Page 73 of Reckoning

Meyer

I hadn’t expected any remorse from Anita, and she didn’t disappoint. She had a scrape on her face from when Joshua had tackled her that took up most of her concern. She looked at her reflection in the glass of a picture frame and patted it, wincing.

“I don’t know why he had to be so rough with me,” she whined, looking at our father for backup.

I almost slapped her. “You tried to kill her, Anita. If anyone gets to do that, it’s me.” I could barely force out the words, but I think my strained voice lent an air of authenticity to the threat. Conrad shot me an approving glance, but Anita wasn’t fooled.

“I saw you out on the balcony before I came to get her.”

Conrad looked concerned now, but I played it off. “I’m sure you saw whatever you think would help you justify attempted murder. What the hell were you thinking? It wasn’t even well thought out. Plenty of people saw you two run off together. You would have been arrested in under twenty-four hours.”

“And there’s only so much I can do to pay off a murder charge.” Conrad couldn’t keep the twinge of pride from his voice. “You showed a lot of initiative, but that gets you nowhere if you can’t get away with it.”

“Initiative? Dad, she tried to kill someone.”

“And we kill people every day at work. She’s just cutting out the middleman.”

Had he always been this fucking crazy? “That’s not even remotely the same thing.”

Conrad frowned, leaning on one arm against the wall. I took a step back. Anita smiled wickedly, then turned to him.

“I’m sorry, Daddy. It won’t happen again.”

Conrad softened and reached out to touch her face. “I know it won’t,” he said, then slapped her across the red mark. She gasped, tears welling in her eyes. “Now go to your room. I don’t want to see you again today.”

She scuttled out, still holding her face. Conrad turned on me slowly, and I ducked my head. I thought of Madeline’s skin, paler than I had ever seen it, warming back to color in the warm bath.

“I’m sorry.”

“I know. I don’t think you need any more lessons today.” He turned to go, then looked back at me once more. “You’re not particularly instilling confidence in me, son.”

I stared after him long after he disappeared, marveling at my good luck. He’d let me off easy. But when would it come back to bite me?

Wanting a moment to myself, I waved off Joshua and walked from the main estate back to my house. Maddie and I hadn’t slept much the night before, drifting in and out between mumbled conversations.

“I still hate you.” Madeline whispered so quietly the drone of the fire almost drowned it out.

“I know,” I told her, putting my forehead against her spine, brushing away the loose strands of her dark hair. Despite the heat from the fire and the warmth of her body, I didn’t feel hot. I backed away, then kissed each vertebra.

“We should sleep,” she whispered, arching into me, but we didn’t.

I was in jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, not possessing the motivation to dress myself with the normal fanfare. I felt about to burst out of my skin, expand past the confines of my clothing to suck in everything around me. I noticed the different shades of red on the leaves. I didn’t balk when the horse whinnied at me. But I did smile when Madeline turned from her perch on the fence to regard me with her deep coffee-colored eyes. The doctor had come and gone this morning, stating that nothing was wrong but that she should avoid straining her eyes for a few days just as a precaution.

“I would have thought you’d be inside, warm.” I reached out to grab her fingers, trying to convince myself that they weren’t too cold.

“I wanted to enjoy the season. What happened?” She pulled her hand away, tucking her fingers inside the sleeves of her sweater. I smarted at the rejection until she angled her body toward me.

“Joshua gave her as much of a rousing as he could without pissing off our dad. She’s pretty offended by it. I don’t think she learned her lesson, though.”

Madeline swung around on the fence, facing me, and I moved between her thighs. My lips were level with her sternum. I tugged at the collar of her sweater, pulling it down to look at the hickey I’d left on her chest.

“Will she try it again?” Her voice was normal, but I didn’t think her shivering was caused by the cold. I kissed the bruise and let her sweater fall back.

“She won’t get the chance. I’m not letting you out of my sight.” People kept coming into my sphere and trying to claim her for themselves. I would be an idiot to think they wouldn’t try again.

She opened her mouth to argue, but instead, she closed it and slid to her feet in front of me. I wrapped my arms around her and pressed my lips to hers, drinking in her warmth like warm bourbon.

Her mouth opened hesitantly at first. She was gun-shy. She had been so worked up last night, so ready to reclaim her life and worn down by the constant back and forth that in the light of day, removed from the threat to her life, she was back to doubting her feelings. But eventually, her tongue moved forward to meet mine, and her entire body sighed against me. I felt every muscle relax as she trusted me to hold her upright.

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