Chapter 29 #2
Dominic cannot be pulled into this. If anyone starts sniffing around, you shut it down. That girl will back off. She’s emotional, not smart enough to connect anything real.
Heat sears my face.
Stupid, emotional, dramatic stepdaughter. That’s what she thinks of me. If I get too near, her house of cards starts shaking.
Abi checks herself in the mirror, smooths her dress, and types.
No, I’m not worried about Talon. He’s a boy. He sulks, he acts out, and then he gets distracted. He always has. It’s the girl I am watching.
She means me.
My grip on the divider slips, and I catch myself just before I topple to the floor in my fitting room. The motion makes the wall creak.
“Hello?” Abi calls.
I let go and hop down from the bench, heart slamming.
I stare at my reflection, face flushed, eyes too wide.
The satin dress looks wrong now, like it belongs on some other girl in some other life where her almost stepmother is not texting possible accomplices about men she may or may not have killed.
I press my palms to the cool mirror.
Abi killed her husband.
The thought is a whisper at first, then a roar. She killed Todd. Or she watched it happen and helped cover it. And Minxy saw enough to put names to it.
My dad is going to marry her.
The room tilts.
There’s a rustle outside my door, and I scramble to rearrange my face and slip into the other dress before I yank it open. Abi stands there, champagne in hand, smile back in place, color mostly returned to her cheeks.
“Are you alright in there?” she asks. “You took a while.”
“I’m fine,” I say. My voice barely wobbles. I count that as a win. “Zipper is being a little stubborn.”
She laughs. “That’s what Lila is for. Step out and let us see.”
I do.
Lila swoops in, all focused on kindness and pins. “How’s the fit?”
“It’s good,” I say.
Abi circles me, eyes skimming over every detail.
“You look beautiful,” she says. “Chad will be so proud to have you up there with him.”
My throat tightens. “He’s the only reason I’m willing to stand at all.”
She smiles like that is sweet rather than a warning. “Family is about sacrifice, darling. We do what we must to keep the people we love safe and happy.”
Safe.
“I know,” I say quietly. “I’m learning that.”
She pats my arm. “You’ll thank me one day.”
Over my dead body.
Lila hands me a small card with a date and time. “Final fitting next week. We’ll have the hem finished, and the seams set by then.”
“Great,” I say, tucking it into my bag. “Looking forward to it.”
I’m not. At all.
Abi chats with Lila about veils while I change back into my clothes. My hands shake as I zip my jeans and pull my shirt on. Every noise in the shop feels too loud in my ears now: the rustle of tulle, the murmur of another bride, the quiet whirr of a steamer somewhere in the back.
When I come out, Abi’s at the front counter signing something. She looks over her shoulder and beams.
“Text your father that it went well,” she says. “Tell him you loved the dress.”
“I’ll text him,” I say, noncommittal.
She steps closer, voice dropping so the staff cannot hear. “And Penelope? Do not bring up Minxy to him again. He worries.”
I meet her eyes and hold her gaze. “I’m not in the habit of lying to my dad.”
She smiles. “Sometimes a lie is just kindness wearing different clothes.”
“Sometimes,” I say, “kindness looks like telling the truth no matter who it hurts.”
For a second, I think she might slap me. Her fingers flex on her clutch. Then she smiles again and steps away.
“Drive safe, darling,” she says. “We’ll see you later.”
I walk out before I say something that gets me buried next to Todd or Dominic.
The air outside feels heavy and damp. I make it to Gideon’s car on autopilot, unlock it, and slide into the driver’s seat.
The second the door shuts, the facade cracks. My hands start to shake. I press my forehead to the steering wheel and breathe, counting inhales until my lungs stop clawing.
Abi is hiding a murder.
Minxy saw it or knows about it.
Abi locked her away.
My dad is planning a wedding with a woman who talks about cleaning up after men like it’s a hobby.
I suck in a breath.
Silas and Gideon are going to lose their minds when they hear this. Talon’s going to come apart. And I’m going to be the one who lights the fuse, because I need them to know.
I reach for my phone with numb fingers and open our group chat.
And freeze because I didn’t check it once in there. My notifications are a graveyard of panic.
34 unread messages.
GIDEON: Penelope where are you?
TALON: ??? you said tutoring
SILAS: Answer your phone
GIDEON: I swear to God, Little Menace
TALON: Call us ASAP
SILAS: Penelope. Now.
GIDEON: I know where you are. I checked the GPS on my car.
GIDEON: If you’re not home in 10 minutes, I’m coming to drag you out myself. To hell with anyone or anything else.
GIDEON: This is not a negotiation.
My stomach drops straight into my shoes.
That message — the last one — was sent eight minutes ago.
“Oh shit,” I whisper.
I hit call. The phone rings once. He answers on the inhale.
“Penelope.”
Just my name. Flat. Furious. Terrified.
“It’s me,” I whisper.
There’s a beat — not silence, exactly, just a sharp inhale like he’s keeping himself from snapping in half.
“Get your ass home right now.”
The command is low, and heat shoots straight through my spine.
“Yes, sir.”
I’m already turning the key in the ignition, breath shaking, hands trembling as I pull out of the parking lot.