CHAPTER EIGHTEEN #3
“What does your mother think of all this?” I asked, curious.
“About what?”
“You and Benjamin,” I clarified, suddenly having a hard time believing that woman would ever agree to her daughter marrying a weaselly piece of shit like him.
Would Virginia have allowed Analise to marry me instead, knowing what Virginia’s interests in me were from the moment I’d sat across from her at Gerald’s birthday dinner?
Analise hesitated, and when I looked at her, I saw the cold expression that had blanketed her face.
“If you think my mother cares about anything other than the survival of the Seint name, then you truly know nothing.”
I looked down at her. “Fine. Let’s pretend I know nothing. What’s so important about the preservation of the Seint name?”
“I don’t want to waste our time talking about that right now,” she said, shaking her head. “You’ll understand eventually and—”
“Make me understand now,” I said, narrowing my eyes. “What don’t—"
“Why did you come when I texted you?”
Frustrated that she was ignoring me, I rolled my eyes and asked with a huff, “Why wouldn’t I?”
“You told me to stay away from you, and I have. I’ve tried.”
To her credit, she had. She’d made it a point to avoid me over the last year, fleeing a room the moment I entered, unless she was told otherwise. And every time she made herself scarce, my heart sank with the reminder that it was I who had insisted on that forced separation.
“But when I texted you today, you came. Why would you do that?”
I shook my head, flabbergasted. “I don’t—”
“If you truly wanted nothing to do with me, why would you come?”
“Jesus Christ, Analise. Are you playing games with me? What the—”
“No, answer me!” she demanded, her desperation apparent. “Please. Just tell me why.”
“Because you said you needed help,” I fired back, my voice a gruff whisper. “I thought something was wrong. I thought—”
“And you were worried about me,” she guessed, her tone softening as she looked at me with deep, dark eyes so full of hope that I wished she’d look away.
Because, fuck, in that moment, she looked so much like …
No. I thought, blinking away the image of a little girl and her stuffed rabbit. No, stop.
“And you,” I said, pointing a gloved finger at her, “are a liar.”
She sucked in a deep breath before she really did pull her hopeful gaze away as her bottom lip began to tremble. "No, I really do need help," she whispered. "They’re making me leave.”
I tipped my head with question. "What do you mean, leave?"
She sobbed then. "My mom and Gerald said that, once I’m married, it's no longer appropriate for me to stay here.”
"But this house is enormous," I said on her behalf. “Why can’t you guys just stay here?”
"That's what I said, but Gerry thinks that a married couple should have their own house, with their own family, and Mom agrees. But I thought … since Gerry and Mom like you so much, then maybe … maybe you could talk to them. Maybe they’ll listen to you and let me stay here. I need to stay here.”
As much as I appreciated her anguish, I also wanted to laugh in her face.
I wanted to tell her that my father was blackmailing me, that her mother was using my body for her own pleasure simply because she could.
I was as much of a pawn in their twisted game as she was, and somehow, I believed I had even less control.
Virginia had called me Gerald's pet, and if that wasn't the closest thing to the truth, I didn't know what was.
My existence on this planet had been demeaned to nothing more than a walking, talking, free-thinking dog.
I was nothing.
"They won't listen to me, Princess,” I replied with regret. "There's nothing I can do to help you. I'm sorry. Really, I am, but—"
"Please," she begged, her voice full of rage and terror. "Please, I need you to try. I need someone to try."
Try.
“All I ever ask is that you try,” I could hear Leonard say, but what the fuck was I supposed to do about this now?
I barked a laugh then, both at him and her, not caring if it hurt her or me.
My hand fell onto her mattress like it weighed three thousand pounds, and I said, "Let me ask you a question, Princess. What exactly do you think would happen if I tried? Do you think that if I went up to Gerald right now and said, Hey, how about you cancel this wedding and let me marry Analise instead? he’d clap his hands, jump up and down, and say, I was hoping you'd ask! Because I’m telling you right now, that’s not what would happen. ”
She blinked, staring at me like I’d just slapped her across the face, before she swallowed and stammered, "Y-you don't know that. He might—"
"Let me tell you something about Gerald Crowley," I said, leaning forward, closing the distance between me and her by a few more inches.
So close that I’d only have to move in an inch or two more to kiss her. If only the mask wasn’t in the way.
"When I was a kid, he needed someone smaller to climb through a window to steal some jewelry out of an old lady's house. So, he sent me in, and after I tossed the jewelry box outside, he ditched me before I could get out. Then the bastard called the fucking cops. Not on himself, but me. A kid."
She blinked, clearly startled. "B-but maybe he's … maybe he's diff—"