Right Imperfections |✔ [Book 1 of Runaway Bride Series]

47. Dangerous Games and Masked Men

McKenna

There was a pit in my stomach. A large gaping hole that was waiting to swallow something, anything. Like a black hole.

I didn't tell Dan about the picture. I didn't give him any explanation as to why I was suddenly distant again but when you have secrets from someone you tend to drift away. And the last thing I needed right now was to drift away from Dan.

With the threat of Evan looming so precariously over my head I couldn't get distant from Dan, hell I couldn't even leave Dan's side. But the feeling of betrayal was so intense that I was stuck.

Knowledge did that to you and despite all that crap about knowledge giving you power right now I felt as helpless as a human could feel. Weak.

"Would you please stray out of your dreamland and focus on the task at hand?" Mother's annoyed voice penetrated through my reverie and I startled awake.

"What?" I mumbled still shaken and looked up from the catering chart. Mother was standing by the tapestry in the foyer where a few workers were putting up garlands and ostentatious signs to highlight the Rodrigues wealth.

"Don't be incompetent today. We need you at your best behaviour." Mother sighed and waved her hand at another man who was arranging the lightings at the entry.

At my best behaviour? I flushed at the crassness of her words and slid my eyes down to the floor. The workers had heard my mother's affectionate words and I was certain they were casting me pitying glances but I didn't want to see them at all.

"Sorry, mother." I muttered guiltily and went back to the menu in my hand. Mother had planned six different cuisines with half a dozen dishes from each cuisine. The words on the chart in my hand were impossible to pronounce but since I'd lived on this estate all my life I'd learnt the tidbits of royal living, despite my reluctance.

"The food is going to be laid out in the hallway where we will arrange the chairs. Remember to gather the seating chart from the office and check if that woman I hired has done her job properly. The circulating food list is also with her." Mother ordered as she walked past me to the wide stairs in the centre of the massive living area. It had been upholstered on both sides and tall standing candles flanked the bottom step where my parents and I would welcome the guests.

The annual Rodrigues masquerade gala was established by my great grandmother who was always looking for spoils. In the past, the gala had no purpose but with changing times and my mother's intellect we altered into a beneficial cause and every year a small organisation profited from the charity that the gala gathered.

It made Mother a proud patron of the wealthy people and Rodrigues a proud name. Father couldn't complain if it only aided his stature in the country.

"Okay," I sighed and followed her. "Is father going to be coming for lunch?" I asked as we made our way up the stairs. Mother had somehow managed to convince me to stay for lunch today and that's why after all morning of her orders I couldn't help but want some company.

"No, he will not." Mother said curtly and I heard what was left unsaid. She wanted to say it but then it would only undermine her authority as the lady of the house.

When has he ever joined us for lunch, McKenna?

I could give her an answer - never.  But I had better, more complicated things clouding my mind and this was hardly an issue.

We walked into the large office and she headed around the table where the plans for the masquerade ball were laid out. She grabbed a sheet off the tabletop and held it out to me. The seating chart.