Page 58 of Lost & Found

I sputtered, and heat climbed up my cheeks. But it was the way Marcel chuckled that truly did me in and made me want to slink under the table.

He spoke. “No, son, you haven’t and you won’t for a long time.”

“Have you seen one, then? I could look it up in the computer lab today. How do you spell it?” His eyebrows knitted together as he concentrated and whispered the word once more.

I almost choked while Kinsley smiled. “We were talking about two different things. Izzy B was telling me the other day about some sort of beast. What did you call it again? Beast of Bromley Moor?”

“Oh, the Beast of Bodmin Moor,” he corrected her, which wasn’t lost on any of us. “Yeah, he’s scary.”

Marcel burst out laughing, having put two and two together. Perfect. I’d sworn both Victoria and Kinsley to secrecy about the reason for the appointment today, and I somehow managed to out myself to Marcel. Pasha and I were leaving tomorrow, and I put this off until the very last minute.

Marcel’s blue eyes were piercing this morning as he studied me. I broke out in a sweat. Yeah, ditch wanting to simply hide under the table. I was contemplating moving across country at this point. The rest of the family filtered into the dining room.

“Did you know the hairiest animal in the world is the sea otter?” Declan offered, happy to supply us with his wealth of animal knowledge.

“Not according to Isabella,” Kinsley muttered under her breath and then had the nerve to smile.

“No, it’s true. Dad, look it up on your phone. It has tons and tons of hair. Since it doesn’t have fat, the hair keeps it from being too cold in the water. They keep the hair nice and clean, too.”

“Which is very important,” Kinsley agreed.

She and Victoria burst out laughing.

“Is there some sort of inside joke we’re unaware of, little love?” Ivan asked, pulling Kinsley’s chair closer to his. She leaned into him and shook her head.

“It really is important. Does a hoo-ha have lots of hair to keep it warm?” Declan shoved a bite of eggs into his mouth.

Startled looks and several blank stares followed by childish laughter from six grown-ass men and Kinsley erupted around the table. Thankfully, Victoria only smiled in my direction.

“Well, some have hair, some don’t,” Sebastian offered, trying to control himself.

Marcel smacked him. “Not helping.” But even he was still chuckling.

“Isabella’s does.” Declan beamed, and that sobered up Bash in a flash. He narrowed his eyes and looked at the three of us girls. “Well, if it’s anything like the Beast of—” the child added.

“Alright enough of that,” I exclaimed and then mumbled, “Of all the times for this kid to nail a word it would be now?”

The laughter settled down, and then it got quiet, so quiet that it was painfully uncomfortable.

“So, speaking of Isabella. She’s finally nailed the waltz,” Pasha offered.

A flush of surprise heated my cheeks, different from earlier. His words, his compliment, meant the world to me. And the last few times we’d practiced there was no awkwardness. He was on his best behavior.

Of course, for two of the three sessions Kinsley was there. Yes, I asked her to chaperone. All under the guise of seeing the waltz in action. I thought I would be stiff and awkward dancing with a man, but he made it easy.

My fear was that I would only be capable of waddling like an ungraceful penguin on the dance floor.

“I’m not surprised, actually,” Kinsley offered. “If you pay attention to the way she walks, she’s quite sensual.”

Sebastian practically spit out his orange juice. “Can we not refer to my sister—”

“Sorry, Torturer. My girl has ingrained instincts that can put quite a few of the women at the club to shame if she’d let herself go.”

“I have to agree,” Victoria stated, winking.

I shook my head at both of them and took a bite of breakfast. A part of me warmed under Kinsley and Victoria’s confidence in me. I wouldn’t make a complete fool of myself in front of his dancer friends.

Hannah could kick rocks for all I cared. My hatred wouldn’t allow her opinion to even factor in. Speaking of her, she must have gotten the hint, because we hadn’t heard or seen her in over a month. That was a huge relief.