Found

Levi shook his head. “Grandma, you know his name is Jared.”

She retied a light pink sweater around her shoulders. “I can’t be bothered to know the name of every Pteron in New Orleans.”

If Jared was annoyed by the treatment, he didn’t show it. He grabbed the bags the driver couldn’t manage.

“Allie, Helen, why don’t we go inside and let the men do what men do.” She linked one of her arms with mine and the other with Helen’s. This woman was something else.

I glanced over my shoulder to catch Levi’s eye. He grinned at me and shrugged.

Georgina led us through the entry way and all the way to the back of the house. We stepped down into a sunroom.

“Sangrias for everyone,” Georgina said to a male servant I didn’t notice until I was already seated in a high back chair positioned to look outside. Georgina was seated next to me, with Helen on her other side. Evidently she liked to be in the middle.

No one said anything until we each had a drink. “Thank you,” I said quietly as the guy who couldn’t have been more than a few years older than me turned to leave.

He gave me a terse smile before leaving the sunroom and closing the doors behind him. I’m sure it wasn’t fun to work for Georgina.

“Are you keeping my grandson satisfied?”

I coughed as the first sip of my sangria went down the wrong tube. That had been happening with increasing frequency lately.

“Georgina, I don’t think that’s an appropriate question—” Helen started.

Georgina interrupted. “Nonsense, the girl can answer.”

I recovered enough to take another sip. I was going to need it. “I think so.”

“You’re done playing with him, then? You’re done treating the future king as though he’s nothing more than a boy?” Her voice was hard, rough, and icy all at once.

I wanted to disappear. She knew? “Levi and I have had our differences, but I never treated him—”

“Don’t waste your breath. I know exactly what you did. I’d blame it on your age, but I was younger than you when I met Harold.”

I needed to be respectful, to nod my head. That’s what you’re supposed to do when you need someone’s help. But I couldn’t. “Did Harold trick you too?”

She turned to me with a steely expression. “No. He didn’t. I would never have gone to bed with a man unless I knew it was for life.”

I got chills. “Excuse me? Are you implying I am somehow to blame because I chose to sleep with him?”

“I’m not implying anything. I’m saying it.”

“Well, I’m saying you’re wrong. What Levi did to me was horrible. I’ve forgiven him, I love him, but that doesn’t change what he did. My reaction was normal, perfectly normal.”

“I don’t care what happened before. You’re going to make my grandson happy, and you’re going to be a proper queen.” She folded her hands in her lap.

Helen put a hand on her mother-in-law’s arm. “Georgina, there’s no reason to be upset. That’s exactly why we’re here, isn’t it, Allie?”

“Yes. Now that Levi and I have moved past our personal problems, I’m ready to learn more about my responsibilities.”

Georgina let out a dramatic sigh. “Finally, a rational thought.”

I bit my tongue to keep my mouth shut.

“You have good posture, and you hold yourself well. Who taught you that?”

“Excuse me?”

“It’s a simple question. Girls of your generation do not carry themselves that way unless they’ve been taught.”

“My mother.”

“Is she from an esteemed family?”

“No, but she was a model.”

“Oh, I see. Your father is the one with the money, then?”

“I don’t see how my family’s finances have anything to do with my role as queen?”

“Everything about you does. Being Queen of The Society isn’t merely a job. It’s not a line for your resume as you young people seem to say these days. Being queen is a role, a life, one that you will keep until your own son and his mate are ready to take over.” She sipped her drink. I decided to hold my tongue, I assumed there was more. “Your childhood family background, their secrets, their mistakes can hurt our family—your new family.”

“My dad’s in business.”

“Yes, I know. He purchased the Crescent City Hotel, but that doesn’t tell me where the money comes from.”

“It was his father’s business first. He built it from the ground up.”

“Where is your grandfather from?”

“He was born in New York. That whole side of my family has lived there since they came over from London in the 1800s.” For once, my nerdy need to know everything about my family history was coming in handy.

“And your mother’s family?”

“She’s more mixed. I think—”

Georgina didn’t let me finish. “Is any of her family Russian?”

“Yes. My great grandmother was from some small town. I think it’s called Penza.”

“Penza, really?” Her eyes widened.

“I’m guessing you’ve heard of it?”

“I have a friend from there, that’s all.” She stiffened. “Have you given any thought to what your goals will be during your reign?”

“My goals?” Currently my only goal was to get Jess away from my insane ex-boyfriend and the rest of the Blackwells.

“Yes. I worked to get women more actively involved in The Society.”

“But no—” I stopped just in time. I was about to say no women were actively involved. The leadership was completely male dominated.

Georgina glared at me. “What were you about to say?”

“But no one told me I needed a platform or anything.”

“I’m telling you now. Helen has been working on education—what do you plan to do?”

“Inter-family relations.” I wasn’t sure what I was getting at, but I worked it out as I spoke. “So many of the problems we have now could have been avoided if the major Pteron families spoke more.”

“And you’ve reached that conclusion based on what evidence?”

“I’m sure you’ve heard about my high school boyfriend?”

“Yes, unfortunately.” She scowled.

“If the Blackwells and Laurents had open lines of communication, we could just tell them to back off because I already belong to Levi.” I wanted to cringe, but I pretended I was talking about my heart. That did belong to him.