Hidden Devotion (Trinity Masters #5)(3)

Juliette could have kept a room in her father’s house, but even in high school she’d wanted nothing more than to distance herself from her family and its secrets and responsibilities. As far as the public knew, she was the only child of a famous actress, her paternity unknown. After her father had died, she’d politely declined Harrison’s offer to keep a room for her. She’d had no choice but to live in the Grand Master’s home when she’d visited her father. There wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell she’d continue to live in the Grand Master’s house if she had other options.

Her room was both elegant and sparse—a bare mattress under a protective plastic sheet sat on a four-poster wood frame. Stacked storage boxes were neatly arranged against the far wall, and the clothes in the closet were hidden in hanging garment bags.

Juliette dropped her duffle and considered just curling up in her clothes on the mattress, but she’d traveled enough to know that she’d feel better tomorrow if she put in some effort now.

She pulled out clean sheets and made the bed then jumped into a quick shower. It wasn’t until she’d dropped onto the bed wearing a pair of flannel pajamas pulled from a neatly labeled bin that she realized she’d forgotten a pillow. Too tired to care, she propped her head on one arm and for the first time since she’d landed, opened her email.

The message she expected was there.

Juliette,

Please let me know when you reach Boston. We need to discuss next steps. I’d like for you to meet Alexis.

Safe travels.

Harrison

She dropped the phone to the mattress and took several deep breaths, giving herself time to sort out what she was feeling. Shock had kept her numb from the time Harrison had called until she’d met with Sebastian in Istanbul. An afternoon spent talking to Seb had pushed her past shock over hearing about her too-proper brother’s out-of-character actions, to growing horror and anger over the reality of what becoming Grand Master would do to her life. She’d boarded the plane with jaw clenched—long-buried anger and resentment resurfacing.

That anger, dulled by travel, came roaring back as soon as she saw her brother’s name.

Harrison,

Let’s postpone the reunion. I’m in Boston and can meet with you and any councilors tomorrow after noon.

J.

Tossing her phone to the corner of the bed, Juliette closed her eyes then curled her legs up to her chest, feeling small and alone in the big house.

*****

Juliette kept her expression carefully blank as she looked around the Grand Master’s office. The room was windowless, as were all the rooms in the Trinity Masters’ headquarters, located deep under the Boston Public Library.

She had been in here several times with her father, which, while not forbidden, had been unusual. Trinity Masters’ events were not family affairs; more often than not the children ended up together at one residence or another with the nannies or au pairs watching them while their parents attended meetings or galas. Only rarely had circumstances aligned so she was under the sole care of her father, leaving him with no choice but to not only bring her with him to headquarters, but into the sacred Grand Master’s office.

In her father’s time the office had been a musty, secretive room. Under her brother’s rule the room had a homier feel, like an avuncular professor’s office, but was tidy and well organized. There was even a computer, which Juliette’s father had never used. It made sense, since her brother was a professor, and she’d heard from Seb that limited digital communications were now allowed, due in part to the fact that some of the best digital security people in the world were members.

There was still an air of mystery—with no overhead lights, the various table lamps with their heavy leather shades left large pools of shadow. The room had a midnight feel, as if the dark and dangerous night waited outside the walls. She gave herself a quick mental smack. It was one o’clock, and the sunlight against the snow-covered ground had been blindingly white on the way in. She was an adult, not a child to be cowed by shadows.

“Juliette.” Harrison rose not from the seat behind the desk, but from one of the chairs around a small meeting table. “Can I take your coat?”

Juliette turned on one heel, letting Harrison tug her cream cashmere trench off her shoulders. She wore a trim wool dress in eggplant with elbow-length sleeves, black tights and black boots. The dress was a bit snug—she needed to lay off the feta cheese, olives and bread, which she’d regularly consumed for all meals in Bulgaria and Turkey—but not obscenely so. Her only jewelry was a gold collar necklace with a stamped triquetra in the center. It was the symbol of the Trinity Masters, worn to signify her membership and identify her to other members.

She waited for her brother to hang the coat on the stand in the corner before greeting him. “Harrison.”

They pressed their cheeks together and Harrison squeezed her hands. Juliette tugged them from his grip then turned to face the other men who’d risen when she entered. Price Bennett she recognized vaguely—he was the CEO of a major security firm. Michael she knew—he was Harrison’s best friend and now husband.

Price got a handshake, Michael a hug, but she didn’t let the greetings last too long. Juliette sat in the previously vacant chair. The men looked at each other before resuming their seats.

That look—men acknowledging that they now had to deal with a petite blonde “girl” and they’d rather not—was one she’d seen a thousand times before. Icy calm coated her, and she swallowed the hot words she’d been practicing all morning. An angry rant was the last thing this situation needed—if she was going to do this, she had to take command. Starting now.