It was years ago, yet I still can’t get myself to stay at my parents’ when I know Ares will be staying over. I can’t do it.
“Raven, sweetheart,” Grandma Anne says when I walk in.
I smile when she holds her arms out and walk straight into her embrace. “Grandma,” I murmur, hugging her tightly.
She strokes my back soothingly, and I smile as I breathe in her distinct lavender scent. “Rough day, huh?”
“Rough week,” I tell her.
“Come on. I’ll have the staff bring out some chocolate cookies that I baked earlier today.”
“Wow,” I murmur. “It’s true love. You love me, don’t you, Grandma? I always knew that I was secretly your favorite.”
She chuckles as she leads me to her sitting room in the main house. I’d been planning to walk straight through toward Sierra’s living quarters, but I can’t resist Grandma Anne’s cookies.
Grandma sits down on the sofa and pats her legs. A soft chuckle escapes my lips as I lie down on the sofa, my head on her lap. She massages my head for me, and my eyes fall closed.
“Your heart is aching,” she says, her voice soft.
I tense, unsure what to say. I’m worried that she’ll see straight through me. Grandma Anne has this uncanny ability to read people, to uncover secrets. It’s taken all of me to keep mine.
“Just tired, Grams. I think I’ve just been working too hard.”
“You’ve been running too hard,” she corrects me.
I fall silent, scared I’ll betray myself if I speak. I inhale deeply as I focus on Grandma Anne’s hands. She’s always been able to soothe my worries with such ease. She’s always provided me with the home and the love I lacked, never asking for anything in return.
Once again, I find myself wishing it was me who’d be marrying into this family. I love my sister, but I can’t help the resentment I feel. It’s not just our parents and Ares’s love that she has… soon it’ll be all of the Windsors. She’ll be Sierra’s sister-in-law, Ares’s wife. They might be used to me coming here, but I’ll never belong here the way she does.
“Rave! You grandma-stealing little bitch!”
I smile at the sound of Sierra’s voice and throw my arms around Grandma Anne, hugging her waist as she chuckles and continues to massage me.
“I thought you came over to hang out with me, but really, you’re here for Grandma. How rude.”
I hear her chew on something crunchy and sit up, shocked. “Those are mine!” I shout. “They’re my cookies!”
I lunge at her, but she lifts the plate out of reach. “Sierra, I swear to God. Give me the cookies!”
She chuckles as she stuffs three of them into her mouth, emptying the plate. “You stole my grandmother, so I get your cookies.”
I turn toward Grandma Anne with wide eyes, looking at her for support. “Grandma!” I shout, but she merely shakes her head and chuckles, her gaze moving past us.
I turn around to find Ares standing in the corner, his phone pointed at Sierra and me. “How much do you think I’ll get paid if I sell this footage of a supermodel fighting for cookies?”
“Oh, no, you don’t!” I say through gritted teeth as I stalk toward him.
He smirks and holds his phone above his head. I might be tall, but Ares is 6’5” and towers above me — not that that’ll stop me.
I jump up and reach for his phone, annoyed when I can’t reach it. “Give me that phone,” I snap.
“Or what?” he says, laughing.
I narrow my eyes at him and grab his shoulders before jumping up, wrapping my legs around his waist as I reach for his phone. He’s caught off guard and turns us around, pushing me against the wall roughly, his eyes on mine.
I blink slowly, suddenly realizing what I did. “I got it,” I say, acting nonchalant as I delete the video from his phone. My smile melts off my face when the next photo in his gallery pops up. It’s a photo of Hannah in bed, most of her body hidden behind the covers, and a bright smile on her face. I recognize the room she’s in instantly. This photo was taken at home, probably on her birthday.
I push against Ares, and he lets me down carefully. “Sorry,” I tell him as I hand back his phone.
He frowns in confusion. “What’s wrong?”
I shake my head and walk past him, toward Sierra’s room. She follows me quietly. For a few moments, it felt like we were back in our childhood, before Hannah and Ares started dating. It felt easy and uncomplicated, but reality is anything but that.
“What did you see on his phone?” Sierra asks, her voice soft.
“A photo of Hannah. In bed.”
She grabs my hand and entwines our fingers as we walk to her quarters. “I’m sorry, babe.”
I shake my head. “It’s my own fault.”
“You know what you need?” she asks. “You need to just get wasted. Let’s go out and trash talk my dumb brother until you feel better. How about that?”
I nod and tighten my grip on her hand. With the wedding approaching so rapidly, perhaps that’s exactly what I need. One night to let loose and force myself to put an end to this.
Chapter Eight
Ares
“I hate you!” Sierra yells from the backseat, before turning to Raven. “Don’t you hate him too?”
Raven nods. “Yes,” she says, before looking at me through the rearview mirror, her gaze unfocused. “I hate you,” she whispers, her voice breaking.
Something about the way she says it hits me hard, and a dull ache spreads across my chest. I know they’re both just drunk, but I’ve never seen Raven look at me this way.
“And why is that, Cupcake?”
She looks away and rests her head against Sierra’s, the two of them cuddled up in the backseat. I sigh and keep my attention on the road as I drive us home, confused. Raven and Sierra mostly keep to themselves, and the last time I caught them drunk or hungover was when they were in college. Why the hell did they drink so much tonight? And what the hell did I do to deserve their hatred when it’s me who picked them up at three in the morning, without a single complaint?
I park my car in front of my condo absentmindedly, and it isn’t until the girls rush out of the car and toward my front door that I realize I should’ve taken them to the main house instead. Shit.
“Open it!” Sierra orders, her eyes still flashing with anger.
“If I do, will you stop being mad at me?” I can’t even recall the last time my little sister was mad at me. Even though I’m ten years older than her, she and I have always been close. I’m not sure what’s going on today.
Raven walks up to me and places her hand on my upper arm. “Why won’t you let us in?” she asks, her voice carrying a hint of agony. Oh fuck.
“I will, sweetheart. Of course I will.”
I wrap my arm around her waist and pull her along to the front door, unlocking it with my fingerprint. Sierra throws a glare my way as she rushes into my house, kicking off her heels before running to the kitchen.
“Come on,” I tell Raven, but she shakes her head.
“I don’t wanna walk,” she says. “You carry me.”