“I hate to burst your bubble, but it is not a farce. And I didn’t come to gloat. I came to introduce you to English. She’ll be a frequent visitor from now on. If you can’t treat her or her daughter kindly, then you’ll have to find another place to live. Am I clear?”
“Very. May I leave?”
“Not until you tell me who your latest conquest is.”
She exhaled. “Tristian, open your eyes. It’s who it’s always been.”
“If it’s that damn attorney, then he better not ever show his face in here again.”
“And what if he does?”
“You’ll be finding another place to live. You may leave now.”
She did and I seethed. I stood and the chair went flying behind me.
“Tristian, calm down,” English said.
“Sorry, but I can’t. That man fucked my father over. Then he talked my dad into that ridiculous codicil to the will and all because of her. She wanted the control.”
“But it’s fine. It turned out in your favor, didn’t it?”
English’s gentle words stopped my train of thought. I inhaled and said, “Yeah, unexpectedly, it did. Thanks to you.”
Her soft smile eased my tension further so I leaned over and briefly kissed her. “You are exceptionally good for me.”
“Do you think you were too severe on your mom?”
“Babe, if my mom were like yours, then yes. But we’re talking apples and bananas here.”
Dad had a buzzer on his desk and I pressed it. A couple of minutes later, George came in.
“Sir?”
“Please tell Ravina to get in here pronto. And George, use those exact words.”
“Yes, sir.”
Unlike my mother, Ravina entered fully dressed. She wore riding gear, which surprised me. “This is unusual. I haven’t seen you dressed for riding in years.”
“I find that odd, since you’ve spent very little time here over the past years. If you had, you’d know that I ride nearly every day. You can check with Landry if you doubt me.”
“I don’t doubt you. I was just surprised since over the past few months, I hadn’t once seen you wearing riding clothes when I’ve visited.”
She tapped a booted toe as she popped a hip out. “I know you didn’t come here to discuss my attire. What is it you really want?”
I glanced at English and she quirked a brow.
“I came here for a couple of reasons. One, I wanted to introduce you to my wife. Ravina, this is English. She will obviously be included in everything that occurs here from this point forward. I expect you to respect her and the decisions she makes regarding this house.”
With each word, Ravina’s mouth opened a bit wider and wider. “Your wife? You weren’t kidding, were you?”
“Not at all. And this isn’t to appease Mother or comply with the will. It’s because the two of us”—I gestured between English and myself—“decided we wanted this. Oh, and one other thing. English’s daughter, Easton, will be coming out and riding with Landry. If I hear of any disrespect shown toward her, you’ll be punished.”
“Punished? Tristian, I’m older than you. How can you punish me?”
“Easy. By taking away your money. Don’t forget, dear sister, I hold the purse strings and in my absence, English does.”
“You can’t do that!”
“I can and will. So, how’s the job hunting going?”
“I decided to teach riding lessons here.”
“No, you will not.”
Her tone reached the level of shrill. “Why not?”
“Because if an accident were to happen, then we would be sued. Do you want to pay for the lawsuit? Didn’t think so. Riding is a dangerous sport, as you know. I don’t want our finances in that path.”
“Can’t you get liability insurance?”
“That would be your responsibility, since you would be handling the lessons, and I doubt you can afford it, sister.”
She crossed her arms. “You are preventing me from achieving anything.”
“On the contrary. I’m trying to get you to use your college degree. But if you want to teach riding, by all means do so. Just do it somewhere else. I won’t condone it here.”
“Fine. Have it your way.” She turned to leave.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?”
“What?”
“You never gave your new sister-in-law a proper greeting.”
Ravina sneered. “Welcome to the family.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
English
What ill-natured women. Tristian was right about his mom and sister. They were awful. How had he crawled out of this place unscathed? He hadn’t, though, had he? Growing up here must’ve been a nightmare and he said he bore the scars to prove it. He’d told me he’d been damaged by the lack of motherly attention and love. I had yet to see that side of him, but I was going to make up for that. Our home would be a place of warmth and love, a place where he could feel safe no matter what. He’d told me how proud he was of me for standing up firmly yesterday. It was nothing compared to how proud I was of him for surviving this dark den of misery he’d been raised in.
On the ride home, he reached over and took my hand. “I’m sorry you had to witness that.”
“I’m not.”
“Did you think I was too overbearing or brutal on them?”
“From the things you’ve told me, no. Your sister wasn’t as bad as I thought she’d be. She wasn’t what I’d call welcoming, but you did toss a rock in her road.”
“English, Ravina has no plans to teach riding lessons. That was a ploy to throw me off and it obviously didn’t work. If she tries to manipulate you while I’m away, she’ll pay. Don’t let her get away with anything. I have an idea that she’s going to come to you and cry poor mouth. She’s older than me by almost two years and hasn’t worked a day in her life. It’s time she gets off her ass and does something.”
“Does she have a social life?”
“Who knows? She and I don’t exactly have an amicable relationship. Honestly, who would want her as a friend?”
“I could fix her up with Stuart.”
Tristian bellowed out a laugh. “That would be great, although I’d worry for the rest of humanity.”
“True. I hadn’t thought about that.”
“A word of caution—when you take Easton there, make sure Landry meets you right away. I don’t want those two women near her.”
The idea of my daughter in their hands frightened me. “You don’t think they’d try to hurt her, do you?”
“No, but I worry they wouldn’t treat her well.”
A vision of a witch feeding my daughter a poisoned apple popped into my head and I shuddered.
“What is it?” Tristian asked as he saw my reaction.
“Nothing. Just something stupid.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. So, you leave the day after tomorrow, right?”
“Right, and do you mind going to my place? I packed for the long haul, but I’d like to switch out some things.”