Page 23 of The Feud

Rosemund’s mouth drops open. “I would never.”

She totally would.

I use this opportunity to educate Sylvie on my feelings and although I keep my eyes on Rosemund, my words are only for Sylvie’s benefit. “I know enough from listening to my daughter that you are telling her things that are patently untrue. You are trying to poison her against me, and I am not going to let that happen. So, if you cannot stick to the truth, I will prohibit all contact with her.”

“How could you know that?” Sylvie asks. “Are you listening in on my phone conversations?”

I turn to my daughter, pinning her with my gaze for the first time since I revealed myself. I shake my head. “No. I haven’t listened in on a single phone conversation you’ve had. And as you know, I haven’t asked to see your phone or your texts. But I have recorded some of our conversations, focusing mostly on the way you love to speak French to me. Turns out there’s a handy little app that translates your words and I know everything that you’ve said to me since the second day you arrived.”

Sylvie’s face pales before her cheeks turn a bright red. “That’s an invasion of my privacy.”

I chuckle, and I know I shouldn’t take as much pleasure from her shock as I do. “No, it’s not, little girl. Those are words you threw out into the open air at me and I have a right to know what you’re saying. Don’t be mad because I outfoxed you. I also hope this will encourage you to speak English with me, because I’ll know what you’re saying either way.”

I point down the long driveway where our home sits in the distance. “Go on and start your homework. Miranda will have a snack for you.”

I grit my teeth as Sylvie looks back to Rosemund through the open car window, almost as if she’s looking for affirmation that’s what she should do. I’m not sure why, since Rosemund has no legal authority where Sylvie is concerned. And Sylvie knows this.

It’s most likely just to piss me off.

My temper flares bright when Rosemund gives Sylvie a nod of approval and only then does she turn on her heel, grab her bookbag from the ground and storm off toward the house. I watch her for a few seconds before turning to Rosemund and bending down to eye level. “Don’t come back here again seeking Sylvie out.”

“You can’t stop me from talking to her.”

I chuckle, rubbing at the scruff on my face. “I can if I want to, Rosemund. But I’m the one who gave her the means to contact you by phone. So don’t think I’m standing in your way of having a legitimate, honest relationship with your granddaughter. But I’m not going to stand for you filling her head with poison and making it harder for her to acclimate to life here in this home. I’m warning you to stay away. Talk to her by phone if you want but these little meetings after school where the two of you plot are over.”

“Or what?” Rosemund spits out. “It sounds like there’s a threat under those words and you know Lionel would not like that.”

“Fuck your husband and his dislike of threats.” I put both hands on the edge of the car door and lean farther in. “But to answer your question, yeah… That was a threat. And if you want to know what I’m going to do, I’m going to take a page out of the history books. Look it up. You remember Claude Blackburn? He single-handedly almost took down your entire family and that was just out of spite. Imagine what I could do fueled by the prospect that you might be harming a little girl.”

Claude Blackburn was a crafty son of a bitch and during Prohibition, he used his influence in politics to block the Mardraggons from obtaining medicinal liquor permits. Eventually, they found a way around it, but it almost put them under.

“I would never harm Sylvie,” Rosemund says, her chin jerking inward.

“The lies you’re telling her are harmful. Keeping this feud at the forefront is harmful. Refusing to let her be a little girl who can settle into a new life after absorbing the death of her mother—”

“I lost a daughter,” Rosemund yells.

That softens me, but only incrementally. “And I’m sorry for your loss. But my duties and loyalty belong solely to Sylvie now. I will protect her at all costs. Do not cross me in a way that will set me on a warpath. You may not know me very well but when I tell you that I always achieve my goals, it means I can ruin you and your family if I set my mind to it.”

Rosemund’s lips press flat and her eyes sizzle with fury. “I’ll pass the message on to Lionel. But I’m confident in saying you should watch your back, Ethan. Our family is not one to be crossed.”

My eyes bore into hers. “Duly noted. Get off my property.”

Rosemund doesn’t wait, slamming the car in drive and spewing gravel as she whips onto the state road without even looking to see if traffic is coming. I rub hard at the back of my neck as I watch her disappear around a curve.

I glance back toward the house and see that Sylvie is just making her way up the front porch.

The lies Rosemund has been telling Sylvie all center around the original feud that happened over a hundred years ago. In my recordings of Sylvie’s French tirades, the words cheater, infidelity and murder have all been repeated. The same lies that have been spread around about our ancestor Elizabeth Blackburn and her father James Blackburn. It is so fucking moot, that shit happened so long ago, but the history of hate has been passed down, and I can’t deny that it certainly colored my perception of every single person who bears the Mardraggon name. It’s still amazing to me that there was enough alcohol in this county that got me and Alaine drunk enough to have sex, resulting in a pregnancy.

I have to find a way to counteract the vitriol Sylvie has been listening to for the past handful of months. It isn’t just since she came to live with me. Hell, if Alaine was doing her duty, she had probably been indoctrinating Sylvie against the Blackburns ever since the child was old enough to understand such things. For all I know, Alaine badmouthed my family all the way over in France, nurturing an ingrained hatred in our daughter.

I know for sure that once Alaine came home to Kentucky to die and Rosemund and Lionel got their hands on that little girl, they fueled any underlying discord already started.

I am a million percent sure that even if Sylvie didn’t know a damn thing about the Blackburns until she was apprised that I was possibly her father, the time she spent with the Mardraggons was filled with a constant stream of negativity.

I’ve done all I can for now to nip the problem with Rosemund visiting my daughter. And I know that this little incident probably only fueled Sylvie’s distrust of me and stoked the flames of dislike. I take my phone out of my back pocket as I walk toward the Gator. Sitting down in the front seat, I don’t put it in gear, instead dialing a number in my contacts.

She doesn’t answer, but I get her voicemail. “Hi, this is Marcie DeLeon. I’m sorry I missed your call. Leave a name and number and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. Remember… Be kind.”

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