“No problem,” Emelie agreed, eyes twinkling as she stepped into the office with me.
“We’ll make the announcement later tonight, Bianca,” Caroline said, almost as an afterthought, her mind clearly on Beckett and the return of a fortune she’d believed had been wrongfully stolen from the family. She looked as giddy as a woman like her could be. “For now, let’s toast with champagne.”
“Yes, we certainly have cause for celebration,” I agreed with a broad grin as I followed her out of the office, closing the door on Emelie who was about to seal Caroline’s fate.
I toasted with the Constantines, but I didn’t stay to mingle even though Tinsley was there with a gorgeous older man named Magnus who I was incredibly curious about. I went up to my borrowed bedroom and carefully packed the few things I felt comfortable taking back with me to Lion Court.
Even though we had somehow pulled off the heist of a lifetime, I knew I wouldn’t feel safe until I was back at Lion Court.
I was just descending the last of the stairs into the hall when Caroline’s voice caught me off guard. When I peered up through my hair, she was standing at the mouth of the hall leading to her office with a look of shock on her face.
“I certainly hope you aren’t going to visit Lion Court,” she warned. “Remember, you’re a member of the household, now, Bianca. Adherence to the rules is paramount as a Constantine.”
“Oh, I know,” I promised her, dark glee blooming in my gut. “Obedience is everything. I know what happens to those who disobey you, Caroline.”
That animal stillness settled over her again, prey sensing it’s been targeted by a predatory threat.
I grinned at her as I stepped off the last stair. “You know, I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why you’d want to take in an orphan girl without social grace or standing. At first, I thought, maybe she just hates the Morellis that much. Enough to take anything she can away from them…”
I shifted the strap of the canvas Metropolitan Museum of Art bag I’d bought in the gift store that day. Caroline’s eyes tracked it carefully.
“But if you really hate them that much, taking guardianship of the wayward ward of the Morelli black sheep wouldn’t exactly be a coup d’état. You wanted something else. And today, I found out what that was.”
Caroline released a dainty exhale that on anyone else, I might have called a snort. “You’re very dramatic, Bianca. And very wrong, I might add. I’m a generous woman, you can ask any of my children or acquaintances.”
“Do you really think Tinsley would say so?” I asked, referencing the daughter she’d shipped off to boarding school who now lived with her much older boyfriend. “Or your ex-body guard, Ronan?”
I knew from Elias that Caroline’s previous enforcer had left his employment in the Constantine family and switched sides to the Morellis.
My words hit home. I watched fascinated as Caroline stiffened, every inch of her still except for the minute rise and fall of her chest.
“You can play pretend all you want, but I was raised in the pastures and poverty of rural Texas, I know bullshit when I smell it.” I smiled beatifically at her. “You wanted me because you knew Lane Constantine left a considerable fortune for me in his will.”
Caroline shot a quick glance down the hallway, her jaw tight enough to crack her molars. Her eyes were narrow, twin flecks of ice, as she slowly stalked toward me.
“Now, Bianca, I don’t know what delusions you are under, but I wasn’t aware of my husband’s heartbreaking indiscretions, let alone the existence of his offspring. That you would be so indelicate about my feelings in this deeply saddens me. I’m afraid given your clearly unstable nature, I can’t have you reside in this house any longer. Not when you could be a risk to my children––”
“I’m leaving anyway,” I informed her coolly, stepping toward her to counter her predatory approach. A flicker of disbelief shadowed her face as my clear confidence. “I got what I came for.”
Her laugh was bitter exclamation of villainous triumph. “You received nothing. Do you not understand what happened when you signed those guardianship papers? I am effectively in control of your property until you come of age, and that includes Colombe Energy. Did you really think I’d ever give the daughter of a whore the name Constantine let alone gain control of an entity that was never Lane’s to give away. Winston is in charge of Halcyon now and he is the only one who should be running CEI. The thought of you having access to our reputation and fortune is laughably pathetic.”
I laughed, almost delighted by her. “Do you know what’s so funny about this situation? I never cared about the money. All I wanted, most of my life, was to be accepted into my father’s family. To truly be a part of his life.”
Caroline’s hard laugh fell between us like the clatter of rock. “Powerful men often have mistresses. They mean nothing to them. A way to blow off some steam. To do the dirty, despicable things a well-raised woman would never allow him to do her. They’re whores,” Caroline said steadily, but her eyes, they seethed, steaming like ice under scorching sun. “And so are their bastard children.”
Rage coiled inside me, suffocating my control until it threatened to die. “You can call my mother and me whores if it makes you feel better. Clearly, my dad thought more of us than that because he left control of Colombe Energy Investments and a small fortune in stock options in multiple Halcyon companies to me.”
The color leeched from her face, draining visibly from forehead to the faintly lined neck above her silk collar. It brought me immense satisfaction. I wasn’t a vindictive person, but this bitch deserved everything I could dole out after what she did to Tiernan, how she made Elias feel, what she intended to do to Brando and me. I couldn’t know for sure, but it was fairly obvious she intended to steal our inheritance and leave us destitute once more.
“Well,” she hissed between her clenched teeth. “I’ve rectified that situation. Now, that I am your guardian, I’ll revert everything back to its rightful place. As for you, Bianca, I’ll make sure you are shipped off to a nunnery. I’ve heard there are delightfully austere convents in the Midwest that will suit my needs nicely.”
So, she had intended to ruin Brandon and I. I couldn’t blame her exactly, it wasn’t often someone got the better of Caroline Constantine, let alone her own husband.
“You knew about us,” I continued as if it was story time and the matriarch of one of the most powerful families in the country wasn’t trying to roast me alive with her gaze. “You knew about us and it drove you mad, didn’t it? Maybe you even confronted Lane about it, tried to get him to break it off with Aida, but he never did, did he? He loved her, loved us, until the day he died and this will proved it. Did you always know he intended to include us?”
Her lips rolled under and pressed tight, a vault locked tight. I didn’t need her confirmation. It was obvious she’d known and disapproved. Had she destroyed dad’s will and he’d made provisions in hiding the extra one for me? Or had he simply written mine as a provision to the first, hoping to keep us from Caroline’s infamous fury?