Page 64

Tori’s thumbs flew across her phone screen. Alek was pushing food around on his plate. Ivan sat with Kinsley tucked securely into his lap, one arm wrapped around her waist while she stole bites of food from his plate.

Sebastian was there. Clearly, he was in a mood. His expression looked stormy enough to make me immediately question every life choice I’d made in the last month. Marcel offered me a warm smile, and then it immediately disappeared.

Perfect.

I took a deep breath and forced a smile. “Morning,” I said, trying to sound normal.

Kinsley looked up from Ivan’s lap. “Are you feeling better?”

“A little,” I offered.

“You don’t look like you’re better. I think we should go by Urgent Care on the way in today. I’ll go with.”

Her words were softer than normal, like maybe she was a million miles away, too.

“I’ll be alright. I didn’t sleep well, is all.”

I made my way over to my chair and tried to ignore the look on Pasha’s face. Our eyes met. Concern flashed there immediately. I could have dealt with confusion, but the concern nearly undid me.

A leaden sensation spread through my limbs.

I looked away first and tried to ignore the waves of nausea that consumed me. It was harder this close to food. I took several deep breaths, trying to keep from gagging. I picked at some fruit, managing a few bites, but after the third try, I had to stop.

Warm, familiar fingers reached out and found mine under the table. Pasha’s thumb brushed once across my knuckles. It only made the ache in my heart grow. He was trying to be supportive.

Across the chaotic spread of the breakfast table, the prickle of Marcel’s gaze burned against my skin.

“Maybe you should take an extra day,” Tori said.

At some point, she abandoned her texting or note-taking and I was the center of her attention.

“I’m fine,” I snapped.

“Well, it seems the Caruso’s are all in a bad mood today,” Alek noted dryly. “At least we know your brother’s reason. What’s yours?”

He directed his question at me with a curious tilt of his head. I forced a smile, trying to hide the turmoil inside.

“Just one of those days, I guess.”

God, I hoped he wouldn’t press further. The table fell into a more subdued silence. Even Declan seemed to notice the shift. I frowned. Pain lingered in Alek’s eyes. Instinctively, I looked at Nik and saw a hurting little boy.

My gaze shifted to Ivan, and I really looked at him. The exhaustion was startling. There was a tightness around his eyes. And the way his hand remained fixed on Kinsley’s hip, as though he needed the contact.

I looked down. The date on my phone screen caught my attention with an incoming message. And suddenly it clicked. My stomach dropped. Today was the anniversary.

One of two the family held tightly to and they both regarded Vanya.

I didn’t remember much about her. Not like they did. I’d only been five years old when she was raped. And it wasn’t like I knew that had even happened to her back then.

The only genuine memories I had of her were fragmented. Things from when I was about eight years old. Mostly flashes from the summerhouse, and even then it was small bits because she was closed off from the family by then.

In fact, it was shortly after that trip that she’d run away. That had been forever ago. But today’s anniversary wasn’t when she violated. Today’s anniversary was harder to process. Because it meant she was never coming back.

Seven long years ago, her remains showed up with a note addressed to her family. An apology along with family heirlooms she’d taken with her the night she ran. That alone was all the proof the officials needed.

Sebastian being upset, now made sense. Slowly, my gaze drifted from my phone to Ivan. From Ivan to Nik. And finally, from Nik to Aleksandr. A complete circle.

Then, without meaning to, my hand settled against my stomach. The movement stole the breath from my lungs. Today. Of all days. Today, my family sat together, remembering someone we had lost.