Page 19 of Torrent’s Treasure

Torrent stared at the items, wondering how Calliope had gathered all of them.

“Did she go in the kitchen? I don’t remember you saying she was in there,” Torrent asked gently, his eyes searching hers.

Cecilia reached for the large butcher knife, shaking her head. “No, she went down the hall to her room and came back. She wasn’t ever in the kitchen.”

Dragon watched the exchange silently as Ashe pulled out a hammer and two screwdrivers. One of the screwdrivers had a nine-inch shank.

Torrent wondered why the hell a ten-year-old would have all of this in her room, and he wasn’t liking the answer he was coming up with.

“Is that all?” Torrent pressed.

Dragon’s grave expression remained unchanged. “This is why I wanted to speak with both of you. It seems strange Calliope would have all of these items in her room,” he pointed out.

Cecilia sat in the chair, trembling. Torrent reached over, holding his hand out if she wanted to hold it, but he wasn’t touching her unless she asked. Her hand grabbed his and held on.

“I need time to think,” Cecilia said.

Dragon nodded. Torrent appreciated how soft Dragon was being with Cecilia.

“Okay, darlin’, but we’re going to keep the backpack until someone discusses with Calliope why these weapons were in her bedroom,” Dragon explained softly.

Cecilia nodded.

Torrent stood up and waited on Cecilia. They went out to the main room.

“I need quiet to think. Can you keep Calliope busy so I can go to our room?” she requested, her voice barely a whisper.

“Sure,” he reassured her, keeping an eye on her until she walked up the stairs to their suite.

Once she was gone from his view, he headed over to join the video game tournament that Mav had organized. Maybe mindlessly playing the game would have him coming up with another answer for all the weapons in her room besides the one that was making his stomach churn.

Chapter Nine

Cecilia grabbed a glass of milk, some cookies, and the cover off the back of the couch before settling down to think. She’d wanted the wine in the refrigerator, but dulling her senses with liquor would only create more problems later on down the road.

She tried to remember when her mom had first mentioned that Calliope’s personality had started changing. She remembered a month ago her mom sending Calliope to her room to think about her actions because Calliope had smarted off to her. Her mom had chalked it up to Calliope having a bad day at school.

Now Cecilia had to wonder if there had been something else going on. The pocketknives in her room could be excused. Their dad had always had one. He said there were so many times a person needed one. Cecilia remembered her dad saying she could carry one as young as fifth grade, which was the age Calliope was, but Cecilia hadn’t ever had other knives in her room.

Even though it made Cecilia’s stomach turn, her mind kept going to the only reason Calliope would need any weapons in her room was if she was scared.

But what had made her scared enough to stock her room?

Cecilia could sit here and imagine all sorts of things happening to Calliope that would warrant her wanting to protect herself, but imagining all the things was only making Cecilia more upset.

She needed to confront Calliope but there were two problems with that. One, she didn’t want to bring up something that would upset Calliope more than she already was with what they’d experienced, and two, Cecilia was barely hanging on as it was.

Trying to keep from breaking down in tears each day was a trial in itself. Now, to add in what could have caused Calliope’s behavior seemed insurmountable. How was she supposed to help Calliope through whatever this was when she was so close to breaking herself?

Torrent had been very sweet, but would he and the MC decide that the baggage she and Calliope carried was too much? Sure, they were married, but there were ways for the MC to end the marriage and still keep themselves safe. She didn’t want to believe that Torrent, Dragon, and Maverick would consider doing something to her or her sister, but when it came right down to it, she didn’t know them. Her dad had trusted Torrent enough to help her in a bad situation, but did that translate to having her back always?

A knock at the door had her jumping. She set down her drink and walked to the door. This was one time when she wished Torrent’s door had a peephole. Opening the door when she didn’t know who or what was on the other side was nerve-racking.

She pulled the door open, surprised at who was on the other side. It was the Whisper who had glared at her on her wedding day. Well, maybe she was trying to make nice now that Cecilia was a part of the club.

“Can I help you?” Cecilia asked, keeping her tone polite.

“Yes, you can leave,” the Whisper spat.