Chapter Eighteen
I reach the oubliette and tear at the covering. I manage to get it up and open, but when I look down, I can’t understand what I’m seeing.
Bones. Lovely bones.
Darby’s bones.
My daughter is gone.
He fucking killed her.
“Is Mommy okay?” Skylar asks from behind me.
I turn to look at her. “Why don’t you go find your brother? I need to talk to Daddy.”
I move the cover back into place. I will be back to bury Darby properly when this is over.
The rage that fills me leaves no room for a pause, as I limp towards the house and bang loudly on the door.
I grip the top of my cane tightly as I wait.
The door swings open, and Luke doesn’t look surprised to see me. “Jocelyn. Come in.”
I walk past him and straight to the living room, standing at the window, looking out.
“Sit, please. You must get very tired from standing on that gammy leg.”
I turn to sit down and as soon as my butt touches the sofa, Luke throws a round object in my direction.
Dalton’s head lands in front of me and I stare at it.
“Useless mistakes that I make sometimes, if you know what I mean.”
Luke sits opposite me. “He was one of them, just another one. I should have gotten rid of him years ago.”
I consider Luke carefully and realize I’m going to have to do this with a little finesse if I’m going to trick him into letting his guard down.
“I’m home now.”
“You’re home now? To stay?” he laughs. “Why would I ask you to stay? The kids and I are doing fine.”
He looks at me with contempt written across his face.
I bite my lip and look at him forlornly. “I can be a good girl.”
“Whose good girl?” he asks.
“Daddy’s good girl. I could help with things.”
“So, you mean to tell me you ran into the big wide world, didn’t like what you saw and came running home to Daddy?” Luke chuckles and it makes my skin crawl. “You should have known better than to leave.”
“Skylar needs a mother,” I say quietly. “Someone to teach her.”
“I can teach her the Greene ways just fine.”
I stop myself from glaring at him. I loathe this man so much, but physically, he will overpower me if I take him head on.
I look at my feet. “Please forgive me. I’ll do whatever you want.”
“Whatever I want,” he murmurs. “That’s a big promise from a very small girl.”