Bound

39. For Whom The Bell Tolls

Dedicated to SherinaBarrie and bs0864434 for always being so eager and enthusiastic about the story. I hope your enthusiasm never dwindles :)

Not edited, please excuse any grammatical errors!

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Sullivan Estate, New York.

"I hate Irish tea parties", Serena muttered, soft enough for only Amara's ears, her eyes narrowed in a glare.

Amara cracked a smile at her friend's statement. She knew that Serena didn't really mean what she said. Her friend was currently very annoyed. And the reason behind it–

".....so good looking and he's even single now. Amara, do you think you could put in a good word for me to Cian?", the girl questioned, looking expectantly towards Amara.

"No, she won't", Serena retorted before Amara could have even opened her mouth to form a reply, her eyes cold as she assessed the girl. "And I suggest you drop the idea if you don't want to be known to Cian as someone who tried to take the advantage of his sister's kindness to further their own goals", she stated coolly.

Amara glanced back at the girl who had suddenly gone pale.

She was the daughter of one of the men who worked for her grandfather.

"I-I'm sorry",she stuttered, before getting up from her seat and walking to stand in the corner where a few other girls stood, discussing something amongst themselves.

"Why did your Aunt invite so many people over for this gathering?", Serena scowled.

"It's customary", Amara admitted, repeating the same words Aunt Claire had said to her when she had raised the question earlier in the day.

Sullivan Manor was currently playing host to the wifes and daughters of quite a few high positioned employees and allies of the family. They had been invited at the estate for a tea party which was organized by her Aunt while many of their husbands and sons were in Chicago.

"I don't know why girls even try any longer, Cian doesn't give any of them even a second glance", Vanessa Avdonin spoke from her place around the round table."Even Harley-"

She paused, her eyes darting towards Amara apologetically.

"Never mind",she mumbled.

"Go on", she ordered her softly. She wanted to hear what Vanessa had to say about Harley.

Amara cringed internally when she thought about the girl. She didn't know what exactly Harley's intention had been behind wanting to compete with her and she hadn't had the time to give the girl another thought with everything that had happened between Valerio and her, and now, three days later, her mind was preoccupied by other worries.

"Well",she muttered,"Cian always kept his distance with her even while in public, so much so that we sometimes wondered if he really was dating her but then why else would he have taken the girl under his protection?", she shrugged.

"They were not together", Serena stated with so much conviction that it caused all the girls sitting at the table to glance at her with surprise.

"I-It does explain it then", Vanessa stuttered, several moments after Serena did not elaborate her statement. "Why he didn't fight against Valerio when he took Harley under his custody."

Vanessa's eyes widened suddenly,"I'm not saying that he should have", she continued hurriedly, glancing at Amara. "Harley shouldn't have tried to attack you after losing the combat, she would have seriously hurt you if it hadn't been for Valerio."