"What happened?"
"You happened," I spit, turning my back on her and stalking toward the kitchen, my sudden need for a drink too much to deny.
I march straight to the refrigerator and pull out one of Dad's beers.
"Bexley, isn't it a little early for—"
"Really?" I spit. "Are you really going to stand there and criticize my choices after all the times you've fucked up?"
"Bexley?" she sighs, fresh tears welling in her eyes.
"No. Don't ‘Bexley’ me, Mom. You lied to me my entire life. No, actually, you didn't just lie to me. You lied to Dad, too. You betrayed both of us."
"It wasn't like that," she cries.
"No? So what was it like?"
"I was protecting you. Don't you see that?"
"Well, a fine job you've done of that, Mom. I've ended up right in the middle of where you apparently didn't want me. You ran, you lied, you did all of that to keep me from my rightful place as heir of that bullshit, yet at the first sniff of trouble, you send me back there. What the hell, Mom?"
Her tears finally fall, and she makes no attempt to hide them from me like she would have in the past.
"I didn't have a choice."
"You always have a choice."
"Marcus discovered that you were his blood. Before that, you were safe. We were safe."
"How? How did he find out?"
She throws her arms up. "I have no idea. How do Quinctus find out anything? They have eyes and ears everywhere."
"You should have been more careful."
"That’s why I came here, Bexley.” Her expression softens. “Sterling Bay is meant to be a safe haven. It was agreed that Sterling would be a safe haven. That we couldn't be touched here. The Jaggers made sure that we could live our lives as we wished and were able to leave our pasts behind us."
A safe haven? What the fuck does that mean?
"You’re not making any sense,” I grit out. “If it's so safe here, why did I have to go back?"
"It’s complicated, son. There’s still things I can’t tell you.”
“What the fuck?” I balk. This is crazy. I need answers. I need to know what the fuck is going on.
“You were a firstborn heir, Bexley. The second I discovered I was pregnant, I knew I had to get you out of there. And then when I gave birth and discovered you were a boy… I was terrified. I know what Quinctus are capable of, and I didn't want that life for my child."
"Yet look where I am. In the middle of my fucking initiation." My voice booms across the kitchen, my anger over this whole situation getting the better of me.
"I'm so sorry, Bex. I'm so sorry." She drops her head into her hands and sobs.
"Not good enough, Mom. I'll never forgive you for this. For lying to both of us for so long."
"I just wanted—" she hiccups.
"To protect me, I know."
Her eyes lift to mine, devastation and guilt shining brightly within them.
"Where's Dad?"
"A-at work."
"Tell me he hasn't forgiven you for this?"
"He—" Hiccup. "He's moved into the pool house."
"What?" I roar. "You deceive him for your entire relationship, and he's the one to leave the house—the house that he pays for? Unbelievable."
"We need to keep up appearances, you know that."
I sigh, my fight leaving me at the ridiculousness of this entire situation.
Of course this is all about how things look to the rest of Sterling Bay and all of their pretentious, asshole friends.
"This is a fucking joke. You are a fucking joke."
I blow out of the house, slamming the door so hard behind me I wonder if the glass might have cracked as I storm toward the pool house.
I didn't come here for Mom, although she might have some of the answers I so desperately need. I came for Dad. The only other person on the planet who understands how I feel right now. And who is probably as confused as I am by all this bullshit.
The space looks mostly the same as I remember, but instead of it being where I hung out with my boys, it's now a bachelor pad. Bottles of beer and whiskey cover most of the surfaces, along with work folders and notes.
I fall down on the couch and rest my head back, closing my eyes, wondering how the hell my perfect life turned to such shit.
24
Mia
“What’s wrong?” Annabel asks as we walk up to my house.
After spending the night—one amazing night—wrapped in Bexley’s arms, and then finding Cade standing at my door this morning, I needed space.
Cade is out of town for the weekend—he wouldn’t tell me why. But I’d texted Bexley straight away, asking if he wanted to do something.
He never replied, and my mood went from hopeful to despair in five minutes flat. So when Annabel called and asked if I wanted to go home with her for the weekend, I said yes. It beat sitting around all weekend, waiting for Cade to come back or wondering what Bexley was doing that was so important he didn’t want to speak to me.
“Nothing.” I force a smile.
“Come on, Mia. This is me. I know when my best friend is upset about something. You barely said two words at lunch.” We’d visited her mom first, spending a couple of hours eating the ridiculous spread Mrs. French had laid out.
“It’s just weird being back, I guess.”
“Since everything?” she asks, and I nod.
“I didn’t exactly leave on great terms with my parents.” There had been raised voices and cussing, mostly from me. But I didn’t understand how they were so okay with me being Cade’s prosapia. With Mom, I got it a little. She was born into this life. But Dad? He’d always been a bit more of a free spirit.
“But they’re family. You always find your way back to family.”
“Thanks, Bel.” I grab her hand and stop her just before we reach the front door. “I know things have been a bit strange since we started Gravestone U—"
“And you became one of
