Page 179 of Chandelier Sin
“I shouldn’t have come.”
He jolted back. “I’m going to fucking kill him.”
Atticus stormed toward the door.
“No!” I leaped toward him and grabbed his arm. “She’s out of reach, Atticus. Aemon will move her again.”
He turned and peered at me with rage in his eyes, his hurt and confusion morphing into something animalistic, sending a stark terror through me. “You should have told me.”
I shook my head. “I had to be careful.”
His gaze fell on the door as though the answers lay on the other side. As though somehow, someway, he could fathom how to solve my nightmare.
“Please,” I said softly. “Don’t confront him. It would be a disaster for us.”
He stood like that for a minute or so, blinking in the dimness of the room, the only sound being the frond of a palm striking the window, as though rebelling against the hush.
Finally, he relented and faced me, cupping my cheeks with his palms. “I know what you’ve seen contradicts my motives, and right now we are miles apart from trusting each other, but you and I can help each other.”
“How?”
“You know what I want—”
“Pendulum.”
“And you want your daughter back.”
“You’re not going to let me talk with Jake, are you?”
“No, Eve, I’m not.”
I took a breath, and then he stole my next one as he leaned in and kissed me. My mouth opened for him, letting him in, letting him reach the part of myself I’d kept hidden all this time, the loving part of myself I showed no one.
This was his way to prove we were not as far apart as I’d feared.
I broke away and glared at him. “If you tell anyone, if you mention her name in private or public, I will destroy you.”
“There’s the momma bear I need to see,” he said. “You’re willing to fight for her.”
“I’ve been fighting every day,” I said bitterly.
He lowered his gaze to the stone tiles. “What did you want to say to Jake?”
In the glass my own reflection stared back at me, my expression surprisingly calm considering the turmoil inside of me.
“I was going to tell them to pull out of the deal. Warn Jake it’s not worth it. Tell him that you were already drawn into their world and that there was no hope for you, but for them it wasn’t too late.”
“Too late for me?” He gave me a wry smile. “Bit dramatic.”
“Why didn’t you say anything about her before now?” I asked.
“I knew you’d talk about her when you were ready.”
Or maybe, just maybe, he was waiting to use that discovery against me. Betray me like he was betraying his friends.
If not, what was the harm in me speaking with them?
I stared down at the pretty tile, a glistening blue. Part of me would have liked to have seen the rest of the house.
