The car lurched dragging her out of her thoughts. Then it zig-zagged as if the driver was losing control. She held her breath as it somehow managed to come to a complete stop. While it was dark outside and the wind and rain pelted the car, Braylee knew they were driving upward. This part of China was mountainous and in this weather, extremely dangerous. The car stopped for a moment, then slowly started to move again.
She pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes. It was at this moment, that she realized she’d fallen in love, not just with Alex, but his entire family. Braylee loved Cecily like she was her own daughter and wanted to protect her from all of this madness that she had nothing to do with. Unfortunately, she was just a bi-product of some really bad choices her parents made. She could most definitely relate to that. When she opened her eyes, Alex was staring into hers. She could see the storm of confusion in him. They didn’t speak they just smiled weakly at each other. This night was a perfect storm of too many secrets: secrets that had been hidden for way too long and were about to be revealed in a dramatic fashion.
After almost an hour of riding in silence, they seemed to have made it to their destination. Braylee heard the opening and closing of doors from the caravan of other cars. Cecily continued to sit motionlessly. Braylee reached out to touch her hand and spoke softly. “It looks like we’re here.” Alexandro’s door opened, and he started to get out but pulled back. “Let me check things out before you two get out of the car.” Braylee nodded Cecily didn’t respond. He took a long look at her before getting out of the car and closing the door behind him.
Once he was gone, Cicely turned watery eyes to Braylee. “Did you know too?”
Braylee exhaled. “I only found out recently.” She squeezed Cecily’s hand as she attempted to pull away. “Look, I know you’re angry. I would be furious, but you’ve got to know that your father, Alexandro, and Fabi love you so much. Maybe they should have told you the truth, but if they didn’t it’s only because they felt it was best for you. Parents aren’t perfect. Sometimes they make some really big mistakes.”
“I don’t know what to say to that. This was a pretty big mistake. I feel like I can’t trust anybody. How am I supposed to feel about my mother? Did my grandfather really have my daddy killed? What did she mean I would be safer if we came here? Safer? Like how if her father had my daddy killed? Braylee…this is all just too much.” Cecily buried her head into Braylee’s chest and let her tears flow. Braylee hugged her close and just let her cry.
The feeling of being betrayed and rejected by a parent was something she was intimately familiar with. However, in this case, maybe Gina did it to protect Cecily. Unlike her own mother. The rejection was more about holding her responsible for the life she wished she’d had.
The door opened, and Alex took in the sight of Braylee comforting Cecily and it nearly broke him. There was nothing that was going to excuse the lie they’d all told Cecily. He needed a chance to try to explain it to her and hoped that in time, she would forgive them. “We should get going into the house.”
Cecily pulled away from Braylee, but she still refused to look at Alex. She hadn’t uttered a word to him. He still attempted to help them out of the car. Cecily reached for Braylee’s hand instead. To pretend that didn’t hurt would be a lie.
They followed Gina and her people inside her home. The hate and loathing shined bright in her eyes as she watched Cecily holding on to Braylee for dear life. If Gina didn’t already despise this woman, she could literally feel the need to slit her throat right now. Her servants came out immediately to take everyone’s things. Putting her feelings to the side for a moment and playing the gracious host, she spoke. “Please let’s all get settled. This is going to be a long evening. Once everyone gets situated in their rooms.”
He glanced from Braylee back to Gina. “That would be a good idea.”
Braylee didn’t like the way her eyes would soften every time she looked at him. She would keep her feelings to herself, though. As they were shown to their rooms, Gina attempted to separate the trio by putting Braylee, Alex and Cecily in separate rooms. None of them were having that.
Once the three of them were alone in one room, Braylee made an excuse to give Alex and Cecily a moment of privacy. Rambling through her purse, as if she were looking for something, she said, “I have a ridiculous headache, and I didn’t pack anything.”
