It was a lie.
What I wanted to say was, I think Ethan planned this—all of this—from the very beginning, and Calliope wasn’t new to him, just us. Ethan may have been lying to us about almost everything for years.
But I couldn’t say that aloud. That was too crazy. Ethan couldn’t—he could, but he wouldn’t. To do that, he would have had to betray her with Ivy and all the other women he had before that. That would be too messy.
But why did I feel like something was off about all of this?
“You’ve grown so much, Wyatt.” My aunt smiled at me.
“Me? Never, I’m still the same selfish brat as always.”
“No.” She shook her head, and the way her deep brown eyes fixated on me slowly made my smile drop. “You’ve grown from a childish and selfish brat, to a brat who only pretends to be selfish and childish.”
“Why would I pretend?”
“Because you are smart,” she snickered. “And you know your place is to the left of your brother and not the center. After all, you wouldn’t want anyone to feel like they could come between or depend on you over him.”
“You think too much, Aunty Cora. I’m just being me,” I muttered, looking out my window, escaping her gaze.
“Of course,” she whispered. “And what a convenient you, you are.” There was a lightness in her voice like she was teasing me, and I just shook my head.
Everyone in this family was just so damn nosy. Myself included, I thought as I listened to her cough.
I glanced over at her. “Are you all right?”
“Yes, just a slight cold. God, I hate the winter.” She sighed heavily.
“Helen and I will have our wedding in the summer, then. What do you think?” I asked her, and once again, she gave me a look. “Yep, this whole ride, I’m going to try to gain your approval.” I grinned.
She just shook her head. “The only way that happens is through your uncle.”
“We’ll see.”
I was going to get her on my side no matter what.
18
“No penance could be more terrible than this
Her very heart was dead.”
~ Rachel Hartman
ETHAN
My family had gone to St. Peter’s Cathedral almost exclusively my entire life. I never questioned it. It was the church in which my grandparents and my parents were married. It was where I was christened. It was where my daughter was born, even though people did not know that. It was the church of the Callahan family, so to drive past it and barely recognize it because of damage and the construction was a bit surreal. I’d never really cared before, but today, it felt symbolic of the state of our family. Especially considering the damage was done by none other than the new Mrs. Callahan.
Feeling a tiny hand on my face, I looked over to see Gigi, who’d managed to wiggle through her seatbelt, standing on her seat just to pet my face. “It’s okay, Daddy.”
“Gigi, sit down.” I held the belt for her and tried to help her back into it, and instead of getting help from her mother, I felt a larger hand on my other cheek. Glancing up, I came face to face with both my daughter and her mother grinning at me.
“Do you feel better now, Daddy?” Gigi questioned.
“What?” I asked, still not sure why they were holding my face.
Calliope glanced over my shoulder. “Good job, Gigi; we can stop now.”
Gigi grinned back at her and nodded, letting go and sitting back down carefully. I looked at Calliope, confused.