Princess

Chapter 13: Nobody's Favorite

Ariadne

Our first family dinner without Bella at the table was a disaster. My dad insisted on having Christian and I over for dinner even though Bella wasn't there and regretfully, I couldn't get out of it. It was a soul crushing exercise to be around my father, but here I was anyway, loathing my existence.

Dad and Christian talked business–the only topic they could talk about without fighting–which left Claudia and I to make insufferable small talk that made me want to stab my eyes out with one of her precious diamond studded steak knives. While I was perfectly comfortable with not talking, she kept trying to make conversation with me, asking about work or something too insignificant for me to remember. She was met with cold, curt replies.

I felt bad for hating her. I didn't want to actively hate her. But I did. Christian was a better person than I was because he was civil to a woman who I believed didn't deserve any of that.

Claudia knew my father was a married man when she slipped into his bed and did it anyway. Maybe it was true love, considering they've been married for some 25 years now but it didn't excuse the infidelity to me. Some part of me felt like if I were nice to her, I would be betraying my mother and her memory. And that was something I would never do.

There was a lot I didn't know about the story between Catherine Montgomery and Jackson Ryder, but no matter how many times I pestered Anthony to tell me, he wouldn't. 

Christian didn't push our floor buttons when we got into the elevator after dinner. I didn't ask why. It wasn't worth it. I was either going to be lectured or reprimanded for my less than stellar behavior at dinner, so I just had to suck it up and deal with it.

Even though he was my older brother, Christian acted more like a father than my own dad did sometimes—everything from worrying about me when I was out late as a kid to being uber-protective about who I dated.

Wordlessly, we went straight down to the garage. He walked us both to his car and opened my door for me. I stared at him, hoping he'd give me an explanation for what the fuck kind of silent game we were playing. He returned my stare calmly, one hand stuck in his pocket and nonchalance written all over his face.

My brother had a fiery temper when provoked but he brought it under control when he got older, with Damon and Francis' help. And unless you caught him in a bad mood–you didn't want to–my brother's expression was firm but polite, harder to decipher than the Zodiac Killer's notes.

I wondered if their shared inability to appropriately display human emotion was what brought my brother and his best friends so close. I had a feeling Damon and Christian especially only truly let their guards down around family and each other. Did they bond over how to be overprotective brothers with chips on their shoulders? I didn't dare ask.

The piercing silence continued on the long drive and it didn't take me long to figure out exactly where we are going.

Central Park.

Christian and I didn't tell the Hales why I was there that night. But the two of us knew. It was a classic and more importantly, Mom's favorite place in the world. She travelled the world far and wide and still, she never wanted to be anywhere but New York. The nights were her favorite, the way the city was alive when the world slept.

Even though she died when I was far too young, I remember how she would take Christian and I to the park all the time, walking, talking, feeding animals, and eating lots of strawberry ice cream. After she passed, from time to time, my brother and I would escape here and sit for hours talking about her.

Wondering if she was proud of us. Hoping she was happy. Praying she was at peace.

Today was different though. Today, we didn't talk. We didn't share stories of Mom or talk to her in the sky. We sat together in the damp grass for hours, staring at nothing, just existing next to one another. These escapades were the one thing my brother and didn't do with Bella because she didn't know my mother and Bella never tried to interject. I loved that about her. This was our thing.