Page 5 of The Silence of Monsters

My mother went quiet, and I heard her breathing change. She was angry at me and wanted to argue. She knew me well enough to know that if she started something, I’d hang up on her and do the opposite of whatever she asked to spite her. She drove me up a wall and pushed me to where I hated my behavior.

“You need to come home on time for dinner tomorrow night. I have someone I want you to meet. Her family is in the architectural and engineering field. I think you’ll have a lot in common. She’s a very nice young lady and appropriately attractive. It’s time for you to settle down, Winchester. You and Winnie both need a quality woman in your life to take care of you. If you get married, I won’t have to be the only one trying to keep Winnie on the right path. You have an opportunity to give her the closest thing she’ll ever have to the normal family she wants so badly.”

A muscle in my cheek twitched as my molars ground together to the point my jaw hurt. “I told you, stop trying to set me up. Stop inviting women over to the house. It makes both me and Winnie uncomfortable. I’m in no rush to meet anyone, let alone walk down the aisle.”

Getting married was the last thing on my mind. I wouldn’t even bring my worst enemy to my mother’s front door. I paused for a second as a vague idea took shape in the back of my mind. My worst enemy was upstairs in that shithole apartment, and she disliked my mother almost as much as I did.

“Winnie and I are on the way home. We’ll get back late. Don’t wait up for us.” I blew out a frustrated breath. “And stop threatening her with boarding school. She’s not going anywhere without my say-so.”

My mom huffed an offended breath and hung up the call. She didn’t tell me to drive safely. She didn’t ask if Winnie was all right. I was used to her indifference and manipulation. I hated that my mother subjected Winnie to the abhorrent parenting I silently endured. The poor girl lost her parents. She deserved more than being forcibly molded into my mother’s maniacal image of what a perfect young woman from high society should be.

I couldn’t walk away from all the things I hated in my life. Channing was right. I should enable my niece to have the luxury of doing everything I couldn’t at her age.

The woman was smarter and more insightful than I’d ever given her credit for. I refused to end our longstanding feud for many reasons. It was the one thing in my life that forced me to feel things I’d long forgotten. The only time I felt alive was when I went head-to-head with the abrasive redhead.

When you were forced into a life you never wanted, it was best to turn off your emotions to maintain your sanity. I excelled at forgetting how to feel anything — unless I was dealing with Channing Harvey.

Channing

“How was your latest run-in with the sexy-as-fuck billionaire?” I met the curious eyes of my best friend in the mirror in front of me. Salome Clarke owned the salon a block over from the antique shop. We’d run into one another several times on our way to and from work and struck up a friendship, as well as a stylist-client relationship. I wouldn’t trust anyone else with my hair, or my secrets.

I made a face at my reflection and told her, “He was surprisingly less awful than the last time we were in the same room. He didn’t treat me like I was the hired help this time. For all his faults, I can’t deny that he really seems to love Winnie and wants to do what he thinks is best for her.”

Salome lifted her pierced eyebrow and swung her long braids over her bare shoulder. She was a knockout. Before she decided she wanted to be her own boss, she’d made a name for herself in the modeling industry. Sometimes her beauty still took me aback, even though we saw each other at least once a week.

“What’s best for that girl is for someone to get her away from that wicked witch disguised as her grandmother. Lady Halliday won’t rest until she fully indoctrinates your niece into the one percent.” Lady Halliday was the snarky nickname my sister came up with for the stern matriarch when she first started sneaking around to date Archie.

I blew a wet piece of hair out of my face and silently agreed. “The funny thing is, I don’t think he likes his mother any more than I do. But she’s the only family he has left, aside from Winnie. He tolerates her nonsense because he doesn’t have much choice.” And he was never home. He was chained to a desk, building the Halliday brand bigger and stronger to appease the woman. He hardly had to deal with her because he was so busy at her behest.

Salome snipped at the ends of my hair and frowned. “Isn’t there an unclaimed Halliday out there in the wild somewhere? Why doesn’t Win drag him home and give his mother a real project?”

I laughed and looked down at my phone when a text message flashed on the screen. Win bought Winnie a new phone, but she was grounded and could only use it for an hour a day. She told me he let her quit ballet and drop the courses for the cotillion. However, she had to find a new activity to fill that time, and whatever she picked, she had to stick with it for a full year. She messaged me every day asking for recommendations. It was obvious she was looking to connect with something her parents might have loved doing.

I tried to recall the different things Willow enjoyed when she was a teenager, but it was difficult. Our family wasn’t destitute, but we weren’t anywhere near what one would consider wealthy. We lived a comfortable life. My dad was a fisherman and my mom ran a bakery. I didn’t grow up with everything I wanted at my fingertips, but I never felt like my childhood lacked anything. My parents let Willow and me try, and subsequently quit, a variety of things throughout our youth. Willow decided when she was seventeen, going on eighteen, that what she liked most was Archie Halliday. The two met when our mother sent her on a rush delivery to the Halliday estate. She encountered Archie by chance, and once they started talking, there was room for little else in my sister’s life. I couldn’t tell Winnie that, considering how badly her parents’ love story ended. To divert her attention from the past, I kept throwing out random suggestions for activities she might like, hoping something would stick. Today I suggested she try working for the yearbook committee or the school newspaper. I thought she might enjoy photography since it was a way to preserve precious memories. Things she was sorely lacking.

I looked back to the mirror and noticed Salome was waiting for an answer about the missing Halliday brother.

“There is a half-brother. He’s young. I think he’s only in his early twenties. Supposedly, Colette and Win only learned about him when he was mentioned in the will when Win’s father died. Win’s always working, so I believe he was in the dark. But Colette doesn’t let anything having to do with that family slip by her. Winchester Senior had a year-long affair with a woman who worked for one of their properties. He left the kid a substantial number of shares in Halliday Inc. and a shit ton of money. He would’ve become a multimillionaire overnight if Colette hadn’t taken him to court as soon as she found out about him. She seemed pretty well prepared for a battle that was supposed to be a surprise. I’m sure she was beyond furious when the court ruled in the kid’s favor. Win has never mentioned him publicly or privately, but Colette never misses a chance to remind everyone he is not a Halliday. He will never be welcome in her home.”

“She is such a miserable bitch.”

I chuckled because Salome wasn’t wrong. I blinked as she fluffed the long layers that framed my face. The new blond highlights brightened up my whole look and made the strawberry in my hair color stand out. When my bestie finished playing with my style, I always felt extra pretty. She would never let me leave her salon if I didn’t feel like a solid ten. She always said that I was a walking, talking representation of her talent, so I had to serve self-confidence and sex appeal.

“Winnie mentioned that Colette is pushing Win to get married. It’s a regular revolving door of social elites at their estate these days. Apparently, he hates every second of it, but Colette won’t stop. According to my niece, he’s been arguing with Colette every day. I’ve only seen him lose his temper a couple of times. She must’ve finally tripped over his bottom line.” I was used to being the target of his anger. It was a novel experience to know it was directed at someone more worthy of his wrath for once. When Salome removed the protective cape, I shook my head and lifted my hair off my neck. “I don’t think he’s interested in marriage regardless of the woman or the matchmaker. I’ve known him since he was an Ivy League college student. Even back then, he was more focused on school than he was on dating.”

It was honestly a shame. Win was very handsome and distinguished now, but when he was younger, he was straight up HOT. He was still tall and lean with a swimmer’s build. Back then, he wore his dark hair long, and it curled cutely at the ends. There was a roguish charm about him that was like catnip to anyone when he was young and still had a hint of recklessness. When he was in his early twenties, his stormy gray eyes were clear and bright because the world gave him everything anyone could ask for and he hadn’t experienced a great loss yet. These days, those silvery eyes are as sharp as the blade of a knife. They cut through all opponents with no remorse. Nowadays, his hair, while still dark and thick, sported a trendy, short style with silver and white strands scattered throughout. He wasn’t fully salt and pepper yet, but the day was clearly coming. Win was still an undeniably attractive man. If he wanted to find a wife, he could rely on his appearance alone to get the job done. Especially when that face came attached to not just a historical family legacy, but also a generational wealth few would ever experience. The only reason Win was single was because he wanted to be.

The beads and charms threaded throughout Salome’s hair clicked and jangled as she moved to sweep up around the chair. Our years of friendship meant she wouldn’t let me pay her. We usually traded taking each other out for drinks or dinner as compensation, but I still wanted to leave her a tip. I transferred her money via an app so she couldn’t refuse like she always did.

I joked as she reached for a hug, “Do you want me to see if I can get you on the long list of potential bachelorettes? Don’t you think it would be nice to marry a billionaire?”

Salome snorted a laugh and pulled on the ends of my freshly cut hair. “Something tells me that even if Win fell in love with me at first sight, Lady Halliday would find a million-and-one reasons to keep me from marrying into her distinguished family. I don’t think a woman like her is interested in diversifying the family bloodline. I’d end up like Meghan Markle.”

I couldn’t hold back a laugh at the comparison. “You’re probably right. Winnie’s half Halliday, and that’s barely acceptable to Colette. I wouldn’t want anyone I care about to have to live under the same roof as that woman. That’s a fate worse than death.” I shuddered at the thought as my friend laughed off the silly suggestion. Win wasn’t Salome’s type, even if he was handsome and rich. She preferred artistic types. She liked men with creative passion and drive. Win was an iceberg. I was pretty sure the only thing that ever got him hot and bothered was the smell of money or closing a big business deal. “I’m off today and tomorrow. Text me if you want to grab dinner or a drink when you’re done with work.”

The stunning woman gave me another hug and promised to let me know if she was free in the next few days. I hoped Win would let me see Winnie more regularly, and I could introduce her to my friends, and maybe even the other members of our small family. My father didn’t have any interest in anyone other than himself, and I was no longer in contact with him. My mother, on the other hand, would benefit greatly from getting the chance to meet Willow’s daughter and see that she was growing up so well. All her doctors and caretakers told me it would do wonders for her mental state. After my sister died, and the Hallidays did everything in their power to wipe my family off the face of the earth, my mother had a major psychological breakdown. She’d always struggled with her mental health. When she was a young woman, she’d been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Medication and behavioral therapy helped for a while, but once the family fell apart, so did she. It was a condition Willow and Winnie both dealt with in varying degrees because it tended to run in families. The illness was yet another reason for Colette Halliday to blame my family for the misfortune that befell her own.

When I stepped out of the salon, it was raining. I swore and held my purse over my head to preserve the fresh cut and color. My apartment was fifteen minutes away. My options were to run, call for a ride, or find somewhere to wait out the weather. I picked the third option. I ducked into a coffee shop just as the sky turned dark and it started to really pour. I shook myself like a dog at the entrance and glanced down when my phone rang. There were raindrops on the screen that blurred Win’s name. I frowned deeply, thinking the only reason he had to reach out was Winnie. He wouldn’t call me unless it was an emergency.

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