Page 91 of Betrayed in the Dark
“Oh, Jesus.” Alex removes his glasses and drags a hand down his face.
Mauro bends over, gripping his knees as a strangled sound escapes him.
“Oh my God. Is he choking?” I ask, patting his back.
But when he stands up straight, there’s a giant smile on his face and tears in his eyes. He’s laughing, and for some reason, it makes me start laughing uncontrollably, too.
A chain reaction occurs as Leo and Alex join in. The four of us are in such high spirits, reveling in the absurdity of our Christmas gifts—gifts that only Vin would ever think to get us.
“You four don’t deserve these. I’ll have to return them,” Vin mumbles as he spins on his heels and strides toward the front door of our mother’s house.
“Aw, come back, Vin!” I wipe away a few stray tears. “We love them!”
“Yeah.” Leo grins, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Maybe we can have weekly races.”
That gets us all cackling, especially when the front door slams shut behind Vin.
“Do you think he’s really going to return them?” Scarlett asks, trudging through the snow in her boots.
“No,” Leo answers. “He has too much pride to do that. Just be thankful he got you those first editions you were looking for.”
She smiles softly. “I’ve already added them to my library.”
I interlock my arm with hers. “Let’s go inside. Every part of me is frozen!”
Once we enter the house, Scarlett and I head to the kitchen, where we’re greeted by the mouthwatering scent of all my Christmas Eve favorites.
“So,” my mother says, standing beside the chef with a glass of wine, “what did you think of your gift?”
“You knew he was getting those for us?” I ask. “I would have preferred some new slippers.”
She lifts a shoulder. “You know how stubborn he is. Once he sets his mind on something he wants, there’s no stopping him.”
“Isn’t that the truth,” I respond.
“I do blame your cousin, Caine, though. He’s the one who put this idea in his head.” She takes a sip of her wine and glances between me and Scarlett. “Do you both have everything you need for the party tonight?”
Every Christmas Eve, my family hosts an annual party for all the workers and their families on the Alarie Estate. Aside from our Halloween party, this is the biggest event of the year, with hundreds of people in attendance.
It was my dad’s favorite day of the year. He always enjoyed giving back to his employees in any way he could, and after his passing, it became a tradition that we knew we would always uphold.
“Of course. We’ll be there early to help set up,” I tell her as I grab two wineglasses, and Scarlett steals a bottle of wine from the wire rack.
“The pantry?” Scarlett asks.
“The pantry,” I repeat, heading straight for the chef’s pantry—a place where the two of us used to hide out when we were kids.
Some things never change.
I turn on the light and shut the door behind us before we both plop our asses on the tiled floor. Scarlett pours us each a generous serving as I reach overhead for a bag of chips.
“Cheers,” we say in unison as we clink our glasses and take a sip, the hints of cherry hitting my taste buds.
“I wish Alina could be here.” I stretch my legs out and cross one ankle over the other.
“I know,” Scarlett replies as she places her glass beside her and unbuttons her coat. “But she said she’ll try to stop by at the party. She wanted to spend the day with her dad.”
I nod and lean against the wall behind me. Scarlett digs into her coat pocket and pulls out a small, neatly wrapped rectangular box, then tosses it to me. I watch as it lands softly in my lap.
