Chapter Seventeen
Sydney ordered everyone else’s dismissal soon after Gabe’s. Reyna was relieved. She’d had quite a night. She knew it wasn’t over yet, though—she and Beckham had unfinished business.
Before she could say anything to Becks, Sydney snaked a hand around her wrist. “And you.”
Reyna’s eyes widened. “What?”
“You and Jodie engineered this little outing. It was foolish and reckless. We put in a lot of effort to free you from Harrington’s grasp. Perhaps you should show some more respect around here.”
“I know it was reckless, but I never thought it would happen like this. Who would have guessed I’d run into Everett? I’m not going to do it again.”
Sydney’s anger simmered, and her eyes narrowed. “You have free rein of the facilities. There are no locks or bars on your doors. We keep you in to protect you from the outside world, not to keep you from it. You could be happy here.”
“I am a recovering kidnapping victim who found herself in another prison,” Reyna spat. “I am a pawn on your chessboard. I already played the first blood game with Harrington.”
“This is not the same.”
“You may be fighting for the greater good, but I know you’ll use me just as fast as he would.” Reyna yanked her arm out of Sydney’s grip.
Sydney gave her an appreciative look. “You have fire. I’ll give you that.”
“I appreciate that you got me out of there and that my brothers are safe. But I offered to be of help, and all anyone has told me is no. I want to help this organization, Sydney. So let me help, but I’m not going to be used. Not by you or Harrington or anyone.”
Sydney crossed her arms and arched an eyebrow. “I think we understand each other.”
“Good,” she said and then shoved past Sydney. She knew Sydney had every intention of using her, but wouldn’t it be easier if they worked with her?
Reyna took a deep breath and prepared herself to walk over to Beckham, who was standing next to Penelope.
“Time for that talk?” she asked Beckham.
“Hello, Reyna,” Penelope said.
“Penny.” Reyna couldn’t help it—her eyes darted to Penny’s left hand. Empty. It was empty. Her heart stuttered. There was no ring.
“Good to have you back on board.”
“Good to be back.” Reyna nearly sighed at the pleasantries. “Sorry to hear about your father.”
“Yes, it’s dreadful,” Penelope said, frowning at the mention of her father’s death.
“Congrats on becoming mayor, though. Following in his footsteps.”
“Oh, you heard?” Penelope asked.
“I was at your mayoral ball, in fact.”
Penny scrunched up her almost perfect face. “Weren’t you still with Harrington then?”
“He brought me along.”
“I didn’t see you,” Penny said.
Beckham’s attention shifted, his eyes widening slightly. “You were there?”
“In a soundproof room with one-way tinted windows overlooking the festivities.” She hated the memory. Beckham’s brow furrowed.
“How voyeuristic of you,” Penelope said.
“Not my idea of a good time. Trust me.” Reyna turned her attention away from Penelope to concentrate on Beckham. He seemed to be piecing something together, and she couldn’t read what he was thinking.
“Where was the room?” Beckham asked.
Reyna tilted her head. “I don’t know. I guess, from the stage, it was in the upper left corner. Why?”
Beckham straightened, and something dawned on his face. “You’re right. We should go talk now.”
“But Beckham,” Penelope all but whined.
He shot her a look. “Go home, Penny. You shouldn’t be absent much longer anyway.”
“You’re not coming back with me?” Her jaw flexed, but Beckham just pointed to the door.
“No,” he flatly refused.
Penny rolled her eyes and then left the room. She glanced back at Beckham one more time, but his gaze was still on Reyna.
In the wake of Penelope’s absence, the silence lingered.
Beckham gestured to the door. “Come on. I know the way.”
Reyna exited the conference room, and Beckham moved to her side, walking in silence down the hallway.
Reyna wanted it to be the comfortable silence they had developed before her kidnapping, but it was more like when he had first been matched with her.
Tension crackled between them. She finally spoke just to break the silence.
“Were you always in Sydney’s inner circle?”
Beckham glanced her way. “No.”
“When did that start?”
“You do love to ask questions, don’t you?” He shot her an inquisitive look.
“Yes. And you promised to answer them all.”
He slid his hands into his pockets and faced forward once more. “It’s more dangerous now.”
“It was always dangerous. I just didn’t know it. You knew about my blood type and why I was valuable and why you wouldn’t drink from me…” Reyna said, cutting off her rambling.
Beckham reached for the stairwell door. “Let’s continue this conversation somewhere more private.”
They trekked down the stairs, and soon they were back in front of the closet entrance to her room. She sheepishly revealed Jodie’s handiwork with the door. Beckham’s nostrils flared.
“You want to let anyone have access to your room?” he asked.
“It was Jodie’s idea. So we would have a way to get back in.”
“Jodie.” He seemed to be considering her presence as they entered Reyna’s room. “I still can’t believe you saved her. Though I understand why.”
Reyna shrugged. “Jodie is just like me. She’s a broken girl who was taken from her home and forced to work for those monsters.”
“Ah,” he said, straightening. “At least you’re admitting again that we’re all monsters.”
She shook her head. “Harrington is a monster.”
Beckham leaned back against the closet and observed her. “I believe there are more pressing matters to discuss.”
Reyna sighed. “Yes, there are. I still can’t believe you left.”
“You told me to.”
“Of course I told you to leave,” she said with a wave of her hand. “You wouldn’t tell me if something was going on with you and Penny again. You wouldn’t even tell me whether or not you were engaged.”
He looked down at the floor and muttered, “I deserved your hatred.”
Reyna reeled back. “What?”
He gave her a look.
“I don’t hate you,” she gasped. “I could never hate you.”
“Oh, Little One,” he said, taking a silent step forward, “how do you still have such a heart?”
“When I was gone, the only thing that kept me going was you. Knowing you were on the outside, waiting for me. I’d put all our happy memories in one part of my brain and cornered it off so no one could ever damage them.
But then I got out and it was as if I meant nothing to you.
” Reyna choked out the words that had been haunting her since her release.
“I am a monster. I fed off you. When you realized my true nature, you fled my presence. You left with someone else, you were so desperate to get away from me.”
A tear slipped down her cheek as she realized the turmoil he must have been suffering all this time.
The turmoil she had inflicted. “When we were together, when you bit me, it was the best moment of my life, Becks. I trusted you. I told you I trusted you, and then I spit it in your face. I was wrong. As soon as I woke up at Everett’s, I tried to come back to apologize to you and let you know I didn’t mean anything I said. But by then it was too late.”
Beckham stepped forward to where she stood before the bed, cupped her face in both his hands, and wiped the tears from her cheeks. “What did I ever do to deserve you?”
“You showed me the real you. The real Beckham underneath this facade.”
His obsidian eyes stared deeply into her own, and she was utterly lost. His hands were on her. His mouth mere inches away. This was the moment she had dreamed about.
“I knew you were at the ball,” he confided.
“You…what? How?”
He frowned and glanced away. “It sounds outrageous.”
“You looked at me.”
He dragged his eyes back to her. “I could sense you somehow. It was like something in my veins just knew that you were there.”
“My blood?” she asked in confusion.
“No. I don’t know. It was as if you were calling out to me and I was the only one who could hear your cries.”
“I thought it was impossible. When you looked right at me, I didn’t think you actually knew I was there. I thought I’d imagined the whole thing.”
“It made no sense to me at the time. Now it feels right. Also, if you saw me that night, then I understand more your frustration with Penelope.”
“Yeah,” she whispered. She didn’t want to talk about Penelope right now. She had just discovered their connection was so acute he could sense her across a crowded ballroom when he couldn’t even see her. Her heart lurched at the thought.
“It is complicated, but she does not hold my heart,” he said fervently.
“Are you together?” she asked carefully.
He breathed out. “In public. A cover, as we always were.”
“And in private?”
“No,” he said at once. He reached out and took her hand. “Penelope knows it is for the cameras. That it is our cover to be the Saint and the Martyr after her injuries, and now that she has become mayor.”
“Does she know that?”
Beckham’s eyes slipped over her distraught features. “I will remind her, if that will put your mind at ease.”
Reyna swallowed the words she wanted to say—that she would never be at ease with Penelope anywhere near him.
She also understood what he wasn’t saying—that his cover was more important than ever.
He couldn’t bring suspicion down on himself, which might compromise everything.
It was easier to have Penny as part of his public image even if they were not truly together.
“What happened with you and Harrington after I was kidnapped? Obviously, if you retain your cover with Penelope, then he doesn’t suspect you?”
“He does suspect me. I was investigated after your disappearance. The penthouse was raided. But after I found out what happened, I knew I would have to go to Harrington and tell him you’d run away.
He said he’d heard from one of his contacts—Everett, obviously—that something had gone wrong.
I told him that I’d been drinking from Penelope and so I never knew you weren’t my blood type match. ”