Page 116 of Slaughter

“I’ll show you to her room,” I say, walking around them and out the open door.

They follow me up the winding staircase and down the hallway. I come to her door and go to barge in like I always have but then decide to knock first this time. She doesn’t tell me to enter, but I open it anyway. I find her sitting up on the bed, the covers pulled up to her neck, just staring down at her nails.

“Bunny.”

“What, Avery?” she asks flatly, not even bothering to look up at me.

“I have a visitor for you,” I say.

“Tell them to go away.”

“Excuse me,” Chloe says to me and shoves me out of the way as she enters the room. “Hello, Presleigh,” she says softly.

Bunny’s head snaps up, and she looks at Chloe. Her eyes run over her black skinny jeans and pink blouse. Then they drop to her black heels, and she looks longingly at them as if she wishes she could dress up and go somewhere. She used to go out and party every fucking night. I’m sure she misses that kind of freedom. Even if I wanted to give it to her now, I can’t. Not while my father is out looking for her on top of Damon.

Chloe turns to face me and Tristan. “Give us some time.”

I nod and then shut the door. When I turn to walk away, I find my brother still standing, watching the door.

“You sleep with her?” I ask. It’s obvious.

“No.” He turns and faces me. “I fuck her.”

“She looks familiar. Have I met her before?” He shakes his head. Then I realize where I recognize her from. “She’s the blonde you brought to Conway’s party.”

Instead of confirming it, he turns around and walks off.

PRESLEIGH

“May I?” the gorgeous blonde asks, gesturing to the end of the bed.

“Sure,” I answer, wondering how she knows my name. And why she is here to see me. I haven’t been able to use the phone or internet, but now I’m allowed to have visitors?

She sits down and crosses her right leg over her left, and I feel nothing but jealousy. Her blond hair that I know comes from a bottle is pulled up into a perfect, yet messy bun. She has black rimmed glasses that sit on her little nose, and she has a big smile on her face. Her makeup is done light. All she has on is powder because I can still see the light freckles around her nose and a little bit of blush and mascara. That’s it. And she still looks runway ready.

“They didn’t tell you I was coming?” she asks with a frown.

“They don’t tell me much.” Practically nothing.

She gives me a warm smile. “I’m Chloe.”

This is where I tell her my name and say nice to meet you. But she already knows my name, and I’m not sure how this meeting could be nice. “Do you sleep with Avery?” I ask. Maybe he sent me one of his whores to talk to me. Maybe it’s just another trick where he sets me up for a fall. I don’t put anything past him at this point.

For the first time, her smile drops, and her eyes widen in surprise. “No,” she answers, shaking her head quickly as if that was the stupidest question I could have asked her. “I just met him.”

Ah, I get it. “You sleep with Tristan.” From what I remember, he always preferred blondes.

She claps her hands together and places them in her lap. “I’m not here to talk about me. I’m here to talk about you.” My brows raise. “How are you feeling?”

My jaw tightens. “You’re a shrink?”

“Presleigh …”

“I’m sorry you’ve wasted your time.” I stretch my legs out and throw the covers off before getting out of bed. I start to walk toward the bathroom to shut her out and lock the door, but her gasp stops me. I turn to face her, and her green eyes are large, staring at my neck and chest exposed by Avery’s overly large shirt. She couldn’t see them when I had the covers up to my neck. Then her gaze drops to the bandage around my leg, and she swallows.

I raise my arms out wide, and her eyes meet mine again. “Now you know all you need to know.” Then I turn back to walk toward the bathroom.

“Did Avery and Tristan do that you?” she asks in horror.

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