Page 91 of Wicked Suspicion

She’d have to return this when she got home. Dylan would know where to mail it. Although asking him for an address would raise all kinds of questions from her brother, questions she didn’t want to answer. The last thing she wanted was to cause a problem between Case and Dill.

Dropping the pendant back behind her polo, Nyx reached again for the remote control. She didn’t even get a hand on it when there was a knock on the door. For an instant, she froze before she realized it was probably someone from housekeeping with extra towels or wanting to know what time to turn down the bed. They did things like that when someone stayed in a suite this expensive, didn’t they? At least they did in the movies.

Still, after what she’d been through the past week, Nyx wasn’t taking any chances. She looked out the peephole.

Case.

What was he doing here?

It was tempting to ignore the knock and leave him standing in the hallway, but her dad hadn’t raised her to be a coward. Nyx took a few minutes to recenter herself and to stuff her emotions away. He might have gutted her, but she’d be damned if she let him see that.

He knocked again, and squaring her shoulders, she opened the door.

“Did you even check to see who was in the hall?” he demanded with a scowl. Without waiting for an invitation, he walked past her and into the suite.

She’d planned on dealing with him in the corridor, so it aggravated her to be caught flatfooted. His tone also irritated her, but Nyx refused to let him know he got to her. Refused. “Yes, I looked out the peephole.” Pleased with how calm she sounded, she closed the door and turned to face him.

“I barely finished knocking, and you were opening the door.”

Nyx didn’t mention she’d heard the first knock. He might read too much into her hesitation. And what he guessed would probably be correct. She shrugged and stayed quiet.

Why was he here?

He didn’t say anything, and Nyx crossed her arms. The bind rune pressed into her through the polo. That’s why he’d come. He wanted his necklace. The last gift his mom gave him.

Reaching for the chain, she pulled it over her head and held it out to him. “Here.”

“You’re giving me back the bind rune?”

“Of course I am.”

When he made no move to take it, Nyx stepped forward and slipped it into the unbuttoned chest pocket of his fatigue shirt. Immediately, she returned to her original position. She needed the distance.

She thought he’d leave. Maybe without even a farewell since he got what he’d come for, but Case stayed put. What was he waiting for?

Case wasn’t sure what he’d expected when he turned up at Nyx’s hotel, but this wasn’t it. He’d run scenarios and been prepared to respond to any of them. This was one he hadn’t considered. Did her returning the bind rune mean she was done with him?

The metal of the pendant felt warm from her skin, searing him through the T-shirt he had on underneath the fatigue shirt. He’d prepared himself for anger or tears. What he hadn’t anticipated was indifference. It cut deeper and more painfully than if she’d yelled at him or told him to go fuck himself.

Maybe the indifference was the message.

Maybe he should apologize for being an asshole and then leave. She clearly was waiting for him to go. It was in her posture, in her polite expression.

Her polite expression.

Nyx had a brave face. Was this her diplomatic face?

His Fireball took care of herself and didn’t like to burden others. She’d learned to keep her emotions to herself. Earlier today, she locked down after he brushed off her first few explanations. Her first few defenses. She just let him go without interruption, and she remained silent until she boarded the plane and left him inside the terminal.

“Well, if that’s all…” She let her voice trail off, but the hint was obvious. Scram!

She wasn’t giving him cues, and he was an idiot for thinking she would.

“I’m sorry.”

“Okay. Now—” She turned toward the door.

“I’m sorry for everything I said, everything I implied.” Case ran a hand through the top of his hair. “You hit one of my triggers and I reacted without thinking first.” She still had her mask in place. “I told you my mother was a drug addict. Living with that…” He shook his head. “The lies were constant. The lies about where she was and what she was doing. The lies about how this time rehab was going to stick. The lies to hide she was using again. I learned not to trust her. Not about anything. Promises were constantly broken. That’s why I never make a promise unless I will keep it.”

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