Page 57 of Seduced By You

“I do say so.”

I heaved a sigh. “You’re right. I know children aren’t all the same, but when you’re born into a family like mine, it’s hard not to beat yourself up when you fall short.”

“I can’t even imagine.”

“When I was sixteen, my father sent me to this finishing school in Switzerland. They boarded sixteen- to eighteen-year-olds. The school was well known for helping kids who struggled academically, and boy, they delivered. I blossomed under their tutelage. It was unbelievable. They helped me see things differently. I have a lot to thank those teachers for.”

“Sounds wonderful.”

“Yeah, it was.” I nibbled on my thumbnail. “The first year at least.”

“What happened?”

“The son of the principal happened.” A chill ran over me, like when people say someone walked over their grave. I shivered. I didn’t believe in that stuff, but even I had to admit the timing freaked me out. I hadn’t talked about him out loud in years. Not since… not since the police interviews.

Her brow furrowed. “Go on.”

“He was a year younger than me, so he only joined when I was in my second year. You’d never have guessed it, though. He was a right brute of a kid. Over six feet tall, built like a tank. He could easily have passed for early twenties. And he used his size advantage to bully the less-developed kids.”

“He sounds like a treat.”

Her sarcasm brought a much-needed smile to my face, even though I couldn’t hold it.

“There was this one kid, Samuel, who took the brunt of it. He was probably the smallest of us all with the added challenges of a cleft lip and a squint in his right eye. Henry, the principal’s son, treated him like his personal whipping boy. He’d steal his money, punch him when he thought no one was looking, and basically terrorize the poor bastard.”

“Didn’t anyone speak up?”

“Oh, yeah. A few of us did, me included.”

“What happened?”

“She refused to believe us. We ended up with a month of detention and our weekend privileges revoked for six weeks.”

“Can’t be easy to accept that your son is a bullying twat.”

Whenever Lee saidtwat, I couldn’t help smiling. Today was no exception.

“No. I guess not. But it left us powerless. I thought of telling my dad, but I was worried he’d take me out of the school, and I was making so much progress that I hated the idea of leaving and losing the gains I’d made. So I kept my mouth shut, put my head down, and worked.”

My stomach clenched. I needed another drink to get through this next part. I picked up the brandy glass and crossed over to the drinks cabinet. Waving the bottle at Lee, I said, “Want one?”

“Yeah.”

I poured two glasses and returned to the bed, retaking my seat next to her. On many occasions, the urge to hold Lee consumed me, but none more so than right now. Too risky, though. My emotions were bubbling close to the surface, and the last thing either of us needed was for me to blurt out that I loved her, then tell her I killed a kid.

Relationship disaster right there.

“This one night, I woke up starving. I’d missed dinner because I’d wanted to finish a paper, and even though I was making great strides with reading and writing, it took me longer than kids who didn’t suffer with my particular issues. The kitchen was always open, although we weren’t allowed to cook anything.”

My bones chilled. I rubbed up and down my arms. Fuck, this was hard.

“Take your time.”

I blew out a stream of breath through pursed lips. “I made a turkey sandwich and poured a glass of milk. I was on my way back to my room when I heard someone crying as I passed the library. I went inside. The place was almost pitch black, the only light coming from a lamp left on the desk where the school librarian worked.”

I drank half the brandy. My heart thumped against my ribs. I could see it, as if I were standing there watching the unfolding horror from outside my body. A bystander but not really.

“You don’t have to tell me if you’re not ready.”

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