The Lunam Ceremony (Book One) (12 page)

“Oh,” Adel giggles. “I told Elliot you two were honeymooning upstairs.”

“Dillan’s window was open,” Layla whispers across the table, doing a poor job hiding a smile. “We had to move inside.”

I feel my face turn ten shades of red. “It’s not what you, it was the tele—” I stammer. Dillan places his hand over mine and stops me from making a bigger fool of myself.

He raises his glass to Elliot and the rest of the table follows. “Thank you, Elliot. We couldn’t be happier.” Dillan clinks his glass with my mine and gulps down his wine.

“Lucky girl.” Elliot raises his wine glass and winks at me.

I blush at the attention and take a sip from my water to hide the ridiculous smile on my face.

“Your father tells me you are leaving tomorrow,” Todd interjects, and the conversation turns to business just as our dinner arrives. “Have you seen the camp yet?”

“Camp?” I whisper to Dillan.

A maid places a plate in front of me with a small round piece of meat sitting in the center. It’s surrounded by roasted vegetables. I want to devour it, but I know I have to wait until the rest of the table has been served. Table manners and etiquette I picked up when Mom was with Miles. Dining in five-star restaurants was the thing I missed most about Miles. Once Layla dumped him, it was back to crappy chains and fast food.

“Yes, the new branch will take residence near Meyers. The camp is rustic, but quite nice,” Lowell tells me. I look at Dillan; he doesn’t look the least bit surprised. He must know about the camp already.

“We’re taking it back to, how do you say it, old school, right Lowell?” Monte laughs and sips his wine.

“I wouldn’t call it old school. They have heat and running water,” Adel chimes in.

“They better, or we won’t have a new branch for long,” Layla interjects and the table laughs.

I wonder if Todd and Elliot are following the conversation better than I am. From the look on their faces, I’d say they know more about pack life than I do.

“Everyone, please eat,” Adel says from the end of the table.

You don’t have to tell me twice. I dive in and try to keep up with the table conversation. Dillan tells Todd he hasn’t seen the camp, but he’s excited to get up there and start making money for the pack. I thought our existence was secret. I wonder if they are beta or somehow connected to the pack. Lowell and Monte chime in with details about distribution and sales analysis. Their words are foreign to me so I focus on my dinner.

“What will you do, Kalysia?” Elliot asks as I’m forking the last piece of meat into my mouth.

I try to chew quickly, but the bite was huge. Elliot smiles at me from the other end of the table and I shrug.

“She’ll be learning the business as well. Kalysia has a great aptitude for numbers. She’ll do well handling financials,” Layla says to Elliot. Her words catch the attention of the entire table. Monte smiles sheepishly beside her.

Lowell looks at Layla like he wants to rip her head off then his face suddenly goes blank. It happens so fast I don’t think anyone noticed, except me. He slices into his meat and glares in Adel’s direction. She offers a nervous smile as she pours herself another glass of wine. Dillan remains silent. I want to strangle Layla and then hug her. I hate the attention she’s drawn to me, but I also understand why she did it. I am smart and strong. I can do more for the pack than shoot babies out of my uterus. The fact that her comment has caused this much tension tells me that having Cassie move to our pack is a better idea than I even thought. A woman’s worth should have nothing to do with her ability to breed. I can only imagine what is happening to her right now. Are people whispering behind her back? Calling her a failure. That won’t happen in our branch. With my protection, she can live however she chooses. She can go to college, fall in love, and have children on her own terms.

The chatter turns to Lowell’s main business, grapes. I find out that the Sierra pack made their living as field hands for a winery in Napa. In the early seventies, Lowell Duke Sr. convinced his branch to pool their money together and buy a small vineyard. The business evolved from one vineyard to ten. Now they broker grapes for wineries all over the country. At some point Lowell’s senior bought out his partners and took over the business. The Duke family has a lot of power over the Sierras because it was their business that started the Sierra pack’s success. The Duke family has the controlling interest in Sierra-Duke Brokerage, LLC. The pack and the elder’s council each get a percentage of the business, and the Duke family keeps the rest. From the look of this house, I’d say the rest is a lot.

All the money in the world couldn’t buy the Dukes’ leadership. Monte’s family, the Taillac’s, are still the Sierra pack leaders. As one of Monte’s children, I am heir to the pack.

Monte lifts his nearly empty wine glass and the table follows his lead. “To Dillan and Kalysia. The two of you will finally make this partnership a true family.”

“To family,” Layla adds.

The table repeats her, and I smile at my mother, feeling so grateful that she brought me here, to this life, and gave me the family I’ve always wanted.

Adel rings a small bell, and three women rush in to remove our plates. It’s like a scene from a movie. They return just as quickly with dessert. Adel says it is chocolate cake with a raspberry merlot sauce. My plate is set in front of me and I dig right in. I don’t look up until my plate is clean. Layla catches my eye and points to her chin. I know she’s alerting me to the fact that I probably have raspberry sauce dribbling down my face. I dab my mouth with the napkin in my lap and peek at Dillan. He hasn’t touched his cake. I really want to eat his, but I’m afraid Layla will stab my hand with a fork if I make a move for it.

After dessert the table disperses into pockets of conversation in the sitting room. They actually call it that. My mother and Adel discuss the impressive art collection the Dukes have amassed over the years. Adel points out a small painting from a French artist and tells Layla that Dillan sent it to her for her birthday last summer. Apparently, Dillan was just in Europe touring wineries in Paris and Italy, before spending a few months with a brew master in Germany.

Dillan and I are standing in front of the oak bar that stretches along the wall. Elliot is on the other side pouring drinks for everyone. He tells me he worked as a bartender to pay his way through college. Now he owns six restaurants in the bay area and is partnering with Lowell to open three more.

“You sound very busy,” I say.

He places a soda in front of me and drops a cherry inside with a wink. “Lowell is a very passionate man when it comes to business,” Elliot says as he pours Dillan a beer from the tap. He hands it to Dillan then starts on another drink.

Dillan looks like something is bothering him. He’s been quiet since we left the dinner table. I try to strike up a conversation. “I didn’t know you traveled,” I say and sip my soda.

“I didn’t know you had an aptitude for numbers,” Dillan spits back.

I’m startled by the edge in his voice and a little bit pissed. I can’t tell if it’s the alcohol, he had three glasses of wine during dinner, or if Layla’s comment really upset him. I glance at Elliot, who is pretending not to listen. “That was just Layla being Layla.”

Dillan leans against the bar and looks me in the eye. “So, you don’t want to learn the business?”

I start to say no then think otherwise. I don’t need to lie to Dillan, ever. If he loves me the way he says he does, he’ll accept me as I am. No apologies. “Of course I want to learn the business, but that’s just how I am. I’m naturally curious. It doesn’t mean I want to run the company one day.” That’s the truth. I don’t know what I want or where my life is heading.

Dillan’s shoulders relax. He even smiles a little. “Ok,” he says. “I don’t see any problems with you learning the industry. Let’s start with this.” He hands me his beer. “You gotta learn your product.”

I take a swig. “We’re selling Aunt Jessie’s beer?”

“It isn’t just hers, it’s a pack recipe.” Dillan starts to tell me a little about how we will be in charge of brewing and distribution.

“So, we won’t be part of the grape business?” I’m a little disappointed that I won’t get to travel around the world visiting wineries.

“Nope, we will run a new division of Sierra-Drake,” Dillan says with a huge smile. “We’re going to make our own mark in this world.” His eyes glance towards his father across the room. His disdain for Lowell is apparent.

“Can I get a whiskey sour.” Monte knocks on the bar and prompts Elliot to make his drink. He does it in a way that isn’t pretentious at all. Monte has sort of an Alec Baldwin thing going on. He’s authoritative in a down-to-earth sort of way. People, like Elliot, are happy to oblige him. Dillan excuses himself to use the restroom and leaves me alone with my father. Elliot hands Monte his drink then joins Todd and Lowell on the veranda for a cigar.

“So, how are you adjusting?” Monte asks. He taps his pinky finger on the side of the glass in a nervous tick sort of way.

“I’m fine,” I say and sip Dillan’s beer. I look around as we stand in an awkward silence. I can only think of one thing to say to my father and I’m not sure it’s going to come out right. I take a big gulp from the glass before I speak. “I didn’t know you had another kid.”

Monte looks taken aback. “Yes, I do.”

“Is that why my mother left you?” I feel my skin grow warm, and I don’t know if it’s the alcohol or anger.

“No, you have it all wrong, Kalysia.” Monte puts his hand on my shoulder. “Layla knew—”

“Is everything ok?” Dillan appears out of nowhere and pulls me close. Monte jerks his hand back, as if Dillan is going to bite it off.

“Everything is fine.” I flash a fake smile at Monte. “Excuse me.” I hand Dillan the now empty glass and walk out of the room. I follow Dillan’s scent to find his bedroom. I fall onto his bed and scream into his pillows.

When Dillan strokes my back to wake me, it’s dark outside. I turn over and clear tangled hair out of my face. “What time is it?” My voice is hoarse from sleep.

“A little past midnight.” Dillan hands me a bottle of water. It’s a fancy square glass bottle. “Are you feeling better?”

Layla must have made up some excuse for why I left. She’s always one step ahead. I nod and drain half the bottle. “Did everyone leave?”

“Layla and Monte are in the guesthouse. What did he say that upset you?”

I don’t really want to talk about it, but I don’t want Dillan to think I’m shutting him out. “I asked him about his other child.”

“Oh.” Dillan takes the bottle from me. “What did he tell you?” He seems very curious for some reason. Dillan snooping into every aspect of my life is something else I’ll have to get used to.

“I asked him if Layla knew he cheated and if that was why she left. He tried to say she knew about the other kid and then you interrupted us.” I stroke his arm.

I’m glad Layla left him. I just don’t get why she’s with him now. Maybe enough time has passed and she forgives him. Maybe I should too, but it feels new to me. If he hadn’t cheated, Layla wouldn’t have left, and I would have been raised with both of my parents. “I would’ve liked to know who my sibling was. I always wanted a sister.” I think of Cassie.

“I can tell you who they are,” Dillan says cheerfully.

“There was more than one?”

“He has two other kids, but you only met one of them, Leah,” Dillan says.

Holy crap, Leah is my sister. “Does she know? Why didn’t she say anything?”

Dillan shrugs. “I don’t know, maybe Monte told her not to.”

That makes sense. He wouldn’t want me to cause a scene at Lunam. “Who is the other one?”

Dillan says the other one is a male, Rusty. “He’s twenty-one. You’ll meet him at camp.”

I feel my dinner creep into my throat. “You’re telling me Monte had a child before Lunam?” I do the math in my head. “When he was fifteen?”

“Yes, sometimes things happen before Lunam. It didn’t make him ineligible.”

“Yeah, but the poor girl that had his bastard child was!” I yell. I don’t know why I’m yelling. I don’t even know this girl. But I do know another girl in her shoes. Tandy. My mother had to have known. Why would she choose someone like him? I need to know. I have to know.