“Lena! What in the
hell are you doing here?”
Pretending her heart wasn’t hammering a million miles a
minute, Lena raised her eyebrows. “Nice
to see you too, Mom. Can I come in or do you want to yell at me in the hall?”
Alex was so mad that her face turned an appalling shade of deep
red. In the space of one second, she
looked brutally sunburned. Lena actually
had a terrible moment when she thought her mother might have a stroke. Then Alex stormed to the middle of the room,
keeping her back to Lena. Her fists
clenched at her sides.
Lena stepped into the room.
Her father appeared out of nowhere to loom over her. Colwyn looked every bit as pissed as his
wife, and his voice shook with rage.
“You were supposed to stay home,” he growled through gritted teeth.
Alex’s temper was one thing.
Seeing her father furious and being the object of his wrath made Lena’s
knees wobble. Such intense anger, rarely
displayed, even backed her mother down when Colwyn gave vent to it.
Lena quickly stowed her smart alecky attitude. She was not about to provoke her father when
he seethed like this. Bowing her head,
she told him, “I know you wanted me to stay in Miami. I tried to, I really did, but I couldn’t
shake the feeling I needed to be here.”
Alex spun around to face her. “And do what?
Get our people killed?” Spittle
flew as she spoke.
Lena swallowed. “I
studied the rites on my flight over. I
went over protocols. I’m ready to help.”
“You’re not doing shit, Lena. You can turn your ass around and go the fuck
back home.”
While not as quick to fire as Alex, Lena’s temper could be
just as intense. She struggled to keep
it under control. “I’m staying. I’m not a child, and I have as much to lose
as everyone else if Lilith wins.”
Alex shoved past Colwyn to get in Lena’s face. Her voice sounded low and deadly. “I will not allow you to put my people in
jeopardy. You turned your back on the
Segreto years ago, and I don’t want you in it now. You do not belong with us.”
Her words were like a knife twisting in Lena’s gut, bleeding
out the simmering anger in an instant.
Tears welled in the young woman’s eyes.
“Mom—”
“Not another word!”
Alex’s scream made Lena take a step back. Her mother wasn’t just angry, she was boiling.
“Go home, put on your makeup and designer dresses, call your friends for
lunch, and play princess like you’ve always done. Leave the work to those of us who aren’t
afraid to get our hands dirty.”
With that, Alex stormed out of the suite. The door slammed behind her so hard, Lena
thought the frame might crack.
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