“See you again, love,” Fletcher said quietly, his promise making my skin crawl.
The quick elevator ride down was silent. I didn’t want to talk, and by the looks of it, neither did Viktor. It felt like I had hypothermia after standing out on the balcony in this weather. The air was colder up there and unhindered by buildings. I flexed my fingers, which were pale and numb.
As we crossed the freshly plowed street, I steeled myself. Christian had the engine humming.
He hopped out of the back and grinned cockily. “I’ll have you know I didn’t pick up a one.”
Viktor rounded the truck and got in the passenger side.
“I need you to drive,” I said to Christian. “I’ll ride in the back.”
He canted his head. “Are you having a go with me?”
“Just drive.”
When I moved toward the bumper, he sidestepped and blocked my path.
Christian dipped his chin, his black eyes staring into my soul. “Did she threaten you? If that be the case, I’ll throw her bony arse off that balcony and see that she shuffles off this mortal coil.”
“I just need you to drive. And unless Viktor strikes up a chat, turn on the radio or something. It wasn’t easy for him to see Lenore,” I said, lowering my voice. “She paraded her new man around before their private meeting. Kissed him right in front of Viktor.”
“Jaysus.”
“Help me in.”
Christian helped me into the back of the truck with an effortless lift. I was still processing what I’d just seen, replaying it in my head like a bad movie. I needed to be numb, and sitting in the freezing cold was the literal way to do it. Christian had self-control when it mattered, but I didn’t want him steering us off the road with the newfound knowledge that the man he’d been torturing for over a year was an elevator ride away.
CHAPTER7
After returning home from Lenore’s, I ran inside while Christian parked, hoping like hell Viktor wouldn’t call us into a meeting. When I reached my room, I couldn’t go in. I wasn’t sure why, but I needed to be in Christian’s space, where I felt safer. When I arrived at his door, I entered the dark room and stoked up a roaring fire. Still freezing from the truck ride, I climbed into his bed and curled up.
Christian quietly walked in and closed the door behind him. “I went to your room. Thought that’s where you’d be. I know how you hate all the spiders in here,” he mused, hanging his trench coat in the armoire. “Whatever she said, put it out of your mind.” Christian reached over and touched my arm. “Jaysus, you’re freezing. You should have let me ride in the back.”
He reached underneath the bed and pulled out the heavy blanket he kept there for the nights I stayed with him. Mostly we slept in my room since I had a cozy space with windows, whereas Christian dwelled in a functional tomb. His fireplace was opposite the door to the left, a good distance from his bed, which was up against the right wall. The bathroom entryway was across from the bed, and aside from a bedside table and armoire, he didn’t have any décor. No rugs, no pictures on the wall, no furniture except for a small armchair he moved around. The candy dish was the only possession he owned aside from weapons and clothing. I stared at the glowing flames as I lay on my right side.
Christian sat in front of me and unlaced his shoes. “What happened?”
“Lenore invited us inside. Then she introduced Viktor to her new… whatever. Man.”
“Ah. So that’s it? Lenore has a skilled way of crushing a man’s heart until he never wants to go back to her. It’s her way of finalizing the death of a relationship.”
“Fletcher was there.”
A shoe dropped.
Christian looked over his shoulder at me. “Come again?”
“I always thought I’d know what to say or do. Instead, I just froze.”
He made a tight fist. “Are you telling me that Lenore Parrish took that troll under her wing? How did he manage that?”
Unable to lie still and talk about Fletcher, I scooted off the bed. “Under her wing? That vulture is the one who broke him out of your house of horrors. How did she know about that place? Did you tell her? Did you take her there?”
“No!” Christian faced me from the other side of the bed. He started to say something and then covered his mouth and turned away.
“What? Tell me.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
