Chapter 23

CHAPTER 23

ROSE

A fter church, Mother was in a state. The entire way home, she ranted and raved while Dad and I each looked out our own window and stared at the world passing by.

When we got home, I ran upstairs to shower and change and remove the candle. I couldn’t just throw it away. If a maid or the butler saw it, they would tell Mother and then there would be endless questions about why I had a church candle. Instead, I cleaned it and quickly stored it under my sink in the very back.

That would have to be good enough.

I could hear Mother screaming at the staff, swearing, blaming people, and I knew I did not want to be here. If she saw me, if she got it in her head again that this was all my fault, then there would be no saving me.

Father Manwarring would want me to turn to him. I considered it for a moment, then I pushed up the sleeve of my blouse and saw the bite marks I had left on my arm. They were just bruises, and would fade in a day or two, but they were reminders of the cost that could come with seeking Father Manwarring’s aid.

Instead, I grabbed my phone and ordered a car, knowing exactly who I wanted to turn to.

Despite it being Sunday, I knew Amelia would not be at home, or at the church. She was going to be where she spent every spare second of her life. At her art school.

I waved to the security guard Luc insisted be on the property at all times, as I headed up to my sister’s office. Her door was open, and she had her phone pressed to her ear, laughing and talking about some summer program they were planning. An art camp, with tuition for those who could afford it, and a set number of scholarships available for those who couldn’t.

She was discussing the specifics of the classes the program would offer. Ceramics, oil paint, sculpture, photography and, of course, watercolor. She was gushing about how amazing it would be to wake the kids up just before dawn to paint the sunrise over the lake, and then, on the same day, have them paint the sunset and compare how the light was different.

I watched her from my position leaning against the doorway, my arms crossed over my chest. I was just so unbelievably proud of my big sister. She had found herself in a way that I hoped to find myself. Her passion was art, not creating it as much as understanding and curating it. The way she fostered talent, awareness, and appreciation of the arts in these kids was inspiring, and she just seemed to glow with her resulting happiness.

My fingers ached with the desire to sketch her, to illustrate and highlight for the first time how truly comfortable she was in her own skin. She would give the credit to Luc, but she would be wrong. This, this was all about her.

I had hoped to come into my own in much the same way. I wanted to pursue art as my passion. Despite Mother’s insistence that I had no talent or eye for art, I applied to colleges all over the world, just to hear absolutely nothing back.

I got a business degree, one that my mother found acceptable, though not ideal. She would have preferred something more refined and ladylike, like English literature or art history. Dad, however, encouraged the business degree, calming my mother by telling her that whoever I married would be a businessman and it would be valuable if I could understand what he worked on and talked about all day.

I was a little hurt by that until he shot me a wink, and I understood that he just wanted to give me a choice.

I took the boring business classes not because I wanted to, but because I didn’t want to satisfy my mother. That rebellious streak that was so bold faded quickly after that. Somehow, I convinced myself that not getting into an undergrad art program was a fluke. Maybe there was an issue with the files in my portfolio. Maybe I had missed something in the applications.

So when I applied again to graduate programs with Amelia’s help and still heard nothing, my dreams were dashed. I knew that the excitement and joy that I watched my sister embrace were going to be forever out of my reach.

I shouldn’t have been surprised. I applied to the most prestigious and competitive schools. Maybe I just didn’t have the talent, and that was okay.

Amelia turned and saw me waiting for her. She gave me a warm smile and held up a single finger, telling me to hold on for just another few moments. I nodded and signaled for her to take her time. I wasn’t in a rush. There was absolutely nowhere else I wanted to be.

I moved to a chair in her office, the soreness of my bottom reminding me of today’s earlier events. I considered telling Amelia about Father Manwarring. After all, she was a Manwarring now. Just because he wore a priest collar didn’t make him beyond the reach of his older brother, Amelia’s husband, or even his father. And if Amelia wouldn’t talk to Luc, or if she thought Luc couldn’t help, we could always talk to Stella.

Stella would absolutely talk to Lucian for me.

I just didn’t know if Luc or Lucian would help. What if they tried to influence Father Manwarring, and it backfired? What if he was in fact beyond their reach, and instead he just punished me for opening my mouth?

Or what if it worked, and he stopped?

Did I want this to stop?

Immediately my first answer was yes, but when I thought about it, I wasn’t so sure.

Had Father Manwarring really done anything terrible?

Yes, I was fairly certain that he at least had some type of involvement in Raul’s death, but could I be mad at him for that? Raul was going to use me. He had these plans that would have destroyed my entire life only to make a quick buck. Not to mention Raul had slept with my mother. That may not have been his fault, but it curbed my sympathies.

Father Manwarring stole from Mother, but I did not know what was in that safe deposit box. Maybe she shouldn’t have had it at all?

Then there were the sinful things he did to my body.

What did he do, really? There was no irrevocable damage. Sure, I was a little sore, but he showed me things my body was capable of that I had never known was even possible. I would have never even known that sex… there… could feel so good. My one time with Raul didn’t show me what my body was capable of, or what I could feel. No husband from a match negotiated by my mother would feel any obligation to ever make me feel that way either.

I wasn’t even a virgin when he took me. So it wasn’t like he stole my virtue.

Then there was the way he put his mouth on my body to soothe away the pain from the injuries to my face… Even the girls I hung out with in college whispered about men doing that because it was a rarity.

“Hey, you. To what do I owe the pleasure?” she said as she hung up the phone and gave me a bright, warm smile.

I rushed to her and wrapped my arms around her, pulling her into a tight hug.

“Are you okay?” she asked, petting my hair.

I couldn’t do it. Father Manwarring was my problem to figure out. Thankfully, Amelia understood the challenges of dealing with our mother.

“Mother is on a rampage, and I just couldn’t be in that house,” I said, shrugging my shoulders. Amelia ran her fingers over the bandages around my eye and nodded. The bruises were practically gone, only a little green remained under my eye and that was easy enough to cover with concealer. The scabs, however, were taking longer to heal.

“Rings?” she asked.

“Rings.” I nodded, knowing that Amelia was also intimately familiar with the drag of those diamonds across her skin.

“So tell me what’s going on.” She sat behind her desk, relaxing in her chair, and she just looked so content.

“Do you remember our gardener Raul, the son of our gardener at the Hamptons house?”

“Yes, I heard about that. It’s so tragic. Didn’t you have a crush on him?”

“I did,” I admitted. “We dated for about six months.”

“Oh, my.” Amelia covered her lips with her hand. “I am so sorry. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I felt like if I told anyone, Mother would somehow find out.” I shrugged.

Amelia nodded, knowing exactly what I meant.

“If she found out, it would have been…”

“Exactly,” I said with a bitter laugh.

Amelia and I sat in silence for a moment, both reliving our childhood trauma, mine far more recent than hers, just because I still lived in the house.

“Why don’t you get away for a while? With everything going on, Mother is only going to get worse. Why don’t you go up to the ski chalet for a break? Take your paints with you. It’s been so long since you’ve picked them up. I know that it’s disappointing not to hear from those programs, but that doesn’t mean you give up. You can always apply again next year.”

She was trying to be supportive, and I really appreciated it. The truth was, I had picked up my paints, but the only thing I had been able to draw was Father Manwarring. Maybe that was what I needed to do to get him out of my system?

If I could go somewhere where I didn’t have to hide the subject of my art, I could get it all out, purge it without him being around me, and then when I came back, I could be refocused and centered and decide what I wanted.

“Mother would never let me go,” I said.

“You let me deal with Mother,” she said, standing from her desk. “Let’s go, right now. We’ll go back to the house, pack your bag, pack all of your paints and art supplies, and I will have my husband’s private helicopter waiting to take you. That way, Mother can’t pull anything with the pilot. You’ll be free as long as you need to be. At the very least, you’ll be able to be away from Mother while all of this blows over.”

“Do you know what’s actually happening?” I asked, a little worried about her answer.

“Not specifically. My work here has removed me from a lot of the gossip. What I have heard is there’s a coup. One of Mother’s friends has taken it upon herself to take Mother down a few pegs and it has cascaded. I don’t know when it’s going to end, or how far down she’s going to fall on the social ladder. But I know it’s best if you’re not anywhere near those diamond rings for a while.”

“Are you sure you want to face her?” I asked again.

“Absolutely.” There was something a little savage about Amelia’s smile that reminded me more of her husband than my sister. It looked good on her.

When we got back to the house, Mother was in another screaming fit. Blaming anyone and everyone for the cancellation of her membership to her very exclusive spa. Of course, it had nothing to do with how she treated the staff. Someone clearly was out to get her.

I meant, someone did, but it wasn’t the people she was taking it out on.

I tried to sneak to the stairs, but unfortunately, she heard the door open and came storming in.

“You.” She pointed at Amelia accusingly. “This is all your husband’s fault. He and his father are not only destroying my reputation, but they have the audacity to steal from me.”

“I would be careful about making accusations against my husband. He does not take them lightly, nor does my father-in-law.”

“I don’t appreciate being stolen from,” she spat.

Mother raised her hand, and Amelia didn’t even flinch. There was no fear in her eyes, just a steely look of determination.

“If you want a war with my husband and father-in-law, then they will happily give you what you ask for. They do not back down from a fight, and they do not lose. If you strike me, then that war is exactly what you’re going to get.”

“You are my daughter, and I will do as I please.”

“I am Amelia Manwarring, wife of Luc Manwarring, and I am under his protection. Hit me and face the consequences.”

The way she spoke to Mother was amazing. She really had grown into her own skin, and Luc was an incredible influence on her. For just a second, I let my mind slip and wonder what it would have been like if I could have my own Manwarring protection.

Would our relationship be different if he weren’t Father Manwarring, but just Thomas?

I shook the thought out of my head as I left Amelia to deal with and distract Mother. Running upstairs, I went to pack my things. I grabbed a few outfits and put them in a weekend bag, then I took my large suitcase and loaded it with all of my art supplies. Everything that I thought I would need to get him out of my head.

Canvases, oil paints, watercolors, charcoals, all of it. I was going to let my creativity and obsession run wild, and I didn’t want any limitations. By the time I came back, I was going to be sick of him and needing a new subject.

When I came downstairs twenty minutes later, Amelia and Mother were still facing off, but Amelia didn’t have a red mark across her face and Mother’s hands were clutched tightly into fists at her sides.

Her gaze turned to me, and she sneered. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“You seem to think that I have brought shame on this family and embarrassed you. I can’t think of what I could have done to do that, but if you say it, then it must be so. I am removing myself from the situation to allow you time to discover whatever slip-up I may have made and do the damage control without me creating a bigger mess.”

Those boring business classes came in handy again as she glared at me, trying to figure out how to argue with me. Instead, she rolled her eyes and told me to leave and not come back until she told me to.

Then she turned back to Amelia. “Remind your husband and your father-in-law that I still have friends I can call on. I still have connections that can do a lot of damage.”

Amelia and I looked at each other. We never spoke about it, but we knew Mother had hired the Irish mob on more than one occasion. How far would she take this?

We ran out the door, and Amelia tucked me into the car with her and her driver.

“Wait, what about what Mother just?—”

“I’ll handle it,” she promised. “Luc will handle it. There is nothing to worry about.”

“Are you sure Luc will not be mad that I’m borrowing his helicopter?” I asked, chewing on my bottom lip.

“It was actually his idea,” Amelia said, reassuring me. “Also, you’re not staying at the Astrid chalet. You’re going to stay at the Manwarring chalet. It’s across the lake and gets better northern light. Also, nobody’s there. You’ll have the run of the entire place. Luc called ahead to make sure that it was completely stocked, and a caretaker is going to come by a few times a day to make sure that you have food and anything you could need, but mostly you’re going to be on your own. Is that okay?”

“That sounds perfect.”

Within fifteen minutes, I was already on the helicopter on my way to the chalet. As I watched the New York skyline disappear, one dark thought entered my head.

What was going to happen when Father Manwarring discovered his little angel had flown away?