Page 79 of Broken Discipline
Ramona
“It’s the board,” the nanny said, a slight hesitation in her voice. She flattened her hands against her sides, tucking hair behind her ear. “Does that mean anything to you?”
The sun had just risen; the only reason I was awake was because of the twins and instinct. Something was wrong, and I couldn’t shake that feeling. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, and I rubbed my hands together, trying to get warm. What was the board of the Marked Blooms Syndicate doing here?
“Did you tell them Finn is unavailable?” I asked.
“They said they wanted you, Mrs. Carter.”
I dialed Finn quickly, but it rang once, then went to voicemail. It was the second time I had called him that morning and had gotten no response. I held my stomach, staring past the nanny. Cement walls blocked my vision, but I could sense them there; it was a familiar, dark presence that swallowed me up each time I went to the Masquerades.
“Watch the kids,” I said. “Don’t leave their sides.”
She disappeared down the hallway. The door to the nursery clicked behind her, and I went forward, each footstep heavier than the last.
Three men stood on the front porch like pillars of iron. Gore Bloom, an overweight man with red cheeks. Another man with salt and pepper hair; I think his name was Saunders. And finally, Joseph Upchurch, a tall and lanky man with snow-white hair.
“Good to see you again, Mrs. Carter,” Bloom said. “May we come in?”
I glanced around quickly, looking for the guards or Chip, but I didn’t see any of them. A bird sang in the distance, insects humming awake, and the trees rattled with the breeze. Everything seemed fine.
“I can’t have visitors now,” I said. “You’ll have to wait until my husband comes back.”
“Ah. We understand,” Bloom said. “We’re happy to wait; aren’t we, gentlemen?” The two men at his sides nodded. “Finn will be back shortly, I’m sure.”
I held my stomach, my forearms twitching. Why weren’t they leaving?
“What do you want?” I asked.
“We have a few questions about your husband,” Saunders said.
“Both of them,” Upchurch added.
I put a hand to my chest. “I can’t help you with that.”
“Well, let’s try, shall we?” Bloom stepped forward. “How long have you known Finn Carter?”
I bit my lip. I had known him for ten years, but he wasn’t Finn back then.
I lifted my shoulders. “I don’t know. Since Bruce sold me to him?”
“But Bruce and Finn were friendsbeforeBruce disappeared,” Bloom said.
“Bruce never told me about his personal life,” I said.
“And yet, it seems strange, doesn’t it?” Upchurch tilted his head. “Carter Care wanted nothing to do with The Marked Blooms Syndicate, no matter how hard we tried to convince them to join our secret society permanently. But thenyoubecame a Marked Bloom, and suddenly, Carter Care is interested, and the new owner isdesperateto join us.” He clicked his tongue, his eyes darting across my face. “You understand why that’s concerning, right, Ramona?”
I rubbed the back of my neck, then stepped farther back inside of the house. “I’m sorry. I can’t help you—”
Upchurch smacked a hand against the door before I could close it. “This isn’t over yet,” he warned. “I have this theory that you and Finn formulated a plan to join the Syndicate so that you could take my cousin’s money. You knew about us all along, didn’t you? You knew to be at the right place, at the right time, right where we hunted for our new wives.”
My hands were slick with sweat. “How would we—”
“Do you know who Hyde Griffin is?” Bloom asked.
My heart clunked against my throat. I shook my head. Hyde Griffin no longer existed.
“This is a conversation for my husband,” I tried. “Please come back later.”
