Page 31 of Wretched Soul
“It’s better that way,” Hunter tells his wife.
“But Alice might be more open to talk now that she’s dying. Don’t you want to know why she did what she did?” Maddie tries.
“I’m good, thanks,” I say, rising from the table.
“Mace–”
“Maddie,” Ash warns. “If it’s closure you’re worried about, Alice gave us that when we were teenagers. She never saw us as her sons, and the only mother we ever had is buried next to our dad. I have no interest in easing Alice’s conscience before she passes.”
Hunter puts an arm across the back of Maddie’s chair. “I did try to tell you.”
I tune out of the rest of the conversation as I return to my desk. There’s no question of me bailing out of the Las Vegas trip. I don’t want to let my brothers down, and I especially need to keep an eye on Reid. But that means I’ll only be able to keep tabs on Lily from a distance. At least now I have the ability to track her every movement, and not just her car.
When I’d left her sprawled on the bed to wrestle with her robe, I’d ignored my painfully hard erection and quickly set to work. Lily’s bathroom is connected to her bedroom, and I guessed rightly that she’d take a shower after I left, or to be moreprecise, when she heard her front door closing and assumed I’d left.
I’d held back a smirk when I’d heard her talking to herself. “What the hell have you got yourself into, Lily?” she’d said out loud.
If she’d decided to come into the entrance hall and found me searching her purse for her cell phone, I don’t think she would have been too surprised. She’s starting to realize what she’s got herself into, and I think she’s enjoying it as much as I am.
Back at my desk, I slip behind the computer screens that shield me from my family’s prying eyes and check the dashboard I’ve set up for everything Lily. There’s a lot of information to scan since I installed my favorite apps on her phone.
As well as tracking her phone’s location, I can access her messages and voicemails, or simply tune into her microphone and eavesdrop on her conversations. For good measure, I’ve also hidden a listening device in her apartment because I need a backup if she leaves her cell phone at the bottom of her purse when she’s home, or simply forgets to charge it.
I’d stopped short of installing a camera. I can and do respect her boundaries. Or so I tell myself as I shove an earbud in one ear, and play the voicemail from the caller Lily ignored in the grocery store yesterday. It could be important. I’m probably doing her a favor.
“Hey, Lily, it’s just me again,” a woman says. She has a similar accent to Lily, but she sounds older. Could it be her mom? “I don’t even know if you’re getting these messages, but that’s not going to stop me trying. Your dad and I miss you.” So, definitely her mom.
“I hope you’re all settled in Chicago,” she continues. “I’d love to know your address. It would be nice if we could send you the occasional gift. Christmas isn’t the same without you both, and now Rubin’s gone too.” Her voice catches. “Sorry, I hope thatdoesn’t come as a shock if you didn’t get my previous messages. He was so old, and it was a mercy in the end. Fourteen isn’t bad going for a dog. It was his time. Better than… Rubin had a good life, sweetheart. He knew he was loved. I hope you know that you’re loved too.” She stops to swallow back raw emotion. “Please, Lily. Give me another chance. I wish I could take back everything I said. It wasn’t your fault. I’m sorry for making you feel like it was. Anyway, I’ll go. I love you.”
I have to swallow a lump in my throat. I want to understand what that all means. I need to know why Lily’s ignoring her mom’s calls. And fuck, should I break it to her that the family dog is dead? We never had pets, but I’m not so devoid of emotion that I don’t know how heartbreaking that can be for some people.
Removing the earbud, I check Lily’s current location. She’s at work. That’s enough of an invasion of her privacy for now. I need to set myself limits. And I need to do some proper work. It’s more important than ever that I find out exactly who Barrett’s been talking to.
As I scan my automated alerts, I pull open my drawer and take out a half-eaten chocolate bar. I hope Lily isn’t still looking for it. I break off a square, needing something to sugarcoat the disappointment of not being able to see her this weekend. I wonder if there’s a way to keep her trapped in her apartment while I’m away?
As the chocolate melts on my tongue and I savor its salty sweetness, I watch my brothers rise from the conference table and scatter. Reid comes back to his desk, and gives me a look when I scowl at him. As the youngest, he’s always been the most annoying of my brothers, and we frequently argue, but we rarely fall out.
“Pissed off?” he asks.
I continue to scowl. I can’t talk without swallowing the chocolate pleasuring my tongue.
“I think you need to give me more credit, Mace. Keeping me in your shadow isn’t protecting me, it’s leaving me unprepared.”
He might have a point, but I still think it’s a bad move, and I remain silent. There’s only a thin film of chocolate left on my tongue mixed with saliva. It’s exactly how Lily’s kiss had tasted, and I have to concentrate to stop my eyes rolling back in my head in ecstasy.
“Exactly how long are you going to sulk?” Reid continues.
“About as long as it takes that piece of chocolate to melt,” Maddie says as she appears behind Reid’s shoulder. And I thought I was good at sneaking up on people. “Found the right one yet?”
I open my mouth and stick out my clean tongue. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I saw,” Maddie says as she moves to Reid’s side.
Anticipating that she’s about to lean around my desk and catch sight of my Lily dashboard, I switch the screen off. Except Maddie isn’t trying to see the screen, she’s looking in the drawer I’d left open.
“I knew it! Salted caramel. And Ghirardelli chocolate too. Very nice.”
Not being a connoisseur of chocolate, I’d never heard of the brand, but I’ve already ordered a box online. Some I intend to keep, and the rest are for Lily.
