Page 14 of House of Soot

She studies me like she’s worried she offended me. “Not at all.”

I laugh to ease her worry. I need her relaxed if she’s going to talk to me. “It’s okay. I know I can be a brute.” I hand her another cracker with cheese.

"You're spoiling me." Her shoulder bumps mine. The casual touch sends electricity through my veins, part attraction, part revulsion for my attraction.

"You deserve to be spoiled."

She blushes. "No one's ever done anything like this for me before."

Not even Ronan, I bet. The thought brings a savage satisfaction that wars with the unexpected tenderness trying to take root in my chest.

"So, it's just you and your mom here?" I keep my tone casual while reaching for more cheese, avoiding her eyes.

"Yeah, since my dad died when I was little. Mom has worked here forever, though, first for the Ifrinns, then the Keans." She wipes cracker crumbs from her lips with her fingers. "She taught me everything I know about gardening."

The mention of my family name on her lips makes my teeth grind. I force myself to relax. "Must've been hard growing up without a father."

"Mom made up for it. She's amazing." Her face lights up, then dims. "Well, she was. Before she got sick."

I lean back on my elbows, studying her profile. "What happened?"

"She has heart problems." She swallows hard. "Some days are better than others. The Keans have been so kind, letting us stay in the cottage, keeping me employed so I can care for her."

The Keans, kind? They're murderers who stole everything from us. I wonder if caring for her mother and letting them live in the cottage are payment for showing Ronan how to breach our defenses?

“Lately… well…” She shrugs and looks away for a moment.

"That must be tough, watching her decline." The sympathy in my voice isn't entirely fake, and that unsettles me more than anything.

"It is." She wraps her arms around her knees. "The doctors say she needs specialized care. But I can't afford it on my salary, and I won't put her in some state facility where she'll be alone."

The raw devotion in her words mirrors my own feelings for my brothers. We'd do anything for each other, sacrifice everything to keep our family safe.

"So you stay.” I fight the feeling of sympathy toward her. I don't want to understand her.

"Where else would I go? Mom needs stability, familiar surroundings. This garden is all she has left. And the Keans let us stay in the cottage, and they give me steady work.”

I hold back the urge to tell her the truth about her beloved Keans. The Keans aren't saviors. They're thieves who stole my family's legacy. Except she knows that, right?

But watching Jenna with her shy naivete, her love toward her mother, I can't reconcile the innocent woman before me with someone who'd help murder an entire family.

"You're a good daughter," I manage. Because it's true. I wonder if I’d be willing to destroy another family to save my own. I know I’d do anything to protect them. Had Ronan offered her a deal, help us kill the Ifrinns and we’ll save your mother?

“We’ve been lucky. The Keans stepped in right after the fire. They didn't have to, but Mr. Kean insisted on keeping all the staff. Said it was important to preserve what was left of the estate."

My vision blurs red. Preserve? They’re the ones who fucking destroyed it.

"They're good people," Jenna says with such conviction it physically hurts. "Everyone says the Ifrinns were good too, but after they died…" She shakes her head. "The Keans helped us all heal, gave us purpose again."

A laugh threatens to escape, harsh and bitter. Good people don't burn families alive in their beds. They don't steal legacies and twist histories.

But looking at Jenna's face, the pure belief shining in her eyes, I realize she actually buys their lies. The Keans have her completely fooled with their careful manipulations and false kindness.

"You really believe in them, don't you?"

"Of course." She smiles, and it's like a knife to my gut. "They saved us all."

She has to pay for what she did. For helping destroy my family. For still worshipping the ground Ronan walks on. For making me feel things I have no business feeling.

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