Page 19 of Broken Discipline
“I agreed to marry Bruce Astley. I didn’t consent to this. Hell, if Finn had asked me, I might have said yes. But I deserve a choice.”
Bloom subtly lifted his shoulders like my worries didn’t matter more than a crumb on his plate. And that unnerved me. It was like this whole situation was annoying him. Like my life was insignificant, even outside of the Masquerades.
“When you signed the contract, you gave those rights to the Marked Blooms Syndicate. Now, if there was an agreement made between Bruce and Finn, then that is a situation that is best handled between the two of them.” Bloom’s nostrils flared like fish gills. “I apologize, Mrs. Carter, but inmostcases, we don’t interfere with negotiations or issues between members. That’s simply their private business. Not the board’s.”
My head pounded, knowing that these next words were probably not going to go over well. Wives were second-class citizens in the Marked Blooms Syndicate, and what I was about to accuse Finn of, could be deadly for me.
“But Upchurch came to the Carter Compound too,” I shouted. “Upchurch is a board member, isn’t he? So the boardisinvolved. None of what you’re saying is real.”
I swallowed a dry gulp. Had I just buried myself alive?
Bloom leaned forward. “Are you suggesting that something nefarious happened between Bruce, Upchurch, and Finn?” His fingertips rimmed the sides of his mouth, painting white lines in his red flesh. He was growing more agitated by the second.
“Yes,” I whispered. “What if Upchurch or Finn killed Bruce?”
Bloom snapped his fingers and a staff member stood in the doorway.
“Like I said, we rarely interfere with issues between members. You have to understand: these things usually work themselves out. And besides, Mrs. Carter, you arenota member.” He stood, then pushed in his chair. “The staff will show you out. If you have any further issues, please have yourhusbandcontact us.”
“My husband is gone,” I said, raising my voice. Bloom stood still, his back turned to me. The staff member’s eyes bulged from his head. I had stepped out of line, and we all knew it.
But I was desperate for answers. For the truth.
“I don’t know where Bruce is,” I pleaded. Bloom slowly faced me, and I pointed in the direction of the Carter Compound. “But I know Finn has something to do with it.”
Bloom’s eyes spun back and forth, weaving a web around me, calculating my words. His jaw was rigid through his puffy cheeks.
“Unfortunately, we had a similar situation recently,” Bloom said. “Another wife blamed her husband’s death on her neighbor. In the end, we found out thatshehad killed her husband all along.” Bloom narrowed his eyes on me. “When someone crosses the Marked Blooms Syndicate, we discard them, Mrs. Carter. You do like watching your children grow up, now, don’t you?”
I swallowed hard. The marriage contract stated that if I stepped out of line, I would be ‘discarded.’ Whether that was being returned to my hometown, or killed, I didn’t know.
And now, Bloom was threatening me with that.
The staff member gestured for me to follow him.
“Hopefully, we’ll see you soon, Mrs. Carter,” Bloom said.
I forced myself to smile. There was nothing else I could do right then. “Right. Thank you, Mr. Bloom.”
The staff member led me back to the front of the house, but as I reached for the door handle, a warm hand fell on my shoulder. I spun around. A woman with golden skin and blond hair beamed at me. She seemed familiar, but I couldn’t place her. Between the masks at the Masquerade and my shoddy memory, I was used to that.
“You’re Kylie, right?” she asked.
I tilted my head. No one had called me that in years, not since before I had married Bruce.
“Ramona now, actually,” I said. “Do I know you?”
“You were Bruce Astley’s wife, and now you’re with Finn Carter, right?”
My stomach churned, but I nodded hesitantly. It was like everyone else knew more than me, but it seemed like she was the only person who was willing to acknowledge the truth about my situation. I glanced around frantically, checking to make sure no one was listening. The foyer was empty, and the staff member who had escorted me was gone now. We were alone.
“I’m Zira Bloom,” she said, holding out her hand. “The director is my father, and that makes me the heiress.”
I widened my eyes, shaking her hand. “The heiress?”
“I believe you,” she said. My heart raced and she squeezed my hand, then let it go. “I don’t believe your status was transferred peacefully from one husband to another. Bruce liked sharing you far too much, and Carter? Carter isn’t the type of member to have ‘negotiations.’” She wrinkled her nose. “He’s always been curious to me. Keeps to himself. And as far as I can tell, there’s no ulterior motive for him to join the Syndicate.” She lifted her shoulders. “And Carter is a little—”
“Controlling,” I whispered. Manipulative. Obsessive. Smothering.Possessive.All of those were good words for him, but it was his controlling nature—locking the doors, threatening to take me to the police, telling me I would have to kill him if I didn’t like his methods—that disturbed me the most.
