Dorien stepped close. The doughnut bag was the only thing that stood between us, and suddenly I found it very hard to breathe. “To see you smile, Sprite. You don’t know how much I’ve missed your smile.”
The tears I’d been holding back spilled over, rolling down my cheeks and dropping on the bag. I wanted so badly to fall forward into Dorien’s arms, to let him hold me, to give myself over to the idea that someone fucking cared about me.
But doubt scratched at the back of my neck.That’s exactly what he wants you to do.
Getting me to trust him again was all part of his plan. That was why he got the doughnuts and told me that story about his parents being in a cult. Dorien knew how to manipulate a situation for his own gain, and he was playing me like a sonata right now. This was deception with doughnuts.
He guessed from the library that I didn’t believe he killed Clare. Now he knew about my mother too, so he could also guess at how much I needed the Manderley Prize. He knew I wouldn’t give that up without a fight. Now he was trying to convince me that Madame Usher was behind all this, that he had no choice, but the bullying was over because he kissed me and brought me doughnuts.
But I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t be that gullible.How far will he go to get what he wants?
LEAVE MANDERLEY was written on my mirror in lipstick, and then someone writes LEAVE on Mom’s forehead?Obviously, they were connected. It had nothing to do with Mom – it was a message forme.
The ghosting, the stupid messages, the sounds that kept me up at night – it was all juvenile stuff. Trying to convince me it wasn’t him… that took some doing. But breaking my violin? Hurting my mother just to affect my performance?
What a sick, horrible thing to do.
Is it him? Is it?
My fingers tightened around the doughnut bag. I pulled one out and slammed it into Dorien’s face.
“Ow, what the fuck?” Dorien staggered back, peanut frosting dripping down his cheek. Oreo flakes peppered the front of his shirt. I wanted to burst out laughing, but the rage burned too raw inside me.
Without another word I whirled around and stormed out of the parking lot, dragging my phone from my pocket. No way was I driving back in the same car as him, even if that meant I had to walk all the way back to Manderley.
“Sprite, wait!”
“Go away!” I screamed.
“Sprite… please.” Dorien’s voice broke, and it took all my self-control not to turn around to him. “I’m calling Harrison. He’ll come and collect you. Don’t run off by yourself. I’ll go. Sprite, I’m sorry.”
I’m sorry. I never imagined I’d hear those words from the lips of Dorien Valencourt. Too bad they were a fucking joke. I swiped angrily at the tears falling down my cheeks, refusing to turn around until I heard the Porsche’s wheels spin as Dorien sped away.
My mouth still tasted of peanut butter frosting – one of the few happy memories of him that he’d destroyed. My jaw set in a hard line.
It’s time.
I’d been holding back on retaliation, unsure if I was ready for what I planned to do. I wouldn’t be letting Dorien dig his own grave – this plan meant breaking a few laws. It meant doing something I could never turn back from. But it was the only way.
Dorien had seen right into my heart, into the music of my soul, and he’d smothered the notes with his cruelty. If I wanted Dorien Valencourt to pay, I would have to hit him where it hurt.
His wallet.
Chapter Forty
Faye
“Thank you, Harrison.” My legs wobbled as I climbed into the back of the limo. “I’m sorry you had to come all this way…”
“Any time, my pet. I am just sorry I couldn’t have brought you here in the first place.” His face shifted uncomfortably. “She gets these ideas in her head, the Madame—”
“I know. Don’t worry about it.” I knew now how much power Dorien truly had in that house – Madame Usher had given Harrison an order to ignore me, but one call from Dorien and here was my limousine. Everything he told me in the library was a lie. His lips devouring mine, his fingers on the back of my neck, that growl he made as he sucked my lip…
All lies.
“I hope your mom’s okay. I hope they get the bastard who did this. Dorien said that something happened.”
“Dorienhappened,” I muttered, my hands curling into fists.
