Page 42 of Thorns of Silence

“Our little girl is growing up.” Isla beamed. “I can’t believe she’s turning legal at midnight.” Then her eyes found me. “You’ve been sleeping in a lot lately,” Isla remarked, signing and eyeing me curiously.

Athena glanced over her shoulder at me with a wink. God, I hoped she didn’t know anything. Keeping a secret was hard among the girls, and I didn’t need them all swarming me with questions.

“Her piano practices have been going longer than usual,” she signed, the wooden spoon in her hand making a mess. Reina would have a cow if she saw it.

Because I worked on shaking off a stalker on the daily, taking the long way home down dark alleys and unfamiliar paths.

“And then there are all these dates she’s been going on,” Raven added, smirking while sipping her coffee.

Athena was behind the counter, reading a recipe with a furrowed brow and stirring ingredients in a bowl. For some reason, she refused to give up cooking, determined to master the art.

“What is she making?” I signed.

“Boeuf bourguignon.” Isla winced, pressing her lips together. French beef stew. “We shouldn’t eat it. We can’t afford to get sick.”

As if she sensed our conversation behind her back, Athena whirled around, narrowing her eyes on us. “What are you talking about?” she demanded, pointing the wooden spoon at us.

Raven groaned, seeing the brownish slop drip onto the floor. “What the fuck, Athena? Put that spoon back in the bowl before Reina sees the mess you’ve made.”

“Please,” Isla begged. “I can’t handle another one of her cleaning fits.”

I reached for a clean mug and poured myself a cup of coffee. I took a long sip, my thoughts on the man I wished I could forget.

“Let’s go wake her up,” I finally signed. “The train won’t wait for us, and we still have to get her packed.”

“Everyone else packed?” Isla asked and we all nodded.

For the next thirty minutes, we ran around like idiots, trying to get Reina ready, making her room look like a tornado swept through it. I knew it was killing her to leave her space in such disarray.

Once we were back in the kitchen, I finished my coffee while Reina prepared her own cup.

“What’s bothering you?” Reina asked.

The two of us had always been close. We did yoga together, watched movies, and shopped—although I wasn’t a big fan of the latter. Unfortunately, Reina was. She could spend hours shopping for material, thread, and garments near the Champs-Élysées. I, on the other hand, was perfectly content with casual clothes.

In fact, every dress I owned was courtesy of my sister. She insisted on feminine outfits.

It meant a lot that we’d always been so close, but at times it could be annoying. Especially when I tried to keep things from her.

I waved my hand casually. “Nothing. Just thinking about a concert.”

Or a certain dark-haired man who betrayed me two years ago, leaving me alone to deal with Grandma and the birth ofourchild.

The girls kept talking and signing at the same time, but I no longer paid attention. My memories traveled back to the day I learned I was pregnant.

I twisted my fingers, feeling nausea rise. I couldn’t be sure whether it was the pregnancy or the fact that I had to tell my grandmother.

She strolled through the garden in her flowy white dress, looking at least twenty years younger than her seventy-two years.

When I showed up here unannounced, I didn’t expect her to have a gentleman visiting. The Duke of Glasgow. It would appear the two were enthralled with each other, and Grandma played the part of a fragile English rose well.

It would be comical to watch if I weren’t so distraught.

The duke, like a true gentleman, lingered five steps behind us while we walked the gardens in her Malibu home. I kept throwing subtle hints that I needed to talk to her alone, but she missed them all.

"Sisters are different flowers from the same garden.” She kept rambling about the goddamned flowers. Like I gave a shit. Dante’s nickname for me couldn’t have been more appropriate. I was a weed, strong and resilient. He saw me for who I was, while my family insisted I needed protection. “You and your sister are going to be the brightest flowers this world has ever seen. I cannot wait to see you blossom.”

It took all my self-control not to roll my eyes.