7. Ivy
Ivy
“So, what’s going on?” Scar questions. “Is something up?”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure, but disclaimer! If I can answer, then I will, but if I can’t, I really won’t.”
“Fair enough,” I muse. “Your family… I mean, in your… world?—”
“The world of the secretly ultra-wealthy?”
“Uh, I was going to say Mafia but… sure?”
Scarlet throws her head back and laughs one of those rich oh-you-silly-thing kind of laughs.
“Mafia?” She laughs again, clearly enjoying herself. “Who told you that?”
“Wait, isn’t your family one of those Italian underbelly mob families?”
Scarlet doubles over laughing some more until tears fall down her cheeks just as there’s a knock on the door.
“Oh my Lord, where have you been all my life? You’re hilarious!”
Now, I’m confused. What did I say? Aren’t the Eastons a Mafia Family?
“Oh crap, I’ve been caught!” Scar whispers dramatically when the door opens and Ty walks in.
Behind him, three trays are pushed in. Two of them are spread with platters of food while the other has a fancy-looking expresso machine, a pretty teapot, and various juices.
“Young Miss, Miss Scarlet, please have some brunch,” Ty says kindly.
“Uh, Ty, where’s my cousin?”
“He was summoned to the residence, Miss Scarlet,” Ty responds. “When you’re both done, I’ll take you there.”
“Oh well, coffee, tea, or juice, Ivy?” Scar asks. “I’ll have a cappuccino with a kick.”
As she says that, the chef-like attendants who pushed in the trollies quickly start making Scar’s drink. This kind of royal treatment… Emmett never does this in Westbrook Blues.
After I get a glass of apple juice and a cheese croissant, Ty and the attendants leave the room.
“Ivy dear, I don’t know which books are on your Kindle but, babes, our family isn’t some meager, small-minded fictitious Mafia organization.”
I feel called out when she mentions my Kindle because, well… guilty!
“Books are very informative and imitate reality more often than not.”
“Not when it comes to that dark Mafia nonsense,” Scarlet argues with a giggle.
“Hey, girls just want to feel love, even if it’s through dangerous paper characters that would set the world ablaze for the one they love.”
“I hear you, babes, and I’m right there with you! Men are better when they are written by women.” She hums in agreement then we eye each other before we burst out laughing. “Is that how you became delulu?”
Oh my gosh, is it?
“Let’s get back on track!” I rush to change the topic, unbale to bear the truth of my yearnings born out of cliterature.
“I wasn’t going to point that out so rudely, but hey, you live and learn!”
“Gee, thanks, Scar.”
“Anytime you need a reality check, call me!” With that, she passes me a familiar-looking embossed black card but this one has the gold words printed in a fancy cursive font, detailing Scar’s contact details.
“You carry business cards?” I ask, impressed by her.
“Uh, who doesn’t?”
“Me and, well, everyone else?”
“Evidently, you’re not everyone else. I’m sure you’ll get your own soon.”
“Wait, why?”
Scar hums knowingly, her eyes sparkling. “Now that we’re friends, maybe it’s okay to talk about it.”
“Yes, we’re friends, so spill.”
She chuckles and then she gets to work, pushing my shoulders down into the cloud-like chair in front of the vanity, then she starts to work on my makeup.
“Back to your delusion. We’re not a Mafia Family per se, but we did start out like one, centuries ago.”
“Centuries?”
“Yes, we’re that kind of old money.”
“What’s your family like? Besides the old wealth and stuff.”
Scar is silent for a beat. “Why do you ask?”
“I just… I don’t want to be na?ve anymore.” Scarlet pauses and eyes me seriously, which unnerves me. “What?”
“Nothing,” she mutters. “It’s just that there’s a raging fire in your eyes…”
“Well, it’s about time I grow a spine.”
“I like that. To be honest, that’s an oddly refreshing question.
Usually, people hear the name and immediately sign up to do whatever they can to get close.
No one ever asks questions. But I’m not sure if I should answer that, for all I know my cousin might get mad at me…
and no one wants to make an enemy out of that intimidating iceberg. ”
I can imagine. “I don’t need the deep family secrets, just something to keep in mind, if you don’t mind.”
“Yeah, that’s a good idea! Best be on guard,” she agrees, and then she starts opening the makeup packages, arranging them on the vanity.
“My family is complicated but also very clear, depending on your view. We’re not some regular, run-of-the-mill underworld family.
And even though the history of the House started that way, it has evolved to unprecedented heights of power and wealth.
We sure as hell are not involved in those lowly evil gimmicks like distributing opioids or human trafficking and prostitution.
” Her voice takes a hard edge. “As a matter of fact, my cousin goes to great lengths to uproot any traces of that crap.”
A chill goes down my spine when I remember the way Emmett reacted when he showed me the code to that trafficking-bidding site.
What was that about? I need to find my brother and ask him.
“Are presidential picks part of that realm of power?”
“You’re not far off. I hear Grandfather is flirting with a desperate politician currently,” Scar says nonchalantly. “It’s not exactly new but this time around, the way things are happening is strange.”
Senator Hughes…
“What usually happens?” I ask, soaking in as much as I can for later.
“Have you ever wondered how some world shifts are done? Like the crucial, small decisions that impact millions of people?”
“Uh, I don’t tend to think about that too closely. I’d be depressed forever.”
“Well, you’re not wrong,” she says with a small, sad smile.
“It’s difficult to discern. In a sense, there’s a top, highly exclusive group of old families, so to speak, that are interwoven into practically everything in society and business all over the world.
The subtle and the prominent. The trivial and the crucial. Practically everything.”
“Hmmm… so it’s like a secret society of the most powerful and influential families?” This I kind of already knew since I was a little girl.
“Well, in a way, yes.”
“That’s pretty vague.”
“Aren’t you from Westbrook Blues? You should know some of the families already.”
I was right!
“I recently heard the King family and the illustrious Beaumonts are now joined by marriage,” Scar continues.
“The Montreal family is going up in the leagues by having their adopted son marry the daughter of the McLaren family. The strategy was immaculate! I didn’t think they’d pull it off.
Go Christine Montreal! Now, she’s one hell of a remarkable woman making waves in male-dominated fields! ”
I reel back with shock.
She’s obviously talking about Noah and Kimberly. They’re getting married soon yes.
The truth about Noah’s adoption and Kim’s true (and impressive) family background all came to light recently.
“Hold up… are you saying their marriage is a strategy?” I demand. “I know them both. No one’s attraction sizzles the way theirs do. Hell, they’re so in love with each other, it’s almost annoying for us single girlies. It has nothing to do with whatever strategies you’re talking about!”
Scarlet suddenly looks at me like I’m na?ve and foolish.
“It’s good if they’re in love with each other, of course, but even if they hated each other, they’d still need to join together in marriage if the Montreals want a seat at the table like how the Kings did with the Beaumonts! Now they won!”
“WHAT?” I screech, almost falling out of my chair. “What do you mean the Kings?”
Alex King is a fool for Astraea! He’s been in love with her our whole lives, so much so that he’s been through some wild messes for her and her for him.
“I hate to break your gilded cage but, babes, nothing is as it seems. When it comes to power, question everything,” Scar says seriously. “How else do families like ours retain their wealth, power, and long standing? Through marriages, of course!”
A jolt of electricity powers through me, leaving my skin littered with goosebumps at this revelation.
“Following that logic then,” I murmur, my head abuzz with this onslaught of upsetting news. “Emmett is set to marry someone prominent then?”
It makes sense. He got rid of me effectively enough.
“Hmm, my cousin was supposed to marry the Beaumont heiress a few years ago, but he failed and was punished so bad…” Scar’s voice dops to a low tone, her facial features now drowned in depression.
“Emmett was punished?”
Scar looks up at me, a faraway look in her eyes. “We all have a story, some more horrific and appalling than others, but my cousin… he’s been through way more than he should’ve at a young age. Our grandfather is not a regular, doting old man.”
A chilling chill drips down my spine as old memories I buried away resurface in my head.
I fight hard not to react in any way to that, choosing to be blasé. My pretense has saved my life a lot.
“Yeah, I’ve sort of kind of met him.”
“You’ve met him?!” she demands, looking twenty shades of shocked. “When?”
“A few days ago. It was all so sudden and very weird…” I trail off, not knowing what to say since Scarlet is still looking at me in shock.
“Hold on! You’re the deciding factor!”
“The what now?”
“I was right! There’s something unique about you or else grandfather would never make you pick the next head of the Family!”
The look on Scar’s face is both awed, curious, and gleeful.
“OMG, this is great! It means my cousin’s got this in the bag!” If she wasn’t contouring my face, she would be jumping around in place with joy. “That genius!”
“You do know you have another cousin, right?” I point out, reminding her about Vaughn. “He’s also in the running.”