Chapter 27
ELARA
As Rhett drives through the forest, I smooth my hands over my stomach, trying to quell some of the nausea. I did what I had to do, said what I had to say, but it still feels wrong.
“I feel like a traitor,” I admit quietly.
“Your parents would understand,” Rhett says. “If they knew why you did what you did, said what you said, they’d forgive you.”
“Thanks. But I wasn’t thinking it was them I’d betrayed.”
Rhett looks at me, his eyes the same dark intensity that they were when I was playing along with Lucian in the restaurant. It was as if Rhett was on the verge of exploding the entire time.
“You didn’t betray me,” he says firmly. “Because you didn’t mean it. And anyway…”
“This is all fake?” I ask. “That’s what you were going to say, right?”
He nods.
“Does it feel fake to you?”
“Hell no,” he growls. “But maybe it’d be easier if it were.”
I grip his forearm, feeling his muscles straining through his suit jacket. “We’re long past that, Rhett. I know it hasn’t been a long time—”
“It feels like it has,” he cuts in, making my heart pick up speed. “When I’m with you, Sunshine, time moves differently. It feels like we’ve been together longer than we actually have.”
“I get that,” I agree.
“I interrupted,” he says. “What were you going to say?”
“Hey, if interrupting means you say stuff that fills my belly with butterflies, go nuts.”
“You’re magic, Elle.”
My cheeks heat up even as I let out a sarcastic laugh. “Magic, huh?”
“The way you can smile and be happy even after something so traumatic. It couldn’t have been easy seeing him.”
“It wasn’t. But you’re here, and that makes a difference.”
He smiles at me. “You’re so beautiful. Inside and out.”
“So are you.”
He laughs dryly.
“I mean it,” I say.
“A beautiful killer.”
“You’re a good man who does things some people would call bad,” I tell him. “That doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. And you are beautiful.”
We share a moment of heavy eye contact, then my cellphone rings. I answer it quickly when I see Mira’s name, my mind lighting up with all kinds of ugly possibilities.
Mira isn’t talking right now, so if someone is calling from her phone…
I don’t even want to go into detail, but the ugliness is endless.
When I hear Mira’s voice, I let out something like a sob. “Sissy?”
“Mira, you’re talking!”
“Yeah,” she says quietly. “Marshall and I, we played this game, like this memory game where you have to say a bunch of stuff you get at the grocery store. I was writing mine down, but then my hand started to ache, so I just said pears, and then when I said that, it felt easier to say the next bit and the next bit. It’s really hard, Sissy, but I like it here. These are super nice people.”
I smile so hard my cheeks actually ache. “I’m so happy to hear that.”
“I was calling because it’s so fun and we’re getting pizza, and I was wondering if I could stay over.”
“Stay over?” I ask.
“Yeah. We’re going to have a movie night, and Lucy said she’s making pancakes for breakfast, and it’s just… it’s like a family, Sissy.”
My heart cracks when I hear the hope in her voice. “What about clothes?” I ask.
“There’s a big store, a superstore, Marshall called it, and he said we can go and get some.”
“And you’re happy?” I ask.
“Yeah-huh.”
“Give me a second, sweetie.” I mute the mic, then turn to Rhett. “She wants to stay at Marshall’s until tomorrow.”
“Might be worth seeing if Marshall will take her for a couple of days,” Rhett muses. “It will make tomorrow easier if we know she’s safe and sound. Plus, we don’t have to risk returning and having Lucian follow us.”
“And you trust him?” I say. “Nothing bad will happen to her?”
“I swear, Elle. Right now, Marshall’s house is the safest place she could be.”
I let out a breath, then unmute the mic. “You can stay.”
“Yay!” Mira yells. “She said I could stay.”
In the background, I hear the boys yelling happily.
“Call me if you need anything,” I tell her. “Anything, Mira. And please put Marshall on the phone.”
A moment later, Marshall says, “Hello?”
“Have you got a spare room for Mira?” I ask.
“Yep. She’s going to have the guest room.”
“I can’t believe you got her to talk,” I say. “For a year, she’s been almost non-verbal. Then Rhett and now you…”
“She’s a good kid,” Marshall says. “When she started speaking again, it was so funny, so cute. She raised her eyebrows like she was shocked by the words coming out of her mouth. We’re happy to do this.”
“And you can…” I lick my lips. “Keep her safe?”
“I swear on my life. I’ll die before I let anything happen to her.”
I breathe shakily. “Okay, then. And thank you for this. Can you put her back on?”
“Sissy!” Mira yells.
“I love you,” I tell her. “And remember—”
“Call for anything,” she cuts in. “Even pizza, right?”
“Especially pizza,” I say, laughing.
“Okay. I love you.”
She hangs up, but not before saying I love you. I stare down at the phone for a few moments, shaking my head.
“She’s a special kid,” Rhett says, reading me.
“After everything… She’s amazing, Rhett. I couldn’t have imagined her being like this before you came back into our lives. It’s like you changed something in her, flipped a switch.”
“She told me I brought the old Mira back somehow,” Rhett murmurs. “Not sure how, but hell, I’m not complaining. That kid deserves every good break she gets.”
“Thank you.” I squeeze his arm. “For everything.”
When we reach the cabin, he walks around to my side of the car and offers me his hand. “What now?” I ask as we walk into the house together.
“We prepare,” he replies. “We go back to your place and get it ready for the meeting. We’ll need to make sure we’ve got all the angles covered, and he can’t pull anything. Then we’ll grab him, take him somewhere remote, and…”
I slide my hands to the back of his neck, clinging on tightly. “Then I’ll end him.”
Rhett swallows. He grips my hips and pulls me against him. I can feel his heart hammering, making my body warm. He kisses the top of my head. “You can make that decision when the time comes.”
“I’ve already made the decision,” I tell him firmly, leaning back in his embrace so I can look up into his eyes. “I’m going to do this.”
He looks somehow heartbroken and proud at the same time. I stand on my tiptoes and press my lips against his. He moans and slides his hand to the small of my back, pressing me against him. His manhood is a stiff rod against my stomach, rock-hard as if he can’t help himself.
I lean away before I lose control of myself.
“I need a shower,” I murmur. “I can still feel his breath on me. Still feel the way he looked at me. Which makes no damn sense, right? Feeling a look. But I can.”
“I understand,” Rhett says.
I give him another kiss, then go to the bedroom and grab some clothes. I walk into the en-suite, looking at myself in the mirror for a long moment. Am I staring into the eyes of a killer?
In the shower, I try to push those thoughts away. There’s nothing we can do tonight. I’ve tricked Lucian. He’s going to walk right into our trap. Then I’ll make things right.
With a bullet to the head.
As the water runs down my body, I think about the way people stared at us as we walked across the restaurant. The women stared like they were so jealous of me.
Rhett only had eyes for me. I don’t think he even noticed women were checking him out.
Every time he looked at me tonight, it was like I was the answer to every problem he’s ever had.
But what about when this is over?