“Did she tell you what medicine that is?”
“No, sir.”
“And yet you followed her order anyway? Did you not just meet this woman? For all you know, you could be making me sicker and at her hand.”
He gave me a strange look, his eyebrows rising in surprise.
“Are you stunned by your own foolishness, O’Phelan?” I asked, kicking my feet off the bed; however, I could not stand yet; the world was spinning.
“No, sir, I am shocked at how well Ms. Orsini impersonated your response this morning.”
“Meaning?”
“Ms. Orsini—”
“Say Ms. Orsini one more time and I swear I’ll cut out your tongue.”
He went on as if I hadn’t interrupted, “She. If you ask me these questions or accuse me of not working in your best interest, I should tell you what she told us this morning.”
“And that was?”
“She said, Ethan Callahan’s paramount objective was the happiness of his daughter, and as the mother of his daughter, her duty is to make sure he lives up to that objective. Therefore, all her orders are in your best interest and should I, or any other staff members, fail to follow through, we’ve not only failed her and her daughter but you by connection. She will not tolerate failure. If we have any doubts about that, we are free to go to you.”
And so begins her reign, I thought, stretching out my hands. He gave me the pills and water, and I tossed them into the back of my throat. Praying to God it worked fast…however, I was confused as to why I needed it at all. She had poisoned me once for our little act. But that had worn off quickly. So, what was wrong with me now that I needed more of whatever she was giving me?
Wait. If I needed more, that meant something was wrong again.
Calliope.
That madwoman had poisoned me…again.
“Where are she and my daughter now?” Pinching the bridge of my nose, I sighed deeply before beginning this performance again.
“When I left the kitchen, your daughter was putting strawberries on pancakes,” he answered.
I tried to move out of the bed when I felt a wave of nausea hit hard. Stretching out my arm, I steadied myself by holding the bedpost. It felt as if I were rocking on a boat at sea.
“She said it was a side effect, and it would make you a bit dizzy for a moment.”
“Did she now?” I muttered to myself, genuinely annoyed she’d poisoned me. That was not necessary.
“Ms. Orsini…she had another request,” O’Phelan stated warily, obviously not wanting to convey this damn message.
“Do I look like Santa Claus? I do not take her requests. Get out,” I snapped at him.
But he stood there unflinching, looking me in the eye instead of following my orders. “Forgive me, sir, however, directed I—”
“Have you lost your mind, O’Phelan? Or have I lost mine?” I asked, now facing him completely. “Because I’m sure I told you to get the fuck out, and yet, here you are still in my fucking face. Do you work for Ms. Orsini or me?”
“According to her, both.”
“You are very quick to accept that.”
“That is the order. I work for the house and the house ruled by the woman of it. Unless you are saying we are not to treat her as the woman of this house?”
I stared at him for a second. I truly wanted to know the exact words she had said to them this morning. I needed to get a full break down of her methodology and strategy plan later. It was obviously superior as he was already halfway to being her soldier, even though he grew up watching over me.
“What was her list of demands this morning?” No point fighting over it.