Page 63 of Love Over Time

Oh fuck.

“If it were up to Jon, he’d still be James’s screwed-up little brother. Because of me, he’s mayor now, respected and loved by all. Just like he always wanted.” She put her chin in the air. Some favor she did her husband.

“Youkilled James?” Lisa’s file had said that the injuries inflicted on James were made by a female. But I always thought that was bullshit. It would’ve been easy for Jonathan to not strike his brother with full force, to limit the strength he used to kill him.I swallowed, and a heavy lump dropped to my stomach. My sister took the blame for a horrible crime so this fucking socialite could keep enjoying a life of luxury?

I fisted my hands behind my back, struggling to break free from the cable tie. But it was no use. The more I pulled, the deeper it dug into me, cutting the already-raw skin. “You bitch. James Cavalier always treated you like family, gave you everything. And this is how you repaid him?” I used my body to shove her. I wanted to hurt her, wipe that knowing smirk off her face. “You killed James,” I yelled.

In the dark, all I could see was the semblance of Francesca covering her mouth. I threw my body at her again, and she stumbled to the ground. I fell to my knees as angry tears trickled down my face.

She slithered away from me and cradled her face with her free hand. “I didn’t. I loved him. I love him. Shut her up,” she screamed, crying and kicking.

A second later, I felt a prick in my neck, stale-beer breath on my face…motherfucker. Everything went black again.

****

Henry had pressed me against the cold wall of the tunnel. The bricks scraped my back and released a musty smell that left a taste of wet clay and grass in the back of my throat. My eyes were at level with his, his shoulders a few inches wider than mine. We were ten years old again. I clung to him, my arms around his neck. When I turned my face to the left, I saw him—a man hunched over in the dark. He looked up at us, and my heart jumped into my throat.

It was Jonathan.

He saw us. I struggled to get away, but Henry placed a hand over my mouth, shielding me with his body. We were kids. We had no idea what had just happened. But there was something in the air, an electric charge, a feeling that told us we were in danger. The door opened. A blinding light made me close my eyes before the door closed with a loud thud. I stood frozen, with Henry’s lips on my cheek, and my heart thrashing in my ears. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know why I felt so lost and scared.

“Run,” Henry whispered, squeezing my hand tight.

But I couldn’t move. I couldn’t run.

****

I sat up with a blinding headache and itchy eyes. What the hell was that? Like Henry, was I starting to remember what happened, or was it just another dream? No, it wasn’t a dream. We’d seen his uncle in the tunnels that day. He’d moved James’s body. Jonathan had sent Henry away from here because he knew one day he’d remember what he’d seen. Francesca had run me out of town for the same reason. She’d made my life impossible here so I would leave. I thought of all the pictures in Lisa’s file, all the blood, the hate behind the crime. Had Francesca helped her husband kill his own brother? Why would she do that? Why would she hate him so much?

I wiped my face. The musty scent from my dream clung to my skin and clothes. Eyes as wide as they would go, I tried to focus on where I was. The shuffling of tiny feet scraping the cement floor, the darkness, and the smell sent my senses into overdrive…I was in the tunnels. Francesca had driven in circles on the freeway to confuse me, but I was sure I was back at Cavalier Manor. I jerked to my feet, shaking, gasping for air.

“Hipolita. Stop. Relax. You’re hyperventilating. Unfortunately, it’ll get worse before it gets better. Francesca’s sedatives have a nasty side effect.”

Small hands stroked my hair, sending a rush of calm through me. Oh my God. Tessa found me.

“Drink this. It’s just water.”

I gripped the plastic bottle she placed in my hand and took a long swig, letting the water soothe the ache in the back of my throat. My eyes adjusted to the light or the lack thereof, and with tears streaming down my cheeks, I turned to face Henry’s mom. “It’s really you.”

She nodded and hugged me the way she had when Lisa and I went to work at Cavalier Manor. “Sweet girl. Why did you come back after all these years? You should’ve stayed away.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Just Like Lisa

Henry

A thirty-second recording brought my entire world crumbling down. It was one thing to suspect my uncle had killed Dad, but it was a whole different reality to finally have proof, to finally know who hated Dad so much. I swallowed, tasting something sour in the back of my throat. I played the recording again, over and over until I’d memorized every word and sound.

Mom sounded so angry and surprised.What the fuck.Jonathan had killed Dad, and Mom found him out? How was this possible? Mom had been sick by then and rarely left her room. How had Jonathan convinced her to cover for him all these years and to give me up? I glared at the computer, brows furrowed.

I picked up the desk chair and threw it against the window. The glass cracked. I hit it again, and it exploded, sending shards all over the place. I paced the room as glass crunched under my shoes. This was what they’d done to me. Jonathan and Francesca had broken my life into tiny pieces. I wanted to kill him, smash his head in like he’d done to Dad.

The murder board Nikki had in her room flashed in my mind—so much blood, so much hate. And it all had come from his brother. I hated him. I hated them. My jaw clenched so tight a bone cracked painfully behind my ear.

I stuffed the chip in the back pocket of my jeans. My hands trembled as I left the room and descended the stairs. This hotel had become a haven for me. Nikki’s energy, her smell, still lingered in the lobby. Drinking hot chocolate on the sofa, the first time we had sex at the bar, and the time she fell asleep in my arms after she’d found out Lisa hadn’t made parole—all that was over. Or rather, all that had never been.

I trod to the bar, grabbed a beer, and downed it. The carbonation burned on the way down, and I welcomed the feeling. I had to stop thinking about her. She was gone. She didn’t care about me or this hotel. My chest hurt, every breath I took hurt, but I had to learn to live without her. I grabbed my keys off the counter and trudged to my truck. I needed a stiffer drink.

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