by Ebony Olson
"You cannot do this alone, Mora."
"I can, and I will."
Jeremy smiled. "Then you need to disappear. Marshall is still his mentor. Darius visits this residence at least once a month. If he sees your belly growing and even thinks for a second it is his child, he will want to make the same arrangement with you that Marshall had with Alex's mother." Jeremy shoved his hands in his pockets again. "Luckily for you, I'm just the man to make a girl with your talents disappear."
"You want to employ me?"
"I do. It so happens that I need a talented cellist capable of playing with a heavy metal band to go on tour in two weeks. Interested?"
"Who is the band?"
"Denial. Heard of them?"
I felt a thrill run through me. "Heard of them? I love them! The way they incorporate classical music into all their songs is fantastic. Is it an orchestral position?"
"No. They need a soloist to sit up on stage, with them, their primary violinist, and pianist. Their current cellist just gave birth and will be out of action for the length of their European tour." Jeremy's smile grew. "So, Mora Blake, will you come work for me?"
I smiled. Six weeks on tour with my favorite band, doing what I love most. Could there be any better way to get over Darius Rafal?
***
"This is pointless," I grumbled to Alex. We stood in our father's formal reception room waiting for the guests to arrive.
"The brotherhood knows we know about them now. They want to meet us and formally recognize us," Alex muttered, as another member of the brotherhood entered the room and shook our father's hand.
"If all the members need to attend then Darius will be here. I don't really fancy sitting down to dinner with him, and I'm sure he doesn't want to be in the same building as me." I scowled.
Alex took my hand and squeezed it. "Just pretend like he is not in the room, Mora."
"So far, he's not." I glanced at the clock. "Which is bizarre since he never runs late."
Alex looked at the clock. "Dad warned us he would be here. He’s probably outside waiting for the last minute to enter."
"Alex. Mora," Jeremy greeted us. His eyes fell on me. "Relax, Mora. You look ready to jump out of this window you’re standing in front of."
"I am," I muttered.
Jeremy chuckled. "Are you ready for your trip?"
"All packed and ready to go." I looked at the clock again. "My car will be here in an hour to take me to the airport."
Two weeks ago, I'd accepted Jeremy's job offer. I'd spent every waking hour since practicing for the concert.
"I cannot believe you are finally going to play live and I have to wait until the tour comes to London in six weeks to see it," Alex pouted.
"I'll get you VIP tickets, Alex. Would that make you feel better?" Jeremy chuckled.
"I’m good. I purchased my tickets the moment Mora told me about her new job." Alex smiled, his eyes drifting to the door. The intensity in his gaze forced me to keep my back to the door. "Dad is a lot happier with Mora working for you."
Jeremy followed Alex's glare. "He is happy that Mora will be utilizing her degree, not that she is working for me. Do not mistake the two, Alex."
Alex frowned. "Because you are a brother?"
Jeremy laughed. "No, Alex. Because I've already tried to have sex with your sister once."
"You told him?" I asked, astounded.
"Of course. Once I knew you were his daughter, I had to disclose what occurred during our pre-Christmas visit to Darius’ last year." Jeremy grinned at the shock on Alex's face. "It is okay, Alex. Your sister screwed my wife, not me."
Alex's jaw dropped. He turned wide eyes to mine. "Jesus, Mora. I thought you and Sophie were just playing when you two made out at clubs. Were we sleeping with the same woman all that time?"
Jeremy choked on his mouthful of scotch. I smiled and shook my head.
"Alright, we’re all here so let's get started," Marshall's voice filled the room. "The point of this evening is for you to meet the future heir to Blake Industries: my son, Alex Hark."
Alex squeezed my arm as he stepped past me to go and stand by my dad. Marshall started talking about Alex's desire to make it on his own and why he chose to use his own name and build his own company before entering the family business.
"As your father's protégé, Dare would normally sit immediately next to your father on his right at dinner," Jeremy murmured quietly to me. "Since you and your brother will now occupy those seats, Dare will need to sit one seat down. I always sit to your father's left so, if you sit to his left when we enter the dining room, I will sit beside you."
I nodded. Marshall finished introducing Alex and looked to me.
"Your turn," Jeremy whispered.
"As you are also now aware, I have a daughter. I recently needed to inform you all about her after she married one of our members," Marshall began.
A lot of heads swiveled to one side, locating Darius for me. I set my eyes intently on my father.
"I have attested to the fact that our brother was ignorant of Mora's parentage and therefore will be calling for no penalties to be implemented. I have accepted the blame for this incident." Marshall took a breath. "I understand a lot of you have questions and wished to ask them of Mora herself. I realize this was short notice for all of you, but Mora has taken a new job, which will means she will be leaving tonight, therefore this will be the last chance for any of you to ask those questions. Dinner will be served in twenty minutes; please take this opportunity to speak to Mora or Darius in the meantime."
Marshall turned to the caterer behind him and murmurs broke out throughout the room. Alex made his way to my side instantly. A squat bald gentleman approached our group first and introduced himself as Gabe Reynold Riley. He greeted Jeremy and Alex first and then put his hand out to me.
"Mora, how lovely to meet you." He bowed his head and kissed my hand. "You certainly have your father's coloring; thankfully, you don't have his bone structure."
"Gabe is the director of Design London," Jeremy informed me.
"Of course, the graphic design company that creates all of Lynwood's marketing material." I smiled, removing my hand from his hold.
"That's right." Gabe's smile was so big it showed his gums. "Tell me, Mora. Has the marriage been dissolved yet?"
I swallowed, my polite smile vanishing faster than I could blink. "The papers were signed and turned over four weeks ago."
"So, you've received notice that the annulment has been granted?" Gabe pushed.
I hesitated and looked to Alex, worried. I wasn't aware a notice would be sent out. Alex cleared his throat as his arm moved around my waist in comfort. "Mr. Riley, as you can imagine, this has been difficult for all parties involved. Our lawyer has been handling the details, allowing Mora to focus her energies on moving on."
"I see. Would you not agree that knowing everything is finalized would be beneficial to being able to move on?"
"I trust my lawyer to ensure everything is as it needs to be, Mr. Riley," I answered evenly as another man entered our circle. "I was informed the marriage was being annulled, and that it would meet with little resistance since the paperwork stated we hadn't consummated the marriage."
"The paperwork suggested… are you suggesting you had consummated the marriage?" the newcomer asked.
"I didn't say that."
"You didn't not say it either."
"Possibly because I haven't been given much say in anything that has happened over the last month, Mr.…?"
Jeremy introduced us. "Mora, this is Doctor Lennon Brook, psychologist to the rich and famous."
"Well, Doctor, my father walked into my wedding and told the man I love to end it, which he did. I wasn't given any say in the matter, and when I tried to say something, Darius Rafal turned into the asshole from hell, threw me out on my ass, and has refused to speak to me since," I informed him tersely. "As you can imagine, after a month of the people who matter to me not bothering to give a shit ho
w I feel about this, I really couldn't give a flying fuck what some chauvinistic pricks, who use their wives as commodities, think of the situation." I pushed past the men and started toward the exit.
"The entire point of this evening is for us 'chauvinistic pricks' to have a better understanding of the situation," Dr. Brooks called loudly after me, causing the other eleven members to fall silent and watch.
I turned back to Dr. Brooks. He wore the smile of a man who thought he'd just humiliated a woman beautifully. I smiled sinisterly and his smile faded.
"Well, any decisions you make tonight as a result of your ‘better understanding of the situation’ are not going to change my circumstances, Dr. Brooks. So, I would say that is Darius Rafal's problem, not mine. The brotherhood has already taken all it can from me."
"Mora," Marshall stepped forward, shaking his head, "you said you would cooperate."
"I did," I agreed, "and then I realized who benefits from tonight and I just can't find it within myself to have the energy for this bullshit." I stepped up to my father, tears streaking my cheeks at another betrayal. "You did this to protect him, and you fed me to the wolves to do it."
"I'm sorry, Mora," Marshall whispered.
"Goodbye, Dad." I walked toward the door and as I left the room, my gaze met Darius’, He had been watching me from the corner, his eyes hard and face emotionless.
"Mora." Alex ran after me and caught me up in a hug. "Take care of yourself and have fun. I’ll miss you."
"See you in six weeks," I assured him. I made my way upstairs to change.
When I came back downstairs, I shoved the dress and heels I'd been wearing into my luggage. I walked into the kitchen to grab a bite to eat, keeping out of the way of the catering staff. Dinner had started and I think everyone had come to the conclusion I wouldn't be joining them. The doorbell rang and my father’s butler walked into the kitchen.
"Miss Blake, your car is here."
"Thank you, Nickolas." I finished my glass of water and started toward the front door.
As I walked along the hall next to the stairs, I saw a man descending just ahead of me. He turned toward the back of the house so he was now directly in my path. I finally came face to face with Darius. He had his phone to his ear but halted when he saw me. I could see the fading scar across the bridge of his nose from where Zander broke his nose four weeks ago.
"Excuse me," I murmured and gave him no choice but to move to let me pass, so I could meet the driver at the door.
"Miss Blake." The driver touched the rim of his cap. "Is this your luggage?"
"Yes," I answered, removing my satchel from the pile. The driver picked up my sole bag of luggage and pulled my cello case outside to the car. I pulled my jacket out of the closet and threw it on.
"I'll call you back in a minute, Warren," Darius uttered behind me, as I checked my bag for my passport and plane ticket. I heard his intake of breath and I tensed. "Mora."
I forced my shoulders back and turned to face him. For a moment, we stood there just looking at each other. I felt my resolve starting to fade, felt the tears rise in my eyes and the pain of loss heavy in my chest.
It was like looking at the ghost of someone you loved, being unable to communicate with them, or touch them, because they weren't really there. I felt that if I reached out to feel his body, my hand would pass right through him. My entire being started to shake, ready to cry at the unfairness of it, and I turned my back on him.
I stepped into the entrance, pulling the door closed behind me. I leaned on the wall and shuddered as I struggled to hold in the tears. The door opened behind me and I was spun around to face Darius. A single tear was running down his cheek.
"I’m so sorry," he breathed. "I miss you with every beat of my heart and I hate that this happened to us." Darius pulled me to him and kissed me ferociously.
It broke me. Having him touch me, kiss me, and feeling his tears mingle with mine on our cheeks. I shoved him away. "Stop! You can't have me anymore."
"Mora, please?" Darius pleaded.
"No, you let me go!” I screamed. “You signed those papers, and the moment you did that, everything that was us vanished." I took several breaths, trying to calm myself.
The external door opened and the driver stepped back inside. He spotted us and paused, realizing he'd disturbed something. "Everything alright, Miss Blake?" I nodded. "We need to leave if you’re going to make your plane."
I swallowed. "I'll be there in a moment."
The driver tapped the visor of his cap and went back out to the car.
I stepped to the door. "I have to go."
"Where?"
I looked at him over my shoulder. "I'm leaving the country, Dare. There's nothing for me here anymore." I looked around me. "My life here is in ruins. I need to let the dust settle. In time, I’ll come back and see what I can salvage, but for now, it can't be home. I don't know if it ever will be again." I opened the door and stepped out into the early spring evening.
As the driver pulled away from the curb, I could see my father standing in the window of his dining room, also watching me drive out of his life.
A single stone had been thrown. It was a tiny and insignificant stone; nothing more than my genetic connection to the man in the upstairs window, but on the stone was engraved the rune letter for Fehu. One small stone was thrown; two men I loved were lost.
For the second time in my life, a plane would fly me to a new start. Unlike the first time, though, I knew I would be coming back here. I just wasn't sure what I'd be coming back to.
