Chapter 19 #2
I don’t find anything interesting. Folded shirts, balled socks, an underwear drawer that’s shockingly organized.
There’s at least two guns hidden beneath his clothes, but I leave those be.
I try checking the backs for loose panels, run my fingers underneath the bottoms of the drawers and along the edges, but there’s nothing.
Brenden’s moving swiftly and carefully. He’s clearly done this before and I try to follow his lead.
Top to bottom, every inch checked. His fingers are careful and precise, and I’m impressed by the way he moves around, making no noise.
In contrast, I’m like a bumbling wildebeest stomping about the Serengeti.
“Here we go.” Brenden pulls something from an end table.
I hurry over. “You got it?”
He holds up a pair of handcuffs. “No, but you wanted something weird, right?”
“Brenden!”
“Just saying. There’s more in there. Silk ties, what looks like a really big silicone—“
“Stop it and put that away.” I’m blushing like crazy. “That’s my cousin, you creep.”
“Fair point. Still, looks like they have fun. Which is sweet, you know? The fire hasn’t died out despite the baby and marriage.”
“Do you think it would?” I work close to him now, lying on my side to brush my fingers along the edge of the bed frame.
He takes a while to answer. “My parents weren’t the best example. I doubt they ever loved each other.”
“You’ve seen mine, so you know where I come from.”
“True, but you’ve got how many siblings? At least they’re, you know—“
“Stop now!”
“Oh god, come on, Tallie. Your parents have sex. That’s where you come from.”
I wrinkle my nose. “Moving on. Even if they’re reproducing together, that doesn’t mean they show any affection.”
“Does Arsen?”
“God, yes, all the time.” I smile, remembering the few times I’ve seen them together. “He dotes on her. It’s pathetic, actually. Alexan’s the same way with your sister.”
“Yeah, that’s true.” He sounds thoughtful as he moves over to the bathroom.
I follow him as far as the doorway. He quickly checks the vanity, moving fast but being thorough.
“Still, before Riley and Alexan, I always thought relationships were based on power and money. Why else marry someone, unless you need heirs and whatever resources they can bring to the table? That’s how my father always talked about it, anyway. ”
“Then he sells you off to some second-rate Sarkissian girl.”
“Pretty much, but the stupid bastard did me a favor.” His eyes find mine in the mirror, his expression surprisingly serious. “Best thing he ever gave me, actually.”
A shiver runs down into my stomach. I hug myself.
“I feel the same way. Before you, I saw my parents, who are both supremely fucked up people in different ways, and I saw my siblings, who are also all deeply broken. I figured I’d end up like Annie, marrying some random guy for absolutely no reason other than Daddy wants me to, and that’s exactly what I did. But I never expected I’d end up with—“
I trail off. Brenden’s feeling at something in the back of the bottom drawer, tongue poking out between his teeth. He grunts in surprise as something clicks.
“What is it?” I ask, rushing to his side.
“There’s a compartment.” He’s reaching in further, fingers wriggling. “I can feel—“
A door shuts nearby.
I jump two feet in the air and it’s only luck that keeps me from screaming. I slam my hands over my mouth to make sure I don’t whimper in fear. Footsteps come down the hall, the hardwood creaking.
I look around in a panic. We’re caught in the bathroom which is across from the closet we came through. There’s no way we can make it back in time, not without being seen; we’d be totally exposed.
But there’s nowhere good in here. The shower’s on the right and a large tub’s on the left. I might be able to squeeze into the linen closet, but I doubt we could both fit.
“God, my feet.” Lena’s voice coming into the bedroom.
Brenden grabs me. He pulls me from the door and wraps his arms tightly around me, turning his body and flattening us both against the wall. We’re out of range of the mirror now, but if she comes into the bathroom, she’ll see us.
There’s more rustling in the other room.
Lena’s talking to herself but it’s in Russian and I don’t understand what she’s saying.
She sounds bored though, like she’s only half aware of what’s going on.
Brenden’s muscles tense when her voice comes close, clearly right outside the bathroom door, and if she steps through she’ll see us—she’ll find us—and Brenden’s shifting his weight like he plans on grabbing her if she enters—
A pair of shoes clatter to the ground near the vanity, kicked off and tossed through.
I bite Brenden’s shoulder to keep from screaming.
“That’s better,” Lena says with a satisfied sigh. “Damn Arsen and his stupid friends…” Her complaining trails off into another string of Russian, but fortunately, her voice gets further away until it’s clear she’s walking down the hall again and back to the party.
My heart’s going to explode.
Brenden doesn’t move. He keeps his arms locked around me, not making a sound despite the fact that I’m biting him.
“Tallie,” he whispers hoarsely. “You can stop eating me now.”
I open my jaw with a groan. Terror rings through me. “That was so close… she was right there…” I gape in horror at the high heels she kicked over toward the vanity.
If she had walked in to use the toilet… if she had cleaned her hands, done anything in here…
“Tallie, baby, we have to go. It’s okay, she didn’t see us. We’re okay.”
“Fuck.” I bury my face in his chest and swallow a sob. I’m trembling from adrenaline. “That was so fucking bad.”
“But you’re wrong.” He pulls me away and kisses me hard. His mouth tastes like mint and honey. I groan into him, but desperately cling on. He’s all that’s safe right now. The only person in the world who cares about me.
He pulls back and touches my chin. He tips it down, directing my gaze toward his palm…
And a small, gold key he’s holding.
“Holy shit.” I step back, one hand flying to my throat, the other pointing. “Is that it?”
“It’s a safe deposit box key, that’s for sure.” He makes it disappear into some hidden pocket.
“But what if it’s not the right one?”
“We’ll find out.”
“Brenden—“
“Tallie, baby, we’ll find out.” He takes my hand in his and tugs me to him. “But now we have to go. Can you be quiet again?”
I force a breath in through my nose and slowly out through my mouth before nodding once. “I can do it.”
“Good girl. Let’s get moving.”
Back across the room, through the closet, and into the passage. Roman’s making cute snoring noises as we shuffle past his room. This time the cobwebs don’t seem so scary, not with Brenden leading the way.
We found it. We got the key. We almost got caught, but we didn’t.
Now my future spreads out in front of me, so wide and large I can barely comprehend it all.
Back to the party like we never left to begin with. Nobody comments when we emerge through the foliage. The kids are still running around wildly, though it’s clear some of the families have thinned out. Brenden shoves a drink in my hand and makes me tip half of it down. He does the same.
“If anyone asks, we snuck off to fuck on that cute baby grand piano.” He whispers in my ear and I feel his smile tickling my neck.
“At a charity for kids?”
“We locked the door. We’re not animals.”
“Don’t be gross.”
I turn my neck and kiss him.
A man’s voice cuts through the noise. “Brenden.” I spot Arsen coming around a high top toward us. His expression is flat, like always. He’s so damn hard to read, but my pulse rockets instantly.
What if he knows? What if he knows!
But Brenden squeezes my hand and gives Arsen a charming smile. “Hell of a party, boss.”
Arsen grunts at the comment. “It was successful at least.”
“What did we raise?”
“Enough.” Arsen glances at me. “Cousin.”
“Hello, Arsen.”
His lips press tightly as he gestures at Brenden. “We need a word.” He walks off without waiting.
“It’ll be fine,” Brenden promises. “Wait here.”
“But what if—“
He’s already gone though, chasing after my cousin.
Worry rifles through me. I hate this so much. It’s freaking torture. I slam back the rest of my drink and snatch another as Lena joins me. She smiles happily, and I note that she’s wearing flats.
“Do you have any idea how many of these we do every year?” Her nose wrinkles at the tables, chairs, twinkling lights, staff, bartenders, at the general din and the mess.
“It’s good though. I mean, the causes are good.”
“I’d do more if we could, but maybe somewhere else next time. Arsen likes having them here, he says it shows we’re human, but I don’t know.” She rolls her eyes to the stars and back down to me. “I mean, you’ve met your cousin.”
Her grin suggests she’s only partially joking.
I like Lena, but I’m freaking the hell out. Fortunately, she carries the conversation. I finish a second glass of champagne by the time Brenden comes back, a stormy look on his face. Lena squeezes my wrist and makes an excuse before walking off again.
“How bad?” I hiss at him.
“It’s fine.”
“Brenden!”
“He wanted to talk about work. They don’t know.”
“You can’t be sure. There might be cameras—“
“We’d be dead. They don’t know.” He’s standing stiffly now and not touching me, which is confusing.
“Something happened.”
“It’s nothing.” He pulls away when I try to get closer. “We should go.”
“Tell me what Arsen said.”
“I told you, it’s work.” There’s a sharpness to his tone that takes me off guard. I don’t remember him ever talking to me this way before and I don’t like it.
I want to throw my drink in his face. Instead, I place it down primly on a table. “Then let’s go.”
We don’t talk on the trip back to the house.
It takes a lot of effort not to cry the whole way.