Page 12 of Sanctuary

“That’s not going to happen,” he shook his head. “But I think instead of confronting her about all this, you take the opportunity to find out exactly what you can from her. And if that fails, we confront her,” Declan said firmly. “Can you do that?” he raised his brows, expectantly at me.

“Yeah, sure I can.” I didn’t feel confident in my answer, but I had to try. “How do I do that?”

Declan grinned and smacked me on the back. “Use your charm on her my man, use your charm.”

A nervous laugh escaped past my lips. Charm? Me? I didn’t have any charm. “When do I do that?”

Declan grabbed me by the forearm and hauled me out of the chair.

“Right now. Just tread carefully, act like you don’t know a thing,” he warned, his voice low and serious. “Until we have more information as to who she is and what she’s involved in, we can’t trust her completely.”

The three of us left the library and made our way to the kitchen, where bursts of laughter from Wren, Mia, and Kat echoed through the hallway. Act normal, I chanted urgently in my mind as we approached, but any semblance of normalcy shattered when I crashed into the back of Declan. He had stopped abruptly, pressing a finger to his lips with a fierce intensity. “Shush,” he hissed, eyes blazing as he gestured sharply toward the kitchen.

Inside, Wren’s laughter rang out at something Kat had said, when Mia’s voice cut through the noise. “You know what I really miss?” she declared, her voice charged with nostalgia. “I miss sitting in a bingo hall, dabbing my cards while I stuff my face with nachos and cheese.”

“That is the BEST cheese in the world. I could drink that shit!” Kat howled, in amusement. “I haven’t tasted that in a decade!”

“It’s decided,” Wren declared, the sound of her smacking her hand onto the table, rattling the dishes upon it. “The three of us are going out for the night! It’s only 6:30 pm, we can catch the next bingo then hit the bars afterwards. We’re making it a girls’ night to remember!”

Declan started walking again, headed right for the kitchen with Rory and me taking up the rear. I wish I was like my brother. Confident and commanding.

Wren squealed with delight as Declan hugged her from behind. “Go pack, little goose,” he murmured, nuzzling her neck.

“Pack? For what?” Wren shook her head and looked at the other women. “We are going to bingo then the bar tonight.”

Declan stood straight and said, “Fine, then I guess I will head to the South of France myself.”

She stood up and squealed, taking hold of his face in her hands. “Really?! We’re going on our honeymoon?!”

“Yes! Now get going before something else delays us,” he smacked her on the ass as she stood up, causing her to squeal even more as they left the room.

“Sorry girls! Bingo another night!” she called out, her excitement obvious as she dashed out of the kitchen with Declan close behind. Their footsteps echoed through the hallway, punctuated by her occasional squeals of delight and his low chuckles.

Rory cleared his throat, breaking the sudden silence that had fallen over the kitchen. “So, Kat, what do you say we hit the town tonight? I know this little Italian place that does the most amazing carbonara you’ve ever tasted.”

Her eyes lit up at the suggestion. “Oh, that sounds lovely! I haven’t had a good carbonara in ages.” She glanced at her watch. “Give me an hour to freshen up?”

As they made their exit, chatting animatedly about their dinner plans, I wanted to yell to them that I could make the carbonara and we all could eat right here at home. Because now, I found myself alone with Mia and the kitchen suddenly felt cavernous. The silence between us stretched out like an endless chasm as I fidgeted with the cuff of my shirt, my mind racing as I tried to figure out how to approach her.

Charm, Declan had said. Use your charm. But what charm? I was about as charming as the apple that I was currently staring at in the fruit basket on the counter. Still, I had to try to figure out who she really was and what she was hiding. Sure, she was Wren’s half sister, but no one really knew Mia.

"So..." I began, cringing inwardly at how awkward I sounded. “Want to, uh, go for a drive?”

She raised an eyebrow at me, a hint of amusement in her eyes. “A drive? Where to?”

I shrugged, aiming for nonchalance but probably looked more like I was having a mild seizure. “Just... around. You know, see the nightlife.”

To my surprise, she smiled and nodded. “Sure, why not? Let me grab my jacket.”

I sat there and waited a full ten minutes when I thought she had decided to bail. Can’t say that I blamed her. Just when I was ready to give up, I could hear her on the stairs.

“Sorry, Wren snagged me into her room for a minute. She wanted my opinion on her dress,” she said as she walked into the kitchen.

“Ah,” I waved a hand in dismissal as relief surged through me, “You’re good. Come on, follow me to the garage.”

As we climbed into my car, I still had no idea where I was going or what I was doing. I just knew I needed to get Mia alone, to try and unravel the mystery surrounding her. We drove in comfortable silence for a while, the city lights getting brighter and brighter the closer we got.

Just on the edge of town on an impulse, I pulled into the parking lot of a run-down building with a flickering neon sign that read, ‘Lucy’s Bingo Hall’.

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