‘You’re going to break her heart.’ Fraser sighs. Revealing his true reason for grilling me. He’s worried I’ll hurt his sister.
‘I can’t say this will last forever.’ I don’t want to lie to the kid. ‘But I’ll look after her while she’ll let me.’
He pushes himself upright off the wall and shoots me a sceptical look. ‘I’m going to find Dad. I’ll avoid giving you the if you hurt my sister lecture, but if you do, I’ll turn your nuts into squirrel feeders. She’s odd, but she’s ours.’
The threat would make me laugh if I didn’t know exactly what his career prospects are. ‘Enjoy...’
Then he’s gone.
Running a hand through my hair, I close my eyes and focus on just breathing. In and out. I want to hate Maggie for dragging me into this nest, but I couldn’t. Every time I try to hate her, I see the way her nose crinkles as she laughs, or the way she looks at me when I slide an arm around her. The way she’ll throw herself onthe fire just to protect her family, yet wants so badly to protect herself. She’s an enigma, for sure.
A damn hot one, too.
Maybe I should join the guys for one of those drinks. I need something after the morning I’ve had.
The main staircase curves upward to my left and down to the lower floor in front of me. All highly polished wood and ancient carpet runners. I get about three steps from the top when something slams into my back.
Hard.
I stagger forward, my foot slipping out from under me as I grab for the bannister. The world tilts as I miss, and then I’m tumbling in a rush of faded carpet and spinning walls. My limbs crack down the stairs, the repeated impact bringing sharp pain.
By the time I come to a stop at the bottom, I can barely breathe, the wind having been knocked from my lungs. I lay still, trying to orient myself, my head pounding.
I roll onto my side to check that I still can, and look up to the stairs where I fell.
Eddie.
Standing at the top of the stairs, looking like he’s the prize pig. There’s no rush to hide or wash off guilt.
If anything, he looks a little annoyed that my neck isn’t broken.
He lifts his hand and does a little finger-gun motion.
Bang.
I stare at him as adrenaline floods through me, intensifying the pain that wracks me. The absolute cunt. If there is one person in the world that I might be tempted to try to kill, it’s Eddie. Jumped up, entitled, psychopathic twat.
He gives me a mock salute and turns away, strolling out of view with a chirpy whistle.
A secondary whistle follows, and I spy Coffin perched on the upper-level staircase, watching me with that solitary eye.
Maybe he thinks I’m carrion.
Slowly, I cover my eyes as I focus on finding my breath, determined not to be a corvid hors d’oeuvres.
The wedding hasn’t even started, and I already want to limp back to bed.
TWENTY-SEVEN
MAGGIE
After half an hour of searching,I find Roman in the downstairs toilet, hunched over the sink and dabbing at a scrape on his perfectly formed abs.
Blood stains the porcelain in ruby streaks, not heavy, but still a shock. He’s got a wad of toilet paper pressed to it, and an unreadable expression.
‘What happened?’
His eyes catch mine in the mirror.
