I considered what she said. "I suppose I am a little surprised at myself," I admitted. "I"ve never stayed in one place so long before. But I don"t feel that horrible restlessness I usually do at this point."
"Well,I, for one, am certainly happy you don"t feel it. It"s nice having you around."
I smiled, flattered. "What brings you into town so early?" I asked. "I didn"t expect you "til Thanksgiving."
"I decided to skip two of my cla.s.ses so I could come home early. I always attend the Fall Festival and the Constantin party. It"s the talk of the town, you know. Nothing much else happens on Clearwater Beach."
I"d been hearing people gossip about the Constantin party at school. Apparently, the town held a festival along the beach every year and the Constantin family threw a huge party at the same time. I"d seen for myself the extravagances being shipped next door. Giant tents were set up. Truckloads of food were unloaded. Laborers were even putting together small carnival rides. It was impressive by anyone"s standards. Still, I refused to go.
"So I see you"ve started school at Frightwell," Dakota mentioned, breaking into my thoughts. "And I also see you"ve been..." she shut her eyes, searching for something and tilting her head. "Have you been doing volunteer work?" she opened her eyes now, perplexed.
"How did you know? Did Miriam tell you?"
"No," Dakota grinned. "I saw it when I hugged you."
I scrunched my brows together, shaking my head. "No wonder you"re so affectionate. Especially when it gives you the chance to spy on people."
Dakota grabbed her suitcase and headed for the hallway. "I couldn"t possibly know what you"re talking about."
I laughed, despite myself. And then I stopped short. Thankfully, Dakota was already in her room at that point. I abruptly realized everything I might have let Dakota see about me. Everything about my father, everything about Gabe. . .it was too much of a risk. As much as I would hate it, I knew I should take extra precautions to stay away from Dakota while she was here. Because she couldn"t find out that I betrayed my father. And she definitely couldn"t find out about my inexplicable feelings for Gabe, which completely betrayed Annika. I would absolutely die of shame.
"Come in here, I have something for you," Dakota called from her room.
I stood in the entryway, trying to not move anywhere near her. I watched as she removed a garment bag from her suitcase and carefully unzipped it. She pulled out a silver dress, holding it up so I could view it.
It was beautiful. Shiny, intricate jewels on the hems of the capped-sleeves formed a pattern up across the shoulder. The bust of the dress was tightly woven, which would cling closely to the wearer"s torso and would probably reveal a racy amount of decolletage. From the hip downwards, it flowed into a shimmering pool of silver silk, which would cut right above the knees.
"It"s for you," she informed me. "I picked it out at the mall in Tampa. Do you like it?"
I was stunned for a moment, trying to comprehend that Dakota was giving me this beautiful dress. When I finally found my voice, all I could say was, "For what?"
Dakota giggled. "For the festival, silly. After the day events, the Constantins" throw this huge, glamorous party, which is more like a ball because it"s so grand. I knew you didn"t have anything to wear, so I thought I would come prepared."
I smiled ruefully. "That"s very sweet of you, Dakota, but I wasn"t planning on going."
Dakota put her hands on her hips. Her mouth slightly parted, as if I had shocked her. "What do you mean you weren"t planning to go? This is the biggest event for miles around. And we are actually invited."
I didn"t know what to say. And I couldn"t very well tell her my real reasons. So I simply shrugged. "I just wasn"t planning to go," I mumbled.
She raised a stubborn brow. "Well, you are now. I took my time picking out this dress. The cut should be perfect for your frame. Now try it on and tell me how it fits."
I opened my mouth to argue, but then shut it again. This wouldn"t have been so difficult if she hadn"t done something that was so very nice. I definitely hadn"t expected her to buy me a dress. And I had no idea I would have even been presumed to attend the party in the first place.
"I guess I can stop by for a little while. It is a lovely dress. It would be a shame leaving it hanging in the closet."
Dakota grinned widely. "It"s going to be a blast," she promised me. "You are guaranteed to have fun. Trust me."
The mood lightened and I forgot about trying on my new dress as Dakota told me about all her recent college adventures. She told me how she accidentally touched one of her professors as she handed him a report, and then had a vision of him in bondage.
"It was the most disgusting thing you"ve ever seen!" She giggled throughout the story.
Afterwards, she began telling me about each member of the Constantin family, preparing me for the big event tomorrow.
Baro was the eldest. He was supposedly a burly man, ma.s.sive with muscle, but wise beyond his years. He had lived for many lifetimes. And, of course, there was Gabe, whom Dakota mentioned had been previously engaged to Annika. "Don"t say his name in front of her," Dakota told me. "She may not seem like it, but she"s very torn up about the whole thing."
I nodded, once again feeling guilty for harboring my secret crush.
Next there was Rex, who Dakota warned me wasn"t very friendly, despite his handsome exterior. She told me Rex had a sour personality and liked to start fights all the time. I was supposed to steer clear of him, if I could help it.
Then she told me about Cam, who, of course, I already met at school. "Oh, I love Cam!" Dakota exclaimed. "I"m so happy you"ve become friends with him. He can be a sn.o.b at times, but he"s a lot of fun, too. Have you met Molly, as well?"
I shook my head. "I"ve pa.s.sed her in hallways at Frightwell"s, but I"ve never talked to her."
Truth be told, Molly Constantin frightened me a little. I swore I"d caught her staring daggers at me each time I"d pa.s.sed her, almost like she carried a personal vendetta. At first, I"d thought I was imagining it, but then I"d noticed her around her friends, smiling and laughing. She was very pretty. She was tall and blonde like Cam, and when she smiled, it softened her features. I only ever saw her wearing her menacing stare while she was looking at me.
"Molly is a doll, too," Dakota continued. "The whole family is pretty awesome. We"re going to have so much fun tomorrow. I can"t wait!"
My smile was just an act, but I tried my best to look happy. I hoped she was right. I was determined to stay positive. Everything would be fine. It was just a party, after all.
Later on that night, I heard something tapping against my window. I immediately bolted upright in bed. The silence settled back in, but I didn"t move an inch. I listened quietly, trying to determine if I was imagining things. I let out a slow, shaky breath, trying my best to stay quiet.
I heard the tapping noise again.
My body tensed with trepidation. Whoever had been following me yesterday had found me! I wondered if it was a member of my troupe. Had they decided to kill me? It was extreme, but possible.
I burrowed myself in the corner of the wall, holding the sheet up to my eyes. Whenever the moment presented itself, I would pull the sheet over my head for protection. Because sheets were always the best protection against scary things lurking in the middle of the night.
I sat there for a while, scared out of my mind. I counted the last few precious seconds I had left while I waited for my window to burst open. But then I heard more noises coming from outside. As I listened closer, I could tell the noises were m.u.f.fled voices. Distinctly male, m.u.f.fled voices.
I forced myself to abandon my protective sheet and snuck a peek out of the window. I could hardly believe what I was seeing.
Out on the lawn, it appeared that Gabe was there. And he was fighting with...could it really be? I recognized the curly brown hair and darkly tanned skin easily enough. It was Luca!
I ran downstairs as fast as I could and shoved the front door open.
There, kneeling on my front lawn was Gabe, wearing a murderous expression. And he was holding my ex-fiance to the ground by his collar.
"Who are you?" Gabe shouted, shaking Luca roughly. "And why are you here?"
"Stop!" I choked as I said the word. I was completely taken aback by the whole situation and I wasn"t sure how to stop it. All I knew was I needed to stop it- and quickly- before Gabe actually did some damage to Luca.
Gabe looked up from where he was kneeling. His expression seemed to soften when he noticed me.
"Lola, go back inside. There was an intruder, but I"m handling it."
I shook my head fiercely. "I know him. He"s from my troupe."
Gabe appeared confused for a moment. "He tried to break in through your window," he pointed out.
"He was probably only trying to talk to me. I"m sure Luca doesn"t mean me any harm. He and I...we used to be...betrothed."
The shock of what I"d said loosened Gabe"s hold on Luca"s collar long enough to allow him the ability to jump up from where Gabe had been holding him down.
Luca ran to me, hugging me tightly. "Lo," he breathed. "I knew you would be here."
It pulled away from him, inspecting his features. He seemed so. . .relieved. "You"re not mad at me?"
"Why would I be mad? I know you did what you did because you didn"t want to be sold to Madam Wilda."
"That was part of it," I admitted.
He smiled longingly at me, placing his dark hands over mine. "We can be together now."
The impact of what Luca said took a few moments to sink in. Oh no, I thought, shaking my head in shame. This was awful. I never thought for a moment that Luca would chase me down with the idea that I would still want to be with him.
Maybe I should have seen this coming. Luca had always been too arrogant for his own good. And though I despised him for his arrogance, deep down, Luca possessed good qualities. I had always cared for him, but like a brother.
Now I had to hurt him, too. The words stayed rooted on my lips, unable to be voiced aloud. How could I tell him that I didn"t want to be with him when it would probably break his heart?
It turned out I didn"t have to. He could read it all in my expression.
"This was never about being with me, was it?" he asked, slowly stepping backwards. "You only left to get away from him."
I knew by "him" he meant my father. I confirmed his statement by nodding.
"But. . .how could you do that to him if this wasn"t about you and me?"
"I"m sorry," was all I managed to say.
His dark eyes filled with a growing revulsion. "I had thought this was about love. I never would have imagined this was purely about your own selfishness."
His harsh words made me flinch. It was true. Love could be forgiven by the gypsy people. But defiance for defiance"s sake alone would not be.
Luca seemed completely disgusted with me. He only reaffirmed this by saying, "You"re despicable, Lola. Your father is in prison because you"re a despicable little b.i.t.c.h."
"Enough!" Gabe growled from behind Luca. I"d forgotten he was standing there. And now, I was even more ashamed because of everything he must have heard. "You won"t speak to her that way. In fact, you won"t speak to her at all. Leave. Now."
The sound of the door screeching open caught my attention. Miriam popped her head outside of it. A sleeping mask pulled up across her forehead, it was obvious the noise must have woken her. "What is going on here? Gabriel, is that you?"
Great, I thought. Let"s make things even worse.
And then Annika appeared, stepping out from behind Miriam. "Gabe? What are you doing here?"
Apparently, it could get worse.
I shut my eyes, hoping everyone would disappear. But it didn"t work. They were still standing there when I opened them again. I wasn"t going to be able to escape this time.
"I was trying to sleep," Gabe told them. "But then I noticed this little fool attempting to break into your granddaughter"s window." He gestured towards Luca.
"Grams, everything is okay now," I said, trying to rea.s.sure her.
"You were watching the house," Annika acknowledged in a tight voice. She seemed to be making a statement, rather than asking a question.
Miriam didn"t let Gabe respond to Annika. She cut in by asking loudly, "Well, what does he want?"
"He"s from my troupe," I said. "He just wanted to talk to me." My eyes darted towards Luca again, pleading with him not to say anything else. I couldn"t help but feel cut by the anguish he harbored while he looked upon me. It dug into me deeply, making my breath grow short and laborious. I breathed in, trying to hold back any tears that might spill. I knew I would have to face the sting of my betrayal eventually. I just hoped it wouldn"t feel this awful.
"And now he is leaving," Gabe added forcefully. "He"s done all the talking he gets to do tonight."
"Watch yourself," Luca warned Gabe as he took a step towards him. I knew Luca must resent that Gabe was trying to bully him, because next to my father, Luca was used to being in charge. But Gabe was built larger, stronger. And he had Luca pinned to the ground only a few moments ago. I was confident Luca wouldn"t start another fight. Especially not for me, now that he knew my reasons for leaving didn"t involve him.
Luca spat on the ground before me as he turned to leave. I spotted a random car parked across the street he headed towards.
"Lo, are you all right?" Miriam asked groggily.
"I"m fine," I said as evenly as I could manage. I swallowed back any tears that were on the verge of falling and pulled myself together. A few moments pa.s.sed before I noticed Gabe was staring at me very intently.
"Are you sure you"re okay?" he asked quietly, so that only I could hear him.
"Pshh." I rolled my eyes in Luca"s direction and shrugged. I tried my best to act like it was no big deal. "He doesn"t bother me."
He continued to watch me, like he was waiting for me to say more. I don"t think he believed me for a second. So I walked away.
"Thanks for looking out." I managed a yawn, like I had no cares whatsoever. I ambled up the porch steps as Annika slowly came down them. As I went inside, I heard her ask Gabe if she could speak with him. I looked back, seeing his eyes still followed me. He nodded in answer to her request.
Miriam shut the door behind us.
"Well, that was eventful," she commented dryly.
"Hopefully that"s the last of it," I said. "Sorry to wake you."
"It"s okay." She leaned over to kiss the top of my head. "Good night, little girl. Just shout for me if you have anymore trouble."
"I will," I promised.
When I made it back to my room and shut the door behind me, I sat on my bed, sort of lifeless. A part of me wanted to cry, but I didn"t let myself. I knew there would be consequences for leaving. I knew the same people I considered my family might grow to hate me. And if they didn"t hate me, they would resent me. Somehow, I needed to learn to accept what I"d done. The decision to hurt the ones I loved was the choice I had to make in order to live a life where I would actually have choices.
ELEVEN.
The next morning I awakened to the sounds of someone rummaging through my belongings. I opened my eyes, finding Dakota"s coppery head standing in the doorway of the closet, flipping through my scanty wardrobe. I could smell the soft scent of peony and I noticed her hair was wet from a recent shower.