secrets.”
Adria stepped into the room.
“Sleep well?” Sophia asked, eyes on her phone.
Adria smoothed her tangled hair. “I did.”
Xander took a step away from her mother. “Adria, I want to apologize again for the Sombras De Salva’s behavior yesterday. I’ve spoken to Gabriel; they will no longer be a threat to you or your entourage.”
Adria gave him a warm smile. “Thank you, Xander.”
Xander smoothed his shirt before saying, “As discussed yesterday, I do not think your mother fully considered the danger she was putting them in.”
“I understood,” her mother interrupted. “I wanted to see how capable my daughter’s suitors were.”
Adria shot her mother a look. Yesterday, they’d argued—Adria hated how Sophia had treated Bryson, Kaydon, and Seth. Her mother had bristled at first but eventually agreed to do better.
“Did you find your ring yet?” Adria asked.
“No,” Sophia said, lifting her coffee and taking a sip.
Xander gave the two of them a slight bow before moving out of the room.
Adria hesitated. “I keep having that dream—the one about Alexey.”
Her mother’s fingers froze. It was a slight motion, but Adria caught it.
“Except now it’s less of a dream and more of a memory.”
Adria saw the images clearly.
“I remember Maxim cutting him and you stopping him. What I can’t figure out is why you are covering for him.”
Her mother set her phone down and pressed her lips into a line.
“You were so young. I didn’t think you would remember.”
“Why did he kill him?” Adria asked.
Her mother eyed her before saying. “Why did Maxim do anything? He was probably trying to cover his own ass. You should never have had to see something like that.”
Anger, hurt, and shame swirled in Adria’s body. Xander wanted her to move forward. Bryson wanted her to look back, and Adria…
She just wanted her mother to see her.
“Do you have any idea what things I saw after you left?” Adria said, fear filling her voice.
Her mother sighed. “Xander told me a few things.”
“I can assure you, living them was a lot worse,” Adria said.
Her mother locked eyes with her. “Then make them pay, Adria. Your father and Jonathan are dead, but the rest of them are just as guilty. Work with me, and together we can take them down. Remake the Triune the way we see fit.”
The lust for revenge in her mother’s voice surprised Adria. She wished Bryson was here to see it. Her mother cared that Adria had been hurt.
“I’m willing to take them down, but not if it hurts Bryson, Kaydon, or Seth. Are we understood?”
Her mother nodded.
“Cole comes in tomorrow. I want you to meet him in town with Eric.”
With that, Sophia left the room.