Page 40 of Bloodstained Wings
Smiling softly, he leans forward over the table ever so gently. “He’s a good guy, Isabella.”
“I know that.”
“You don’t seem to believe it right now. I can tell by the way you look away. Your eyes. They look sad. You seem to be withdrawn, too, and I can only imagine it has to do with my last visit.”
I look over the soft burn on my skin that has healed since that incident. “No, of course not. Carter isn’t upset about that anymore. It was a misunderstanding, nothing more. He just likes to think that I’m always in harm’s way. He wouldn’t be wrong sometimes, but with the Laceys gone, I think I’m as safe as ever.”
He grins with such assurance. “I agree completely. It’s a nicer city with my brother and father out of it. They were always into something they couldn’t handle. They even dragged my sister into it. She’s been missing for a while, but that’s a story for another day.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” My brows pinch. “So, can you handle it?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve gained their messes. Is it too much for you to handle, or not?”
He thinks over my question for a long, quiet moment. I can’t help but see Jacob in his face, the resemblance threatening a tremor down my back that normally would send my alarm bells off. But I don’t let it show. There are no real red flags with Rich Donahue other than his lineage, and he’s told me that he’s rejected them as a family already.
He’s harmless, and being handed a horrible family aftermath of a mess isn’t his fault.
“I think I’m doing okay,” he says at last, sipping his coffee in short spurts. “It’s been a challenge at times. I never thought Carter would agree to work with me, and I was certain he would have killed me instead, but he seems okay with it now. You know him best, Isabella. How does he seem?”
I play with the cold surface of my laptop in front of me, my coffee empty and useless for me to fidget with at this point. “I don’t actually know. He is okay with you and your family now, I guess. It’s not the same as when we were under attack, and they were trying to hurt me or kill Carter. It’s just been different, I guess. We have other problems on the horizon.”
He looks perplexed. “Really, like what?”
I stifle and inhale, knowing for sure that I can’t divulge any of that. He seems to understand my tensile body language because he holds his hands up in mock surrender, shaking his head.
“No, no, forget I asked that. I shouldn’t be probing. Carter wouldn’t appreciate that, so maybe it can be our secret.”
I toy with my fingers now, running out of physical distractions that can help me distance myself from this talk. “He doesn’t know I’m here, actually. I won’t tell him about it or that I saw you; don’t worry.”
He tips his head sideways. “Is everything okay?”
His question has me confused. “Yeah, everything is fine.”
“I meant, areyouokay?”
Twiddling my thumbs, I want to nod and say I’m fine, but I’m not. I can’t even pinpoint why that is, either. It seems petulant, trying to act like everything is fine and nothing is looming through my mind at all hours, but that’s a lie. I have a lot of reasons to be worried about the future, about what’s coming for my new family, and I’m too scared to even ask Carter about it all.
He wants to shield me as always, but that’s not the best idea right now. We can walk around this city and not fear Jacob Lacey, and that’s a huge step in the right direction, but that doesn’t mean we are in the clear. We have a lot to deal with now—things that I don’t even have a full grasp of yet—and it’s not going well.
It’s like Jacob Lacey was the gatekeeper to the plethora of problems behind him. Now, we have opened the can of worms, and dirt is everywhere. I can’t clean it up fast enough. Carter won’t tell me where they all are, and Tristan is trying to warn me of the impending mess.
It’s not good enough. I don’t know enough.
I don’t think I’m enough to stop it all, either.
I blink back tears that are already rolling down my cheeks, and Rich looks shocked by the sight. He grabs a few napkins and hands them over, his eyes wide while I try to compose myself as quickly as I had unraveled.
“I’m sorry, I just—”
“No, don’t apologize,” he breathes.
“I’m a little stressed out, that’s all. I feel like something bad is going to happen, but I don’t know what it is yet. It’s annoying, and it’s constant, but no one will clue me in. It’s like knowing a storm is coming but not knowing what kind. Should I take cover or find high ground? I just don’t know.”
“I’m sorry, I had no idea it was that bad, Isabella. I shouldn’t have brought any of this up to begin with.”
“It’s fine. It’s just Carter,” I say, shaking all over like I’m drenched in cold rainwater outside. “He acts so furtive these days and demands to know everything, but he’s not giving me an ounce of information. I don’t know what to think when he shuts down, but it’s happening more and more lately. I’m scared it’s going to affect us if something bad happens, and we aren’t strong enough to withstand it.”