“Fuck, you probably haven’t heard,” Penelope said. She stood and walked away from him as if she couldn’t bear to break the news to him. “She’s dead.”
No.
Reyna took a few deep breaths in and let them out. They always knew it was a possibility, but she still tried to slow her racing heart, and to stop the tears threatening to escape.
“In the fires?” Beckham asked. As always, completely unaffected by death.
“No. I guess they sent in a SWAT team to break the doors down to bomb the place. Sydney went to meet them, giving Elle members enough time to escape. She tried to stop the attackers, but they gunned her down until she couldn’t move and then snapped her neck.” Penny sighed. Her voice got really soft. “Harrington had a video and made me watch it.”
Reyna put her hand over her mouth to keep back the chokedsob. She hated to admit that she’d always held out some hope that Sydney would come charging out of the ether and save the day. That she had been waiting for her moment of glory. She was the indestructible leader of Elle. The voice. The original mastermind. It was impossible to think that she was gone. That she’d been gone for weeks, and no one even knew.
For a moment, the connection between her and Beckham opened up like a pinprick in the night. She wanted to reach for it, but a rush of feeling hit her head on. Calm. Ease. Comfort. Her heart rate slowed. The tears dried up. She could make it through this. With his touch on her heart, she could make it through.
Her entire body shuddered with the warmth of his embrace. As if he were right there holding her, calming her. Keeping Penelope from noticing that she was standing nearby.
The connection between them was a balm and then gone. She breathed out a soft breath and then released it.
“Sounds like his style,” Beckham said passively.
“It was awful,” she whispered. “And then I didn’t know who to contact. All the comm lines were down. I couldn’t reach anyone. Where have you been?”
“Around,” he said evasively.
“Just around? That’s it? I told you Sydney’s dead and I’ve been trying to reach you or the rebellion and your response isaround?”
“You almost got me killed, Penelope. What did you expect?”
“I know,” she whispered, going suddenly still. Then Reyna saw her shoulders slump and start to shake. Oh dear God, she was crying. “That wasn’t supposed to happen. I never would have jeopardized you. I thought we’d be together. That’s what Harrington said. He used me, Beckham. And he’s been trying to use me ever since.”
“I know.”
Penelope swiped under her eyes. “I’m sorry. Really, I can’t saythis enough. Tell me what to do. Tell me how to make this up to you.”
“Do you think you can make it up to me?” Beckham asked. He stood and moved across the room with the purpose of a predator. She could see the anger in the set of his shoulders. She was sure that Penelope didn’t miss it.
Penelope crossed the room to him, placing her hand gently on his arm. Her voice was low and husky when she said, “I want to try.”
Reyna held her breath and she watched the tension visibly leave Beckham’s shoulders. But his eyes weren’t on Penelope. They were on Reyna. They were staring her down in the darkness. As if preparing her for what was to come. She didn’t like that look one bit.
“I know you, Penny,” Beckham said. He faced a distraught Penelope.
“Can we move forward? Figure out who we are from here?” She looked up at him from under her lashes with a coy smile on her face.
“There’s nowhere to move but forward.”
Penelope placed her hand on his chest, looked up at him hopefully, and parted her lips. Reyna felt a dragon crawling out of her chest about to breathe fire. Fuck this recording shit. She couldn’t get through this. Beckham was doing this to get information, but fuck. He didn’tneedto do this.
She was about to take a step forward when he walked out of Penelope’s touch. He returned to his chair and took another sip of his drink. “So if you’re still living this double life, then you probably have information about Harrington.”
“I don’t want to talk about him. I want to talk about us.”
Beckham didn’t say anything for a minute and then his voice was low, “Has he hurt you?”
“Threatened,” she said. “I’m fine. Roland deals with the bruntof it and I avoid that creep as much as I can.”
“That’s a smart move.”
“Yeah. I stopped counting how many Permanents he’s killed. He keeps Sophie for the sex and gets a second one for fun.”
