Page 75 of Sunrise Malice

I nearly gag. “Please don’t ever call it that again.”

“Go ahead, baby, ask what you want to ask.” He’s grinning, amused, but I really do hate that word.

“Your grandfather mentioned Collette again last night.” I’m not looking at him as I adjust my panties before buttoning my jeans. “You told me you and she never got along.”

“We didn’t,” he says.

“That’s not what your grandfather told me.”

I glance up and Julien’s studying me. I chew my lip, feeling stupid and vulnerable. I’ve been trying hard to forget about what the old man said, but it’s been bothering me.

I don’t want to be jealous, but I freaking am.

“Grandpère will say anything he can to drive us apart. Don’t let him do it.”

“I’m not, honestly, I’m really not—but you and Collette knew each other pretty well, right? And I mean, you’re both French, she can speak your language?—”

He sighs, shaking his head. “Please, Brianne.”

“No, I know, you told me you don’t like her already, but I’m just saying?—”

“No,youaren’t saying anything. You’re letting Grandpère speak for you right now.”

Anger swells in my stomach. “Okay, that’s not true at all, and the way you’re getting all weird and defensive isn’t helping me.”

He grips the steering wheel and takes a deep breath. Slowly, he blows it out again. “Collette is nothing to me. She was nothing to me back in Marseille and that won’t ever change. Don’t let Grandpère make you think otherwise.”

I let that sink in. I know he’s right and I do believe him—but there was something about the way his grandfather said it.

Like I was a silly, stupid girl for thinking a man like Julien could ever care about a girl like me.

I know it’s my father’s voice saying it too.Useless. Worthless. All those ugly names he used to call me.

It’s years of abuse and insecurity swelling up inside.

And I wish I could make it go away, but I’m too weak and broken.

Julien’s phone rings. He looks at me for a long moment before answering in French. He has a quick conversation before hanging up. “Good news,” he says, turning the car back on and putting it into drive. “Kim’s been transferred. She’s back at the mansion now.”

I should feel more excited, but our conversation from a second ago is still lingering. “That’s great. Really great.”

“I’ll take you back so you can spend some time with her.”

“Right. Okay.”

I should say more. I should tell him that I believe him, that I trust him, that I don’t believe his grandfather over him.

Except I don’t say any of that, because I still feel this strange uncertainty swelling in my guts.

Kim’s sittingup in bed. She looks a lot better than the last time I saw her. The new nurse, this big German woman named Helga, has her on a different painkiller regimen and it seems to leave Kim a lot more lucid.

“Gotta admit, these are some sweet freaking digs,” Kim says, gesturing at the room. “Way better than the hospital.”

“You’re sure this is okay? I mean, you don’t want to be back home?”

“Not even in the slightest.”

“Even though you can’t have visitors?”

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