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He pushes to his feet and goes to pour us more drinks.
“Give me twenty-four hours, and I’ll have her location,” Philipe tells me. “But in the meantime, I’m certain Thane will know where she is. Perhaps you can have a word with him, Tarian, and see if he’ll tell you.”
“She’s not at his house in New Orleans, and I doubt my uncle will tell me anything.”
My phone vibrates, and when I pull it from my pocket, my chest tightens. Speak of the devil, and she shall make her appearance.
I look up at the guys and say, “We have to find my mother urgently. I’ve a feeling she’s going after Grecia.”
CHAPTER 20
GRECIA
I haven’t heard anything more from Tarian.
It’s been over forty-eight hours since he came into my room and begged me to listen to his excuses, but I couldn’t face him then. The pain of what he said to me was still too fresh in my mind. I needed space.
When the call came from his mother, I took a chance and told her I’d meet her, but ever since then, I’ve had a tight knot of anxiety twisting in my stomach.
As I stand before the imposing gates of a sprawling estate, my heart is pounding in my chest with trepidation. I don’t know why she wants to see me, but I’m determined to make her understand how badly her actions have affected her son.
It’s the first time I’ll come face-to-face with Tarian’s mother since I was a young girl, yet I’m convinced she hates me already. There’s a niggling in my gut that’s warning me I shouldn’t have agreed to see her, but I’m too concerned about Tarian’s wellbeing to call-off the meeting now. I never imagined I’d find myself seeking help from a woman who faked her own death and abandoned her son. But desperate times call for desperate measures, and I intend to beg Yasmine to talk to Tarian.
The ornate gates slide open gracefully, and taking a deep breath, I pull into the driveway. Having parked in front of the grand mansion, I sigh before opening the car door and stepping out into the cool evening air that’s heavy with the scent of roses. The meticulously manicured gardens that surround the house are exquisite and indicate the wealth of the owner.
The enormous property is on the edge of a tiny, rather insignificant town that’s a few hours’ drive from Tynewood. I’m not sure if Tarian knows his mother’s whereabouts, but if I survive this encounter, I’ll tell him. He needs closure, and the only way to get that is for him to confront his mother one last time and then walk away and forget her.
As I approach the imposing front door, my mind is racing with memories of happier times on the beach with Tarian. He’d laze on a towel in the sunshine while I enjoyed a swim in the cool ocean.
Guilt sits heavily in my gut when I think about how I pulled a gun on him and sent him away, but he was the one who told me to leave in the first place. I still can’t believe he thought I could cheat on him, especially with Thane of all people.
Our relationship is in ruins, shattered by the weight of lies and distrust.
With a trembling hand, I knock on the door. The sound echoes through the silent evening like a harbinger of doom. Moments pass before the door swings open, revealing a woman whose icy glare sends a shiver down my spine.
“Hello, Mrs. Calvert,” I greet her politely, but saying her name out loud seems like a betrayal, and the bitter taste of it on my tongue has me fighting down the bile slowly rising up to my throat.
Her lips curl into a disdainful sneer as she regards me with thinly veiled contempt.
“Well, well, it’s the Birchwood girl. I never expected you to accept my invitation. I’ll make this quick. I don’t have time for people like you,” she says in a tone that sends fear skittering down my spine.
I’m not sure what she means by the term people like you, but I’ve a feeling it’s got something to do with my dad, Gregory Birchwood. I know she never got along with my father.
As the daughter and stepdaughter of Crowns, I think my father realized I needed to know more about the Sovereign society and its members. One night he sat me down and told me about each founding family, and his comments about Tarian’s mother, even though he believed she was dead, were very disparaging.
“I agreed to come here because I want to talk to you about Tarian,” I tell her, faking courage like I did with Thane in the kitchen. And look where that got me.
Yasmine Calvert is every bit as cold as Tarian’s uncle. No emotion flickered across her face when I mentioned her son’s name.
“What about him? Has he decided he’s done with that nonsense they call a secret society?”
Her obvious contempt for the Gilded Sovereign doesn’t surprise me. I’m sure being banned from becoming a member because of her gender would’ve angered a woman like Tarian’s mother. I felt the same way when I discovered I wasn’t in line to become a Crown. And even now the rules have changed, I still can’t decide if I want to join a society that previously excluded me.
“No.”
She spins on her heel and pins me with a glare. Her eyes flash with anger as she steps back from the doorway, allowing me to enter the lavish foyer.
“Then what, pray tell, do you want to talk to me about? I left Tarian in Tynewood so he could become a Crown. It’s what his father wanted.”
