Gaining her trust should be my top priority, especially if I want any reasonable chance of extracting information. However, I can’t play my hand outright. If I interrogate her about the man, that will only cause a commotion. And without hard evidence that she’s up to something, I’m not interested in causing a stir.
“And what if I did, huh?” Her voice is layered with defiant playfulness. “You gonna run toDaddyand tell him I’ve been a bad girl?”
Blistering heat creeps up my neck, refusing to settle in any one place. A constant thrum of anguishing discomfort. But it’s not from anger or embarrassment.
It’s… intrigue. It’s the word she chose,Daddy, and the way she said it. I’m not much of one for that sort of thing, but from her lips, I could be persuaded.
FUCK. Enough of that.
“How’s your mom?” I change the subject before I say something regrettable, or worse, show her I don’t need any help dishing out a punishment.
“She loves it here. Loves everything about this whole thing.” Her playfulness subsides to something heavier.
“And you don’t?”
In contrast to what I thought she’d do, Lilith doesn’t hide the emotions that flood her face. A crinkle forms between her brows, and she starts her answer with a heavy sigh.
“It’s not that I don’t like it. Who wouldn’t? I just don’t feel as if I belong.”
“Why’s that?” My curiosity intensifies. I don’t know her well enough to pass judgment, but most women her age would kill for this life.
No suffering, an infinite pool of wealth to drink from, and a lifestyle beyond anyone’s wildest imagination. If it were anybody else, they’d be reveling in their newfound gains too much to care about fitting in.
“I’m too old to follow along like a child, but too young to stop it.” She hangs her head, as if ashamed to admit it, and looksat my shoes.
Her response and melancholy demeanor stir a feeling in my chest that I can’t place, and don’t want to dig into. I let silence take over for a moment instead of whispering sweet nothings to her.
There’s also a point to be made about her sullen look, floating half-naked in my pool, driving a corkscrew through my skull. It’s a fucking bikini, I think to myself, I don’t have to lose my edge over it. But easier words have never been spoken. I’m starting to think it doesn’t matter what Lilith’s wearing; I’ll find a way to twist it to my own dirty perversions.
That’s troubling, especially when it leads to my second-guessing my raw, natural instinct to treat her as a threat, after what Voodoo saw.
“You should know.” I take a deliberate step closer and lower myself onto my haunches inches away from her. “If my father wants you here, there’s a good reason for it. Your safety is our concern now.”
“Thank you?” Her eyes return to mine, perplexed.
Hmm. I’m no good at this. I suppose that makes sense, when my only interactions with normal people are at checkout counters or when I go to the Crawford headquarters.
I can’t explain what comes over me, but I reach out and touch her face. Just my fingers at first, gently moving along her cheek until my palm replaces them. Her puzzled browdrops, and I half expect her to bite at my hand or chase it away.
She doesn’t. Instead, she nuzzles deeper against it.
What the fuck am I doing?
I snap out of the daze that brought us to this point and yank my hand back. Lilith, who closed her eyes somewhere between the movements, jumps at my sudden retreat.
“I have to go.” I get up.
Coming here was a terrible mistake. Timing is everything, and making a move when I haven’t digested Voodoo’s message, breaks the rule.
“Wait, what?” Lilith sounds confused, and rightfully so.
I am too.
“I’ll see you tonight.” I walk off before she can say something that might stop me.
Because if she tries, I won’t be able to stop myself from what comes next.
And neither of us is ready for that, yet.
