Page 60 of The Hand that Frays

“Now, you call the police and tell them you only just arrived. You play the grieving wife and mother, and you go on with your life without someone deluding your children and you behind your back,” I tell her. “You admit what happened to your kids and build your relationship with them.”

Neo turns to look at me. His face is stoic, but something glistening in his eyes screams astonishment.

“Well, you’d best be going, then,” Anne says, and Neo walks over and takes me by the hand to lead me out of the house.

We’ve never been caught before, and tonight was sloppy, but I feel like Neo gained something from the interaction with Anne.

He got to see the mark he left on the world in his wake, and it was worth coming to London for, even if we hadn’t honeymooned much.

Back at the hotel,Neo and I eat in silence.

It feels like we both need reflection. This was the oddest case we’ve dealt with, and it hit too close to home for Neo.

I see why he chose it.

It was his way of not allowing his mother to crawl out of her grave again, even if it wasn’t him who was in harm’s way.

Before we returned, we met with Cecily and gave her the updates.

She collapsed in Neo’s arms and sobbed, her inner child likely healing a bit more to know that her attacker had been dealt with.

I don’t know that it soothed something in Neo, but there’s the slightest change in his demeanor. I don’t know how to navigate it, so I’ve been toeing the proverbial line and keeping quiet as he processed.

“Back to reality tomorrow, stupid girl.”

I want to ask what that means.

What isournew reality now that we’re done with Anne Hatt and her family?

Even though Neo handled his mother long ago, it feels like this case also healed something in him. It’s like he buried her a little deeper today.

All the damage Carl caused to their children is something Neo knows all too well.

It’s what gave life to his deranged side.

It’s what breathed life into the Butcher.

“Have we ever lived in reality?” I ask, trying to keep the banter and topics light.

He purses his lips, looking at me as if seeing me for the first time as my joke settles. “We have a honeymoon to get back to.”

His words cause butterflies to take flight through my stomach, and I shift in my seat, the beats of their wings against its lining causing a tickle that makes me antsy.

“Any plans up your sleeve?” I ask him.

He shrugs, a rueful grin causing his face to darken a touch. Just enough to where I see the Butcher skirting the outer edges of his eyes. “Maybe.”

“Want to share them?” I prod, popping a bit ofmashed peas in my mouth, dragging the spoon out of my mouth slowly to taunt him.

His breathing hitches, and he sits back in his chair.

“Come, I have something that would look more alluring in that mouth of yours,” he tells me, resting his hands on the arm of the chair as he lifts his hips a fraction of an inch, taunting me with his hardness that presses through his grey sweats like a promise.

I grab my napkin off my lap, stand, and toss it down over my plate. I wasn’t finished.

But I’m hungry for something else.

I take one step.

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