Series: Cobalt Empire Series by Krista Ritchie
Total pages in book: 234
Estimated words: 226965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1135(@200wpm)___ 908(@250wpm)___ 757(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 226965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1135(@200wpm)___ 908(@250wpm)___ 757(@300wpm)
I nod, understanding, even if my chest feels like someone dropped three fifty-pound weight plates on my sternum. He directs this to me because it’s not a fucking secret he’s been coming here for me.
He continues, “NYBC’s Opening Gala is next Friday, and I’m dancing the White Swan pas de deux. I can’t miss rehearsals next week to come down here.”
“I get it,” I say into a stronger nod. The heat of everyone’s gazes is stifling. “I don’t want you to miss ballet, Beck. I never have.”
His lips downturn, and I know he must be warring about choosing dance over me. But it’s not just dance. It’s his first love. The more I’m with Harriet, the more I’m beginning to understand what that means.
Audrey tosses two cranberries into her water goblet, then stands and taps the glass with her spoon. “Speaking of missing important, critical events,” she proclaims. “I was most grieved to have missed Beckett and Charlie’s birthday party. Tell me my invitation was eaten by a carnivorous plant.”
“Your invitation didn’t exist,” Charlie says pointedly. “You’re two years too early.”
“It was a nightclub,” Beckett adds. “They wouldn’t have let you past the doors.”
“Could you not have paid them?”
“Audrey Virginia,” Mom chastises. “Bribery is not a fucking solution.”
Her cheeks roast. “Sorry, Mother.” She plops down, then eyes me for comfort. I wrap an arm around her shoulders.
Mom sighs into her wine. She must feel a little guilty for being harsh because she meets our dad’s gaze for reassurance.
“Your mother is right,” Dad says calmly. “You have the means to pay your way through these barriers, but at what cost? I don’t mean monetarily. What are your morals worth, ma petite?” He’s asking Audrey.
She gulps. “Well…I’d like to think the benefit is greater than the cost because I’d be celebrating Charlie and Beckett.” She pops back out of her seat. “It’s for family, Mother! You can’t fault me for that.”
“A bribe is still a bribe, gremlin,” Mom retorts. “If you want to be at a nightclub in New York at sixteen, I will be accompanying you.”
Audrey collapses in her chair in defeat. “I’m far too old for a chaperone, especially when Beckett and Charlie moved to New York when they were only sixteen.” She’s brought up this point plenty of times before, but the argument has no legs to stand on. Our parents would let her finish school in NYC if it’s what she desired. Instead, she’s repeatedly chosen to remain with them in Philly. She lifts her chin to add, “I’ll simply wait for the next invite.”
“There won’t be one,” Charlie says bluntly. “None of us want to babysit you.”
Audrey lets out a horrified gasp. “Father.” She swings her head to our dad. “Please remind your infernal offspring that I am not a baby.”
Dad has his fingers to his temples, casually listening to us. Eliot and Tom take advantage of the silent moment to drum the table.
Charlie barely blinks. “Rappelle-toi que tu dors encore avec un ours en peluche.” Remind yourself that you still sleep with a teddy bear.
Audrey’s grip tightens on her goblet. “I might sleep with a teddy bear, but that doesn’t mean I am a child. I am a woman.”
“Under society’s terms, you are a girl.”
“I have bled. I could be pregnant tomorrow!”
I have a hand frozen to my forehead. Eliot and Tom are near laughter, which is going to make Audrey cry soon. Jane is too busy trying to feed a fidgety Maeve to come to her aid. Mom is sending daggers at all of my brothers, then eyes Dad for a long beat.
Beckett is raking his fingers through his hair like he sees our sister on an emotional downward slope too. I shake my head at him. She will not win this back-and-forth with Charlie.
Beckett is sitting too far away from him, but he bows into the table and calls out his name. To which Charlie tips his head toward his twin brother. They give each other looks I can’t decipher.
To Audrey, I ask, “You aren’t…?” She’s not having sex. She always overshares, obviously, and there’s no chance she wouldn’t have told me.
Our dad has an unreadable expression, but I think he’s unamused. No one wants to picture our sixteen-year-old sister pregnant, but I might be the only one actually cringing.
“And that is fact,” Audrey decrees as if she won this tournament of wits.
Fuck. Charlie is a slingshot on her. “Great, you had a period,” he deadpans. “You want a real fact? Virgins can’t get pregnant.”
She lifts her chin. “I’m not a virgin anymore.”
The sudden silence should be comical, but it’s honestly tense. I’m not even studying the reactions around the table because I’m doing my best to read Audrey’s poker face.
“And I care because?” Charlie questions. “Fuck the whole neighborhood, it doesn’t change your age—”