“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.”
