Chapter 19 Wren #4
“First, I want to know if you’re ok? Your room–someone’s either trying to scare you or send a message. Maybe they were looking for something.”
She frowns, touching my cheeks with her palm.
“I’m ok, really Wren. I had nothing in there of importance.
Our devices were already taken and they didn’t find the list.” Gripping the papers tighter to her body, I scan her face for any slip of real emotion, but she’s telling me the truth.
She’s not putting up any walls with me begging to be let in.
“You’re really alright?”
“Yes.” She whispers breathily, as I stroke her jaw with my thumb.
Unable to resist, I lean my head down, grazing my hands down her body, before lifting her up into me. Pressing my lips to hers, I didn’t realise how much I needed this to breathe again. I needed her.
Both groaning in unison, we stay like this for stolen minutes.
Our tongues dance, lips wet and greedy as I kiss her over and over again.
She’s the one to pull away, but not far.
Resting her forehead against mine, both our chests heave as we silently cling to one another in our haven away from the madness.
That’s what this all is, utter madness that’s threatening to pull us under with everyone here.
Reluctantly putting her back down, I keep hold of her waist and pawing at her skin because it honestly feels that if I let go, I’ll blink her out of existence. This is real, she is here and I’d do anything to keep her.
“Just had to double-make sure.” I say, unable to hold back the smirk tugging at my lips.
Robin rolls her eyes, but smiles. “You’re adorable. Ok, real talk.”
“Oh god, not real talk. Are we breaking up?”
“We’re not even dating?”
I let out a mock gasp. “You just go around kissing people you’re not dating? I ate your puss–” Her tiny hand smacks against my mouth and stays there.
“Do not finish that sentence. Real talk time. We need to figure out who broke into my room and left that message on the mirror. Were they looking for something or did they just want to scare me? Did they know I was in your room or had they planned to find me in there?”
I shudder at the thought of her helpless and alone, like how I’d found her pinned against Corbin’s unforgiving body Friday night.
“I’m not going to let anyone hurt you.” I say against her palm, but it doesn't ease the worry.
“Do you think they knew I was in the room?”
Taking a moment to really think about the guests and the evening, I think we reach the same conclusion because she nods along in agreement as I speak.
“Pretty much everyone came upstairs when we heard Bran shouting, so I reckon it was pretty clear you came back to my room with me. They might not have known how long they’d have to do it, but I think it was to scare you.
Unless they were looking for our suspect list. I know some of the guys knew about it. ”
“I trust Cardinal,” she surprises me. “He shared a lot with me when he didn’t need to. I don’t think someone like him makes an effort with people, so it means a lot when they do. He reminds me a little of you.” That rosy tint graces her cheeks and I pull her in closer by the waist.
Nuzzling my nose into her hair, I inhale her scent which now smells like my body wash.
“You’re special enough to let in. It’s like I had a void in my system I didn’t know existed; like a patchy channel that no one had picked up on yet.
It’s just waiting for one show to fuck me up,” I chuckle, knowing she probably doesn’t understand what I’m getting at.
“A space inside myself that you fit perfectly and I didn’t know it was there for you, until you stepped into it with your eye rolls, flushed cheeks, gorgeous voice and smart mind.
” I gently brush my lips against her forehead.
“It would kill me if you left it.” I say so low and her body sinks into me more, face resting over my heart and I just hold her.
“That was terribly romantic, but just to back peddle, do you think someone is trying to warn me about Merle? Lying about the money?”
“Christ,” I laugh, resting my cheek on top of her head. “Forget I ever tried to declare my undying ugh–” Her tiny elbow connects with my ribs.
“Do you think that's what the messages mean?”
Wheezing, I calm my heart rate and focus on this one solid lead.
There's another possibility that screams for me to be honest with her, but no way am I bringing her into what no doubt would mean trouble for us both.
It makes sense if the warning is about Merle, but who would have trashed her room to get the message across?
The door to the pantry is suddenly wrenched open and Robin flinches in my arms, but I make no sign of moving.
Cardinal stands with one arm extended holding the door, the other holding a tea bag I assume was making its way into a mug.
We were so wrapped up in each other, neither heard the kettle boiling or movements in the kitchen.
“You’re both so fucking weird. Why are you in here? Please don’t tell me you were having sex or something.” He scolds, stalking back over to the counter, looking back in disgust.
“We are obviously not having sex,” Leaving our embrace, she gestures to her clothed body. “We needed somewhere private to talk and discuss this.” Holding my makeshift murder board up in her hand, she gives it a shake before turning to face me. “Where shall we hide it?”
Looking around the contents of the pantry, I take the papers from her and tuck them behind large bags of dried food on the top shelf.
“You can remember what we wrote, right?”
She nods, crossing her arms and darting a look into the kitchen. “We should tell him.”
“Him has ears and you’re a shit whisperer.”
“Him shouldn’t eavesdrop, it's rude. If you don’t want me to play the Mamma Mia soundtrack all the way back to the train station when we leave, you better try harder at being nicer.”
He glares back at her, silently pouring hot water in his mug. I want to chuckle as we exit the pantry, but it only now dawns on me that when we leave the hotel they'll both probably go back to York together. Me? I desperately want to go wherever she goes.
“I checked some of the other rooms that were unlocked, and none of them have been touched. Starling wants everyone downstairs together, so he can pretend to be Billy big bollocks and try to reign some control.” He huffs. “The guy’s an idiot. Goldie too.”
I agree.
Robin moves around the counter to sit at the island, and I close the kitchen door quietly once I’ve checked no one is lingering in the hobby.
“We’re not sure–not for certain, but we think Merle has something to do with everything.
Nothing else is adding up. He lied about where he was Friday.
He’s been acting erratic and completely out of character.
He's stressed, but also mean, and Wren saw him shouting with Phin, which isn't the guy I know. Yes they’ve kept their relationship quite private, but I’ve never seen him even annoyed before.
Also…” she trails off, looking down at her flat palms on the counter like they can ground her.
“Obviously we found his secret hidden in his office upstairs.
He owed Corbin so much money for the hotel, and he wasn't paying any of the loans back. I’m sure Phin doesn't know and there's no way he'd have agreed to take anything more than necessary from his brother.”
That was true. Phin took his inheritance that was owed to him, but it was controlled by the eldest sibling. Hell would grace earth before he asked for a hand out from him. The guy thrived on control, and everything always came down to one thing. Power.
“He’s lying. Do you think whoever wrote it is warning you about Merle?”
“I’m not sure, but it’s the only lead we have. It makes the most sense, but we still haven’t found everyone’s secrets. What if we don’t have all the pieces yet?”
“Who would want to warn you? They didn’t just collar you in the hallway, they trashed your room.
” I point out, the idea of someone toying with her has the hairs on my arms stand on end.
A close friend would have told her directly; anyone else would trash her room and leave blood-red messages. The two have such a drastic gap.
Something flashes across Robin’s face and she taps her index finger against the light marble. “Before the dinner party last night, Jay said he wanted to speak to me. He knew we were looking into who murdered Corbin.”
“For real? Did he say anything else?” I stand a little taller, feeling a little off kilter at this new piece of information.
“After everything—” she waves a hand in the air but I see the way her expression crashes. “I forgot. He said we’d speak after the dinner party, but I didn’t see him again.”
“I stayed downstairs whilst you all went to bed, but he didn’t resurface.” Cardinal frowns, absently stirring his tea. “Do you know if he went back to his room?”
We both shake our heads. “Bran didn’t seem to know where he was either. Remember? He asked at the dinner table.” Man, I feel like a terrible friend. Not only have I let my band mate down, but I spend most of the year on tour with Jay too.
“I’ll check on him. I want to hear what he has to say about last night. God knows what's going on with Mavis.” The whole thing seems a mess, and I get the sense he’s involved with her too.
“This feeling is niggling at me that the secrets have something to do with all this, but I just can't piece it together. We should work quicker on finding them. When I wrote Featherton, I scattered clues and pieces of information to start, but the main piece that could glue them all together came at the end.”