“You think he did it?” she whispered, not making eye contact.
“Possibly,” Theo said, trailing his hand down her arm.
Josie’s jaw was set, and she gave a little nod.
“I think I’ll go to bed,” she said.
“Okay,” I said, holding out my hand to her to go upstairs.
“Alone,” she said so softly I almost didn’t catch it.
Fuck. That was like a dagger to the heart.
Was she upset with me? About the news with Jericho? Or something else? I couldn’t fucking fix it, and that made me livid.
Theo cleared his throat, raising his eyebrows at me.
Yeah, yeah, time and patience.
“Let me walk you up at least,” I said, cupping Josie under the chin.
She said goodnight to the other two and walked ahead of me up the stairs. We paused at her door, the energy awkward between us.
“If you change your mind or need anything, come and get me. No matter what time it is. Understand, baby girl?”
“I will,” she said.
I pulled her in for a tight hug, trying to send all my love and warmth into it.
“I’m respecting your space for tonight because you’ve dealt with a lot today. But soon, you won’t be able to hide from me.”
She shivered and put her arms around me. For a second, I thought she might ask me to stay. But then she slipped away with a quiet goodnight.
Leaving me alone in the hallway.
ChapterForty-Three
Ben
Iwasn’t even trying to sleep. I knew I wouldn’t be able to when Josie was in her room, alone and upset. I wanted to do unspeakably horrible things to her mother for whatever she had said to my beautiful mate.
Cam and Theo had finally made their way to their separate rooms, and I was sitting in the library downstairs, a soothing record playing in the background, my hand gripping a large glass of whisky. I didn’t know how to make this better.Should I just go into her room and force her to talk to me?
The record stopped, and as I got up to turn it over, I heard a sound in the kitchen. My heart lurched—was it her?
I found Josie standing in the dark, illuminated by only the refrigerator light. She was hunched over the counter, quickly eating the chocolate cake I made this afternoon. Based on how much was left, it looked like she had already eaten two or three slices. Her eyes were glazed over, and she didn’t notice me standing in the doorway.
“Josie, precious, you okay?” I asked quietly.
She jumped and gave a little scream, throwing her fork at my head. I deflected it before it hit me.
“Damn, you have good aim. Although I think I preferred being hit with the brownie.” As I walked closer, I noticed her scent was burnt with fear.
“Gorgeous, why are you shaking?” I lifted my hand to touch her but hesitated when she let out a whimper and flinched away from me.
“Josie,” I whispered. “I would never hurt you.”
“I’m sorry,” she sobbed. “You shouldn’t touch me. I’m dirty.”
