“Shit!” Darcy whirls toward me. “I need to take care of this.”
“You want help?”
“No, we’ve got this.” Darcy digs her fingernails into Ava’s upper arm and drags her away, calling over her shoulder, “I’ll be back.”
I couldn’t be more grateful for fate’s intervention. It’s a helluva lot easier than letting her down gently. Something tells me she wouldn’t take that very well. This is my chance to make a clean break. Cyrus is off on the prowl. Darcy is distracted. It’ll only take a few seconds to request a car on my phone’s app. Putting distance between myself and them isn’t just smart, it’s necessary. These people have nothing to lose. One wrong move and I might wind up with nothing just like my father. I need to go, I decide as I leave the kitchen. The back door beckons me from the doorway to the staff kitchen. Two steps and I’ll be on my way back to reality. I make it one before I turn to head toward the fray.
15
Adair
“You’re going out?”
I pause at the door to my closet and take a deep breath. I don’t need to see my brother’s face to imagine the look of disapproval etched across it. He’s worn a similar look since our mother’s funeral. He arrived in Valmont and took over when it became clear daddy wasn’t up to the task of planning a memorial. He can’t disapprove of how our father is handling the situation, so instead he disapproves of me.
“I thought that’s what you wanted. You told me I couldn’t stay home forever.” In truth, I’ve been trying to get out of this party all day. I’m not ready to act like my life is normal again, but I can’t let Poppy down. She’s going to worry herself to death over me.
Fleeing the security of the closet, I toss a dress on the bed and do my best to act calm. That is getting harder by the day. Every move I make is analyzed, assessed, and found wanting. But I haven’t been given any other options. No one allows me to help. No one allows me to have a voice. The black-sequined bandage dress might be a little much for a Valmont house party. Then again, so am I.
My brother’s powerful body fills the doorframe, his dark eyes narrowing on the dress. There must have been more meetings with the board, because he’s in a charcoal suit. It looks like he’s had a day. His shirt is untucked and wrinkled, tie loose around his neck—his outfit as tired as his wary eyes. “That’s not what I meant.”
“What did you mean then?”
“You dropped out of school, Adair,” he reminds me.
“For a semester.” I cling to that fact like a life preserver. Most people thought daddy had forced me to go to Valmont. The truth isn’t that simple. Now that mom’s gone, I need to get as far away from Tennessee as possible. I considered staying enrolled, but there was no way I could concentrate on schoolwork and get the grades I’d need to transfer schools. It’d be only a few more months until I leave this world behind me and make my own way. Only a few more months until I’m more than Angus MacLaine’s daughter and Malcolm MacLaine’s little sister. Only a few more months until I escape this hell for good. I’m not stupid enough to believe I can escape the family name, so I’m going to use it to get into my dream school: Cambridge. I’ll make the MacLaine name my own by putting an ocean between me and them.
“I just expected you to be a bit more serious about your future.” Malcolm’s words are a slap in the face.
He’s got no idea how serious I am about my future. Just because I’m not lining up to be some idiot’s trophy wife or perfecting my political aspirations like him, he assumes I’m worthless. “What do you want me to do? You won’t let me help with the company. Or attend board meetings. Daddy acts like I’m a little girl. He wants me to stay here forever, being hopelessly dependent on him—or, at least, his staff. I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t let me screw a lightbulb into an empty socket.”
“So, instead you’re going to screw half of Nashville?” he counters, a dangerous edge taking hold in his voice.
To a man who obsesses over his public image, there can be no greater horror than a slutty sister. The truth is that his concern is never to protect me only to control what people think of me.
“Maybe I am.” It’s the right button to press to get a rise out of him. Now if I just hit it a few more times, he might self-destruct and leave me alone for the night.
“Christ, Adair. We live in this town.” The message is clear: what would people think if Adair MacLaine is spotted drinking and dancing and enjoying herself a month after her mama died?
Exactly what they already think: that I am a spoiled heiress who has nothing better to do than blow through my trust fund. No one in Valmont has any reason to think otherwise. My father’s name might be held in reverence by the people living here, but the courtesy doesn’t extend to his wayward daughter. Malcolm only started caring what people thought of me when he began maneuvering toward the Tennessee senate. He’d spent his years at Valmont turning weekend frat parties into the stuff of legend. If only people knew the truth about this family.
People assume the MacLaine children haven’t worked a day in our lives. All we do is work. Our father’s love isn’t free. Everything we have costs something. I’ve no idea what price I’ll pay to leave Valmont behind. I have to do it, though. Get out, make connections, and hope like hell I can find a way to support myself abroad. The small
