Rule (Roam Series, Book Five) (18 page)

“Upstairs?” Will asked, and Roam nodded.

“Violet and Logan are down here, closer to the kitchen for the baby. You both have the rooms upstairs.” She turned to my dad, and he sighed with controlled irritation. “West, they are married.”

“She’s seventeen.”

Hypocrite
, I thought, glaring at my father. “Eighteen in… well, a few days. And we… aren’t…,” I stumbled, trying desperately to redeem my reputation for my father. “In name only, remember?”

“
I shall take the library room, then,” Will turned to the stairs without another word, and I hurried after him.

“Eva, you make your own decisions now.” I knew it took all of my father’s strength to speak those words as he forced a light smile.

I nodded, continuing to follow my husband upstairs and into the library. “Will, I didn’t mean-…,”

“Eva,” he assured me, brushing his hand over my curls on
ce before turning to our bag. “We will show no disrespect in your father’s home. Please go to your bedroom; I’ll see you downstairs.”

I nodded, backing to the door before turning for my room. The familiarity of my bedroom beckoned me, and I closed the door
. Running my hand along my dresser, I stopped at the pictures of my family. My series of framed photos included my sister and Logan and Wynn, Dad and Mom by the shore, me and Christopher at the aquarium, Aunt Morgan and Uncle Jason… Grandpa Cam…

My turntable and records made me smile; for years, I couldn’t get the songs in my head to offer the perfect scratch of the record.
My mom and dad got me the record player for my seventh birthday. Finally, I learned to not only add sounds to my music, but also to add
harmony
to my music.

One particular album stood out, with its vertical blue, orange, and green columns. I gathered it from the bottom of the pile, gazing down at Ben E. King’s grinning face.
For my twelfth birthday, my dad surprised me with a signed copy of the
Stand By Me
album, knowing how much I loved that song…

… but not knowing why.

I sighed before sitting on my bed.
Will.

I hurt him.
I watched the enormous diamond sparkle in the sunlight against my small fingers.
I changed the rules, not him. He never wanted a real marriage.
I waved my hand in the air, listening the confusing frequency of several songs before settling on silence
.
Reaching for my pillow, I fell back over my bed, staring at the decorative, crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

He meant to rule with Gabrielle at his side, not me.

He felt obligated to marry me… but he doesn’t
want
me.

But all I want… is him.
I want him to feel the way that I feel.

“
I don’t know
what
I feel.”

And now, apparently, I was talking to myself. I growled, tossing the pillow at the headboard and moving to my walk-in closet. Game night was a Perry Family tradition; on the Friday after Thanksgiving, whoever cleaned the Thanksgiving dinner dishes got to pick the first game of the evening.

After changing into a short, white dress with a matching, gray and white striped cardigan, I hurried back downstairs. One look at the Trivial Pursuit box on the kitchen table told me that my dad had attacked the dinner dishes first last night.

“Oh come on… not Genesis.” I cringed at the dark blue box of trivia cards playfully. “I call Dad’s team.”

“Too late!” Violet grinned, plopping Rose into my arms before I had a chance to ready myself for her finicky greeting. “Me, Wynn, Chris, and Dad are a team.”

“She doesn’t like me Vi,” I stiffened, bobbing up and down animatedly as the six-month-old squirmed in my arms.

“You have to
make
her like you,” Violet argued, kissing her daughter’s forehead softly. I bounced faster, and added a swaying motion.

“You look so comfortable,” Logan kidded, saving me as he gathered Rose into his arms. “She’ll get to know you. Just hang in there.”

“I’m offended,” my mom dumped a bag of potato chips into a bowl, pointing at Logan and me. “I expect you both to step up. I am not carrying this team.”

“No, you’re going down, just like last time,” West grinned, sneaking up behind her with a playful kiss on the neck.

She breathed a laugh, shivering. “
West!
”

“Okay, barf,” Chris snatched the bowl of chips from my mother’s hands, moving to the head of the table. “Will, you can be on our team,” he offered.

The relaxed, homey atmosphere sent pangs of longing to my chest.

Am I really giving all of this up, for him? He’s just one man. Yes, I feel
something
for him, but is it obligation?
That couldn’t be. I’d never felt obligated to anyone, for anything.
Empathy, since we are both in the same situation?

I turned, watching as Will walked toward the table from the stairs. He’d changed int
o a pair of gray pants another one of his signature, swoontastic white shirts.
I need to take this man shopping,
I thought with a smile.
Though he does rock the romantic hero look.

He looked my way before nodding to my brother.
“Thank you, Christopher.”

“
I suck at history.” Violet admitted, and when no one came to her defense, she pouted. “Eva’s a sponge.”

“I know as much as Rose when it comes to American History,” Will admitted, his charming smile completely enchanting the baby. He reached for her, and I gawked as she accepted him without so
much as a fuss. He propped her on his hip, moving toward the kitchen. “Roam, how can I assist?”

I watched him in awe, dropping to a chair near Chris’s.

“Sit. You are family now, Will,” she gestured to the chair next to mine. “Bringing Eva home was more than we could have ever asked for. Thank you.”

He met my eyes, and I shifted my gaze to the table, clearing my throat. “When are Morgan and Jason coming?”

“Their flight lands at eleven. The twins are staying with Grandpa Cam,” West glanced at his watch. “I’ll go out to pick them up at the airport around ten-thirty.”

“I’ll go,” I volunteered, and Will nodded once.

“I will accompany her. Now, how is this game played?” He bounced Rose on his knee gently, reading over the old, tattered instructions. “Am I to understand that we are playing for pie?”

“Sort of,” I tried not to look directly at Rose, admiring the easy way Will held her. “I’ll help you.”

He turned to me, his voice lowering below the easy conversation in the kitchen. “Thank you, love.”

His words sent warm currents through my bloodstream, and I scooted my chair closer to his.
Wynn smiled at his words, pretending not to hear.

I lowered my voice.
“I’m sorry for what I said earlier. I was… immature. I was embarrassed, knowing my dad… knew… or knows, or thinks that… that we…,”

“
Eva
,” he silenced my stuttering with a gentle kiss, and I closed my eyes, exhaling softly. “Hush.”

I imagined what our life might be, if we lived in my world…
a house, definitely somewhere warm… his kiss each morning when I woke…

“I’ll feed her,” Violet interrupted my daydream, bending between us to retrieve Rose. Her knowing smile unnerved me.

I moved my chair as close to Will’s as possible, leaning into his arms. He understood the game quickly, and when he began answering questions, I glared at him. “How do you know these answers?”

“My father provided me with many books,” he
said, and I watched my mom’s hands wring together at the reference to Troy.

“What Russian city boasts the Hermitage Museum?” My dad read the question and groaned. My mom flattened her palms to the table.

“Bonus pie,” she announced. “Originally it was St. Petersburg, then Petrograd, then Leningrad, and now, St. Petersburg.”

“Bonus pie?” Will reached for the instructions, but I shook my head, pushing them away.

“It’s this weird way they play. If there was an original answer, and then that answer changed over history, and you answer both correctly, your team gets a bonus pie.” I grinned, pointing to the green pie next to Chris’s hand. “You know I want Science and Nature. Hand it over.”

“Mom gets to pick. She answered it, not you.”

“Rose is finally asleep… where are we… crap who got the bonus?” She glanced away from her iPhone for a moment to look at the board. “Dad, I can’t believe you let that happen.”

“Green!” I ordered, holding my hand out for Chris.

“No. Mom’s choice.”

“Oh,
Vi?” I raised my eyebrow at her, scooting my chair backward. “I’m freezing. Are you freezing?”

Violet knew immediately
what I was doing. Chris scowled in my direction. “If you play that song -…,”

“I’m
freezing
,” Violet shivered exaggeratedly. Logan rolled his eyes, grabbing the empty potato chip bowl, and Wynn sat back, smiling.

“Mom!”

“Maybe you should…
warm it up, Chris!
”

Violet jumped up as I waved my hand in a circle. Chris
tried to get up, but as Kriss Kross’s
Warm It Up Kris
began, and I hurried to my brother’s side and blocked him. Violet joined me on his other side.

She mirrored my choreographed moves from my sixth-grade talent show until Chris
topher, completely giving up, grinned and spun his baseball cap to a backward position on his head. He rapped the next verse with me, laughingly delivering a fake punch to my shoulder.

“Stupid
, immortal sisters,” he declared, and I caught Will’s eye as Violet hugged our brother, laughing. Will sat back, his arms crossed behind his neck, a wide smile on his lips.

“Volume, Eva,” my mom reminded me, and I closed my fist, lowering the music as I remembered that Rose was asleep.

Chris feigned aggravation, grinning. “Is she this magically annoying in your world?” He asked Will.

“I
know
you weren’t talking about me.” I turned his cap and pushed the bill of his hat over his eyes, and Chris kicked at my chair just seconds before I lowered myself to the seat. Will caught me in time, and my dad gave him a reproving look.

“Okay, okay, knock it off,” he ordered Chris, turning to me. “Are you sure you want to go back to the airport?”

“Of course,” Will stood, still balancing me on his lap. “You will drive?”

“Sure. We’ll be right back.” I retrieved my keys from the bowl near the door, following Will to my Mustang.

I drove, contemplating the radio before finally settling into silence.

The
stillness in the car grew strangely uncomfortable, and I stopped at a red light. “Is everything… okay?”

Will turned from the window to face me, a forced smile touching his lips. “Yes.”

“You’re very… quiet.”

“I feel
accountable. For the time that you are losing with your family. You are very close with your siblings and your parents.”

“This prophecy isn’t your fault, like it isn’t my fault. We’re stuck dealing with the mess that our parents left for us.”

“My father was inherently evil, Eva. I do not trust myself. I fear that someday, I will inevitably follow in his footsteps.”

“Will.” I pulled off into an empty bank parking lot, throwing the car into park. “You are good. You are just…
so good.
I don’t know how to convince you. You just have to trust me.”

He leaned across the seat, pressing his lips to my cheek. I turned, adjusting my mouth to meet his.

The moment his tongue parted my lips, I released the steering wheel and slid my hands over his arms.
I don’t know how I feel, but I know that this feels right…
I moaned softly as his fingers touched the edge of my dress, lightly tracing the side of my leg. Currents of electricity sparked beneath my skin, and I jerked beneath his touch, pressing against my seatbelt.

The dashboard lights flickered before turning on, blinking erratically and drawing both of our attention. The radio whined to a high-pitched frequency that assaulted my ears; I broke away from him, trying desperately to turn the volume down. The engine began to rev, and I slammed my back against the driver’s seat. “What the
hell- I’m not touching the pedal-…,”

“Easy,” he reached for the keys, turning and removing them from the starter. Still the battery worked on its own accord, overcharging the electrical unit in the Mustang.

“I have to cool off,” I realized, fumbling with the door handle. The locks alternated, and I managed to catch the latch in the unlocked position long enough to open the door and step out. The evening breeze was colder than normal for North Carolina, and I took deep breaths, focusing on the overhead light in the parking lot. The moment I looked at the bulb, it sizzled and popped, burning out.