Page 79 of Wicked Queen

“Not my type.” Lola shrugged.

Well, at least, that wouldn’t complicate matters. I didn’t bother to tell her that Anders hadn’t totally agreed to this plan either. It was the best shot we had at getting ahead of this situation. With Alexander concerned about loyalty in light of Jacobson’s release, we needed someone close to us who could handle the situation. Anyone that kept our mother in line deserved to be awarded a medal. Lola was the perfect choice.

I’d just picked up a plate for Alexander when I spotted Sarah at the door. Our eyes met and she vanished. Excusing myself, I followed after her.

“Sarah,” I called when I caught up to her in the living room.

She whirled around, crossing her arms over her chest. Her face was cosmetic-free, showing how truly stunning she was when she didn’t hide herself under layers of blush and lipstick. Then, I spotted the slight silver scar running from her forehead down to her cheekbone.

“It’s from the accident,” she said, turning it away from me.

“I brought you cake.” I held the plate out to her.

“Pepper says I can’t eat carbs anymore.” But her gaze lingered on the cake.

“You need new friends. Preferably ones looking out for you and not your ass.” I moved closer and shoved it at her.

“Edward invited me,” she said, stabbing a bite with the fork. “I didn’t crash.”

“Look, living here might not be the best fit for all of us, but you are a member of this family. You should come to parties. I would have invited you, but…”

“It was a surprise.” She slid the bite into her mouth. “It must be nice.”

“What?” I asked.

“A party,” she said. “People who care enough for something like that.”

“Sarah your family cares about you,” I began.

“So you’re planning a surprise for my birthday next week?”

I fumbled for the right response, which was definitely enough of an answer.

“That’s what I thought.” She shrugged, but her eyes glistened as she shoved a bigger piece of cake in her mouth. “Why would anyone remember? I guess they weren’t all sitting around crying every year on my birthday.”

She swiped at her nose with the back of her hand muttering “stupid” under her breath.

“That’s not stupid,” I said gently, wishing I had a tissue.

“The other day I had to do the math because I didn’t know how old I would be—and then I realized it didn’t matter. Because the year doesn’t matter. I’ll always be sixteen to all of them,” she confessed.

“Sarah, I can’t imagine how you’re feeling, but they’re worried. You’re doing all the things you were doing before the accident. They don’t want to lose you again.”

“They never lost me.” The words were so broken that I realized she didn’t believe it herself. It was merely a wish.

She’d come back and we’d tried to wedge her into our lives and pretend like nothing had changed. We had focused on the publicity and on security and we’d failed to really ask ourselves what she needed. In return, she’d reverted to how she was before the accident, acting out for attention. We’d focused on public perception more than her feelings, just like Albert would have done, so she’d done exactly what she would have done to get him to notice her.

But Alexander wasn’t his father and with time, we would figure out how to make all of this work.

“You never lost them either,” I reminded her.

“Everything’s changed. Alex is a grown-up. I mean, no one even calls him Alex! And he’s running the country and he’s married. Edward is married! He’s my little brother. And there’s Anderson, and oh my God, I was flirting with him!” The confessions were coming rapid-fire now and for the first time, I knew that she was feeling as lost as we were.

“Come on.” I took her by the elbow. “Come back to the party.”

“I don’t want to intrude,” she hedged.

“You won’t. You’re family.” For the first time, that felt like the truth.