Page 70 of The Tangle of Awful

“Want to take a bath while we deal with this?”

The thought of someone watching me while I bathe makes me want to puke. Hell no.

“Can I go over to Gemma’s until they’re all gone?”

He cups my cheeks and kisses the top of my head. “Of course, Love. Whatever you want to do. We’re going to deal with this. Once I discover who’s fucking with my family, I’m going to destroy them. You trust me?”

“I always trust you.”

“Good girl. I won’t let you down.”

Spencer

This thing with Aubrey is changing. It’s morphing into something I can’t control. While I hate that, I also welcome the refreshing change. I’ve been chained to my monotonous life that I resented with every part of my being for nearly a year.

Yes, I want to fuck with her, but I also want to fuck her.

It’s like I have this invested claim over her. She’s mine. Though she maddens me and pisses me off, I still want her. I don’t want to share her with anyone, especially my fucking dad.

Dad is the least of my problems, however. Someone is stalking and harassing Aubrey. They’re not just messing with her, though, they’re messing with the Parks. We own this mountain, this town, and all the people in it. Whoever is doing this has balls—balls that we’ll eventually crush in our powerful fists.

The cameras Dad and I found earlier were in plain sight. Cheap stick-on shit. It makes me want to throttle our housekeeper for not mentioning them. One could even suspect she was the culprit since she has the alarm code, but she’s old as fuck and has no motive to terrorize our family.

Then who?

I rack my brain for who would have some vendetta against her, no fear of us, and access to our home. We Parks are pretty close-knit and don’t let many outsiders in, so it’s frustrating to be clueless. Even Jude, a man of many means when it comes to uncovering information, has come up short.

Once I’m sure Dad has gone to bed, I make my way back into Aubrey’s room. Earlier, once we cleared the house of cameras, Gemma and Jamie put new bedding on her bed and tried to cheer her up. Everyone left and it’s been fairly quiet. I’ve been biding my time.

I twist the doorknob and push into her room. The bed is still perfectly made and there’s no one in it. Aubrey sits in her desk chair, hugging her knees to her chest, staring blankly at the bed. A flare of fury ignites in my belly. Someone is breaking her.

She’s mine to break.

Mine to piece back together.

Mine. Mine. Fucking mine.

Stalking over to her, I clear my throat and speak with authority, “Up. Come on.”

Slowly, she turns her head to look at me. The blank expression is haunting and I don’t like it. I peel her arms away from her legs and draw her into a standing position.

“Where are we going?” she croaks out, confusion lacing her tone, attempting to tug her hand from mine.

“My room.” I grip her hand tighter. “You’re not sleeping in here.”

All resistance evaporates and she lets me lead her out of her room. We go back into mine. I shut the door behind her before bringing her over to the bed.

“Get in,” I instruct, releasing her to pull back the covers. “Now, leech.”

She rolls her eyes, the first sign of the sassy brat I’ve been obsessed with ever since she returned. Despite the flash of sass, she obeys and climbs in. I’m about to join her when she looks past me at the closet.

“What’s in the box?”

My muscles tighten and I follow her gaze to the box that holds secrets I like to keep hidden away. It’s pointless to hide from them now. She’s no longer the girl I was trying so hard to forget. She’s different and has burrowed herself inside of me. With a sigh of resignation, I retrieve the box and bring it back to the bed.

“I snooped in your room,” she says, flashing me a daring look. “I was trying to find clues to where Mom was. Like a murder weapon.”

I snort out a laugh. “Okay, Sherlock. I’m guessing you didn’t find what you were looking for.”

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