Chapter 30
KANE
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Nolene and I stand in front of the smashed window in the dining room.
“I hope she cut herself climbing out,” Nolene says, anger flaring in her eyes.
When I only grunt, she looks over at me, her eyes dropping to the bloodstained shirt I’m holding against my left side. Concern ripples across her face. “You sure you’re okay?”
“Superficial wounds. I’ll dress them myself.” I touch the gash on my temple. “Ross will stitch this one. He’ll keep it quiet.”
“I can’t believe she did this to you.”
“Neither can I.”
I know my actions last night pushed Amy to the very edge, and desperation causes people to do desperate things, but her.
..inventiveness still floors me. I suppose I should be grateful she didn’t cut my throat while I was lying there unconscious, but gratitude isn’t what I’m feeling right now. Anger, mostly. At her. And at myself.
“Think we should go after her now?” Nolene asks.
I shake my head, wincing as the movement sets off fireworks of pain in my skull. “Let’s give her another minute. The dogs will have her flat on her face.”
“You sure they won’t rip it off?”
“They’re trained only to nip.”
“Pity.”
“It’ll be enough to scare her.”
Nolene smirks. “I wish I could see her expression when she spots the high walls and realizes there’s no way out.”
And Amy’s expression when she encounters the two German Shepherds patrolling the grounds, I think.
“Where’s your car?” I ask abruptly.
“In the garage.”
“Keys hidden in the usual place?”
“Yes.”
I frown. “No doubt that was the first thing she looked for.”
“I never imagined she’d be clever enough to pull off something like this.”
“Or else you underestimated my stupidity,” I say.
The cuts where Amy sliced me are throbbing, but that’s nothing compared to the rip in my self-esteem.
I allowed a spoiled socialite to overpower me and then I fainted.
It doesn’t matter that I didn’t eat anything the night before, that I’m living on energy drinks and four hours of sleep a night. I still fainted.
“Don’t beat yourself up,” Nolene tells me. “It could’ve been me in her room.”
“The outcome might’ve been different.”
She shrugs. “We’ll never know.”
Her restraint surprises me. I deserve the mother of all tongue lashings and she’s choosing not to waste her breath on recriminations.
I regained consciousness to discover Nolene kneeling over me, the frantic concern on her face telling me all too clearly her feelings for me. Even in the midst of my pain, I’m aware of hers; the knowledge that I’ll never love her the way she loves me.
Nolene missed Amy by minutes. After an early morning grocery shop, she came in through a door in the laundry room, one that connects the garage to the kitchen. A door Amy didn’t spot.
“What’s going on between the two of you?” Nolene asks quietly.
I stiffen. “What do you mean?”
She looks away, pulling her lips between her teeth. “I’ve never seen you lose your cool like you did last night.”
I concentrate on herding a few shards of glass with my shoe. Nolene must never find out what almost happened between Amy and me. At last, my voice sounding swollen and strange even to my own ears, I admit, “That woman knows how to push my buttons.”
“It seems I’ve lost the ability to know which buttons to push with you.”
I don’t want to be having this conversation, not now, but I’m unable to dismiss the hurt in her voice. “You’ll always be someone special to me.”
Her smile is strained. “First time I’m on the receiving end of a brush-off.” She swallows, then whispers, “It’s not a nice feeling.”
“Nolene—”
She says quickly, “She’s seen your face.”
After a beat, I accept the change of subject without comment. “Don’t worry about it.”
“But what are you going to do?”
“A face can be changed.” I touch her arm. “Come on. It’s time to get her.”