“Of course.”
“And of course,” she continued. “Obedience. Above all things, Bianca, I expect you to listen to my rules and heed my authority.”
Obedience.
Why did it always come down to that for these people?
For people so moneyed and powerful, you would think they could withstand some descension.
Some of my reluctance must have translated in my expression, but Caroline laughed. “Don’t worry too much, Bianca. My daughter Tinsley was an awful rebel, I have no doubt you’ll impress me more than she did.”
I didn’t know what to say to that without insulting anyone, so I just took a sip of my cooling soup.
We ate in echoing silence for a few moments until the servants cleared our bowls and replaced them with steaming plates of roasted salmon and vegetables.
“Have you heard anything about Brandon coming to live here with me?” I mustered the courage to ask for the hundredth time.
A flash of something––irritation?––moved over her lovely face. “Yes, we are working on it. Unfortunately, that horrible scarred man refuses to entertain the idea of giving up guardianship so we have to look for…other means of rectifying the situation.”
“Like what?”
A closed-mouth smile. “Why don’t you leave all that adult stuff to me? You worry about school and your friends. I know you’re close with Elias, but I would urge to make friends with less disreputable peers.”
“Elias is lovely,” I argued, a little thrown off because he was also her nephew.
She waved her hand dismissively. “Yes, of course. But despite my best efforts, he’s made some ill-advised life choices.”
“Such as?” I pressed, arching a brow when she didn’t seem likely to answer me.
“Obedience, Bianca,” she reminded me. “I abhor scandal and I will not abide by anyone, even one of my kin, dragging our name through the mud. Is that understood?”
“Yes, ma’am,” I agreed, but I picked at the succulent salmon, something churning in my belly that didn’t feel right.
“Now, other than the issue of guardianship, is there anything else I should know? Perhaps your parents left you an estate?” she asked with a beautiful smile. “If so, I could help you find the best investments for any money you might have inherited.”
“No, there was nothing,” I told her, thinking of Aida’s record player, the nearly empty bottle of Chanel Number 5 and an old, scratched Cartier watch Lane had given her back at Lion Court. “Nothing of value really.”
Of course, that wasn’t really true.
If Tiernan was right, Dad had actually left Brando and me an inheritance hidden away somewhere. It burned in me that Tiernan had the key, but my priority was getting Brandon back and not a key to some unknown, improbable treasure.
“Your father wasn’t a wealthy man?”
“What? Oh.” I shook my head and laughed a little. “No, he wasn’t.”
“What did he do for work?” she asked politely.
I shrugged. “He kind of cycled from job to job.”
In truth, Lane’s company had so many holdings and interests, it was impossible to list just one. At the end of his life, he’d been passionate about green energy. He was the one who took me on tours of the Texan countryside from oil rigs to wind farms, showing me how one destroyed and the other harnessed. It was a passion he’d sowed in me.
“Was he Italian?” Caroline asked as she placed her cutlery neatly on her place and lifted a hand. A second later, a servant scurried forward to whisk the dirty dish way and another stepped forward to refill her wine glass.
“I’m not sure what he was.”
“Hmm, well, that is a shame. It’s good to know where one comes from.”
“Where do you come from?” I asked, genuinely curious. “You married a Constantine, right? Who were you before that?”
My questions rang through the air between us like a discordant note. Caroline seemed oddly disturbed by my question if her stillness was anything to go off on.
Finally, her lips pursed and she took up drawing rings around the rim of her wineglass again. The haunting noise was the only sound in the massive formal dining room.
“No one, really,” she murmured so softly, I thought I might have imagined it. Then, with conviction, “I was a Roosevelt. A woman from a prestigious family. You should be grateful I found you, Bianca. I can afford you opportunities you never could have dreamt of.”
I didn’t tell her the only thing I dreamt of was a safe, happy home for Brandon and the surgery that might stop his epileptic seizures for good. Honestly, I didn’t think she would understand the simplicity of it.
“I’m so curious about the family,” I ventured with my heart in my throat. I was entering dangerous territory pressing about this, but I was curious enough to kill the cat. “How did you and Lane meet?”
A startled laugh burst from her lips before she clamped them shut and covered her perfectly painted mouth with her hand. “It’s a silly story, really.”