Chapter 20 - The Sister Who Lied TwiceRonan stared at Maeve.
Sadie watched twenty years of hope disappear from his face.
“You promised him what?”
Maeve did not answer.
Eleanor whispered:
“Maeve.”
Her daughter looked at her.
Then at Ronan.
“I needed Charles to trust me.”
“So you offered him my life.”
“I offered him the appearance of your death.”
Ronan laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“Of course.”
Maeve had created a plan months earlier.
A staged assassination.
Ronan would appear to die.
Charles would believe the Cain bloodline had lost its adult protector and move openly against Poppy.
Federal agents could arrest him.
“You didn't tell me.”
“You would have refused.”
“Correct.”
“You were never actually in danger.”
Sadie stepped forward.
“He has a wife and daughter.”
“I know.”
“No. You know those words. That's different.”
Maeve's expression hardened.
“I spent twenty years inside that organization.”
“And maybe you spent too long.”
Silence.
Maeve looked at Sadie.
“You think I don't understand family?”
“I think you started treating people like pieces on a board.”
That struck.
Because it was true.
Ronan left the room.
Sadie found him in the chapel beneath Raven Hill.
He sat where Poppy had once been imprisoned.
“I believed her.”
Sadie sat beside him.
“You wanted to.”
“She was my sister.”
“She still is.”
“Is she?”
Sadie looked at him.
“Elias lied to protect us.”
Ronan said nothing.
“Eleanor manipulated Elias to protect him.”
Nothing.
“You controlled everyone around you because you thought that was protection.”
He looked at her.
Sadie continued.
“Families can love each other and still do terrible things out of fear.”
“That doesn't make it acceptable.”
“No.”
She took his hand.
“It makes the next choice matter.”
Maeve entered.
Ronan did not look at her.
She sat on the opposite side.
For several minutes nobody spoke.
Then Maeve said:
“I forgot how to come home.”
Ronan looked at her.
“I spent twenty years lying to dangerous people. Eventually lying became easier than asking anyone to trust me.”
Her voice broke.
“I am sorry.”
Ronan stared ahead.
“I don't forgive you.”
Maeve nodded.
“I know.”
“But you can stay.”
She looked at him.
“For now.”
Maeve cried quietly.
Sadie stood.
“I'll leave you two.”
Ronan caught her hand.
“No.”
He pulled her back down.
“Family meeting.”
Sadie smiled.
“Bossy.”
“Yes.”
Upstairs, Poppy was waiting.
She had created a sign.
FAMILY RULES.
Rule one:
NO SECRET DEATH PLANS.
Rule two:
NO KIDNAPPING.
Rule three:
ASK MOM BEFORE BUYING ANIMALS.
Ronan objected to rule three.
Sadie refused negotiation.
Maeve added rule four:
NO LYING “FOR YOUR OWN GOOD.”
Eleanor added:
LISTEN BEFORE DECIDING.
Poppy wrote the final rule.
COME BACK.
They hung the list in Raven Hill's kitchen.
That night, Charles called.
Ronan answered.
“You've lost.”
Charles laughed.
“You still think this is about the Crown.”
“What is it about?”
“You.”
Ronan frowned.
Charles continued.
“My father spent my entire childhood talking about Declan Cain.”
Then Elias.
Then Ronan.
The Cain sons had become symbols of everything Daniel believed Charles was not.
“You want revenge because your father disappointed you?”
“No.”
Charles's voice softened.
“I want you to understand what it feels like to watch someone choose another family over yours.”
Then Ronan heard something.
A child crying.
His blood froze.
He ran upstairs.
Poppy's room.
Empty.
Window open.
Sadie arrived behind him.
“No.”
On the pillow lay the falcon bracelet.
May you like
And beneath it:
COME GET YOUR DAUGHTER.
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