21
Isabelle
Julia and I slip into the chapel as soon as Jericho is out of sight. She sighs once as the door closes behind us and we’re alone.
“Are you okay?” she asks.
I nod. “So far. How are you? How’s Matty?”
“We’re fine. He misses you though.”
“I miss him too.”
“Do you think you’ll be able to see him soon?”
“I don’t know. I—”
“It’s fine. Here, before I forget.” She opens her bag to retrieve my phone and charger. “So I can get hold of you.”
I smile, take both and shove them into my clutch. “Thank you. You’re a savior!” I hug her but quickly remember Julia isn’t a hugger.
“Paul called to say he moved the lesson to his house by the way. I told him you may not be there.”
“I doubt he’ll let me attend.” Paul Hayes has been giving me violin lessons for the last six months. We have a small group of us who can’t afford private lessons and none of us are enrolled in a school so it’s what I’ve been able to do. When I was still in high school my music teacher taught me, but since graduating, Carlton has refused to fund what he calls my little hobby. And since he wouldn’t allow me to get a job considering my station in life as a Bishop—I rolled my eyes when he said those actual words—he thought my allowance should be enough to provide for anything he didn’t. I’ve been using that money to pay for lessons. “I’ll call him.”
“Let me know if you need me to do it.”
“Thanks. Carlton told you what Jericho did? Initiating The Rite?”
“Yeah. I heard the details. At least the parts your brother was willing to share. I’m guessing only those that don’t cast him in a bad light because if Hildebrand went along with it, then whatever Jericho St. James has on Carlton is big.”
“You don’t know what it is?”
She shakes her head.
“There’s shared history, though. It goes back centuries,” I say.
“That I do know. The gruesome story of Nellie Bishop. Her body is buried on stolen land. Bastards.”
“Stolen? I thought it was bought.”
“Not exactly fair and square but I suppose that’s how Jericho St. James would tell it.”
“I guess I’m not surprised.”
“Do you know what he’s planning?”
“To make my life miserable.”
“Well, I know Carlton is trying to get you home. He’s going to talk to Hildebrand tonight. You’ll have to marry though to get you away from St. James.”
“Why? What does that have to do with anything?”
Julia studies me for a minute, uses the pad of her thumb to wipe away what I guess is smeared eyeliner on my temple. “You’re so innocent, Isabelle. I like that about you. Just keep taking your birth control pills. Please tell me you have them?”
I nod but her comment confuses me. Or maybe it’s the way she said it. But before I can ask anything, the chapel door opens and even though I have my back to it, I know it’s him. I feel his presence in the shiver that runs along my spine. In the way my body reacts to him like it’s on fire.
Julia stiffens but schools her features in a matter of moments. She smiles. It’s a smile that shows her to her full advantage. She’s beautiful, my cousin. Sophisticated. Polished in a way people who come from money are. I may be a Bishop now, but I don’t come from money. The opposite. I’m an imposter here and they all know it.