Piper continued, “Lady Rossi’s cousin is a wealthy merchant. The handsome cousin. We need to make a good impression on them so she introduces us. And if she takes one look at our existing plates, she’ll turn her nose up at us. I wouldn’t be able to bear it!”
She was talking about plates and handsome cousins, and I was on the verge of a mental breakdown over the possibility that I would have to sell myself to a Kylorr, that my father had lied about paying our workers, that every day the interest on our debts grew to more insurmountable heights, and that plates wouldn’t matter when there would be nothing left.
I snapped.
“I don’t want to hear about the fucking plates anymore, Piper! We can’t afford them! And everyone knows Lady Rossi’s cousin is already engaged to an heiress on New Inverness. So, what chance do you really have? Why would he choose you over her?”
I hardly ever cursed and I hardly ever yelled. Like, actually yelled. And so the stunned silence that resulted in my small outburst was warranted.
“Gemma,” Mira admonished softly, stepping toward Piper, who crossed her arms and looked away from me. I heard her swallow thickly…followed by a small sniffle.
I blew out a short, sharp breath. Guilt started to settle, heavy in my mind as regret swarmed in my veins. I hadn’t meant to make it sound like Piper was lacking. Just that…well, reality was harsh. Lady Rossi’s cousin was a wealthy man. Who would marry into an equally wealthy family. Not one like ours, riddled with debt, with enough baggage to fill the emptying halls of our run down estate.
“I’m sorry,” I said, clearing my throat in discomfort. “Piper, I didn’t mean that you—”
“Yeah, well, he wouldn’t want you either!” Piper hissed, her green eyes flashing. She was crying now, but I knew that my sister could be cruel when she was hurt. I braced myself for what I knew was coming. “You’re a cold bitch with a stick up your ass. You’re just jealous that I might have a chance with him. Because he would never choose a frigid hag like you.”
All the blood drained from my face. My heart twisted into a sea of knots. Piper and I had never gotten along well, but this was a new low. Even for her.
“Piper!” came my father’s sharp bark. “Get out. Now.”
“But—”
“Out!” Father roared.
I blinked back the tears, breathing through my stinging nose. I felt Mira’s hand on my arm as Piper skulked from the office, slamming the door behind her, rattling a vase on the bookshelf.
“Are you okay?” Mira asked. When I met her eyes, I saw she was biting her lip. “She didn’t mean it, Gem. You know that. She’ll feel terrible once she realizes what she’s said. But you know how she gets.”
No, she meant it. She meant every word, I thought. But I touched Mira’s hand, blinking back the tears that threatened to fall, and said, “I know.”
Relief swam through her gaze. She didn’t like it when we fought. It always put her in a tough position, being between us all the time.
“Gemma,” my father said, the clink of ice filling the quiet office when he lifted his glass. There was an apology in his eyes, but I still spied something else. Something…hopeful. “I’ll tell her she can’t keep the plates, all right?”
But it wasn’t even about those damn plates anymore, was it?
“What did you need to see me for?” I asked him, impatient to return to my room. I didn’t think I could do any work tonight after all. I was drained. All I wanted was to sleep, to put this horrendous day behind me.
Father swirled the whiskey in his glass and then drained it down. “Mr. Cross called me.”
I stiffened.
“He said he made you a match,” he said, beaming. His dark, straight brows rose over his warm brown eyes. “A wealthy match. And that you told him you would think about it.”
“What?” Mira breathed, and I sensed her turning to me with wide eyes. “Why didn’t you say anything, Gem?”
So…this was the source of his excitement.
“Did he say anything else to you?” I prompted, a little confused by my father’s measured exuberance. The Kylorr had been allies of the Pe’jians during the war. The Pe’jians that my father had fought against for the United Alliance.
“Something about a matchmaking fee when the marriage happens, but he assured me the suitor would pay it,” Father said, shrugging. He stood, walking over to the bar cart, lifting a crystal decanter from it. “He assured me the suitor would pay for everything.”
The words had been loaded with something unspoken. I shot a look at Mira, but she didn’t appear to notice.
“I haven’t accepted yet,” I reminded him, licking my dry lips. “I know very little about him, and I’d like to have some assurances before I—”
He whirled, a small portion of whiskey sloshing from the decanter, splattering onto the wood floor. Father didn’t appear to notice.
“You will marry him, Gemma. It—it would solve everything. And once your sisters marry into wealthy families, the estate will be secure! Hell, they don’t even have to be wealthy families, if this man is as rich as Mr. Cross says. They could marry whomever they choose. Love matches—isn’t that what you want for them? But you will all be secure. Just as your mother wanted.”
My spine shot straighter. “And what about the caverns? The workers?”
Father waved his hand like my words were nothing but a small nuisance. Like I hadn’t given everything to the business for the last five years, all to keep our heads above water.
“I’ll manage it just fine.”
A tiny bloom of fury lit up in my chest. “You don’t know how to run the business. Not anymore. You didn’t even pay the workers last month when I entrusted you to do it.”
Father scowled. “Was it that damn Killup that said that?” he asked. “Look, I told them that I would invest their wages and get them double back in three months. None of them protested.”
“My gods, there are laws in place for a reason. You can’t do that. Our workers depend on their pay. They have families to care for, and they don’t need to be roped into your ‘investments.’”
“Oh, Father, tell me you didn’t,” Mira said, biting her lip. She was likely thinking of Sorj.
Father’s temper was rising. I could feel it. He didn’t like to be cornered. And, much like Piper, he lashed out when he felt threatened.
He poured a hefty glass of whiskey, and the decanter landed on the bar cart with a sharp clatter. His cheeks were reddening quickly, but I knew it was more from his anger than the liquor.
“If I didn’t have you girls to care for, I could run the caverns easily,” he said, completely ignoring the situation at hand. “And I will. It will give me something to do when I know that all of you are settled and married.”
I bit my tongue so hard that I tasted blood. The metallic taste only made me think of other, more horrible things. Nausea pooled in my belly.
“You will marry this man, Gemma,” my father said, walking back to his desk, his words a sharp bark. “Tell Mr. Cross that you will accept the match. You might not see the blessing in it now, but you will thank me later.”
How had he turned this around? How had he turned my decision around so that I would need to thank him? Especially considering we were in this mess because of him. A mess that my sisters didn’t even know about because he’d begged me, with tears in his eyes, not to tell them.