Series: Penny Dee
Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 97669 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 488(@200wpm)___ 391(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97669 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 488(@200wpm)___ 391(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
“To be expected.” She breaks open a steaming scone and lathers it with big dollops of butter, then slides it toward me. “Eat something. You’ll feel better with food in you.”
I don’t have an appetite, but I also suspect it will be more difficult to slide past this woman, so I break off a piece and put it in my mouth. It’s delicious but might as well feel like sandpaper going down my throat as I force myself to feign a peaceful existence, just so I can escape her watchful gaze.
“I’ll have breakfast ready for Larissa in the morning. Pancakes, I think. Children always feel better after pancakes.”
“She likes blueberries in hers,” I say quickly, thinking about the Sundays when the three of us would sit around Nessa’s tiny kitchen counter making blueberry pancakes and laughing. My heart twists. “It’s her favorite.”
“Blueberry pancakes it is then,” Lotti says.
The kindness in her voice makes me want to cry, but I refuse to turn into that scared version of myself, so I take another bite of the scone.
“Would you mind sitting with Larissa for a bit?” I say, finishing my scone. “I think I’ll go lie down. Try to get some sleep.”
Lotti looks up from placing the rest of the scones on a drying rack. “Of course I’ll sit with her,” she says, that motherly warmth and kindness touching her gaze. “Try to get some rest.”
“Thank you.”
She nods. But she doesn’t look away, and the weight of her gaze holds me to the barstool.
“You know, I’ve worked for Silas for a long while, and in that time I’ve seen a lot. You get used to reading people. Can tell when they say one thing but might mean another.”
My chest tightens, and my eyes dart to hers. She knows.
“I’m not going to ask you what you’re planning,” she continues. “That’s between you and whatever is taking place inside that head of yours right now. But I will say this. You can trust Silas to fix this. There is not a rock or a mountain that man can’t move. And whatever it is you have in your mind to do, you need to put that aside and let Silas do what he’s going to do.”
“She’s my best friend,” I whisper.
“That’s why you need to trust Silas.”
Easier said than done. I’ve spent six years trusting only myself, and although I do trust him, I don’t want him to be hurt because of me.
The video of Nessa tied to that chair is burning a hole in my sensibility. I know giving Konstantin what he wants is a death sentence, but how can I not try when Nessa’s life is at stake?
My head and my heart are at war.
My head tells me to stay.
But my heart tells me I need to take care of this myself.
“I’m not going to do anything stupid,” I assure Lotti quietly.
She knows it’s a lie. But she doesn’t let on.
“But if I’m still sleeping when she wakes up.” My voice breaks a fraction. “Tell Larissa Auntie Leo loves her,” I whisper.
Lotti’s wise gaze is a silent warning. “You tell her yourself when she wakes up.”
After all of this is said and done, we both seem to be saying.
I slide off the barstool. “Thanks for the scone and tea. It was exactly what I needed.”
I pull on a jacket from the hook by the door. It’s one of Silas’s, and it smells like him, and the scent makes me wish things didn’t have to turn out this way.
I’m sorry.
As quiet as a mouse, I ease open the door, ready to sneak away.
But waiting on the other side of the door is a six-foot wall of muscle in an Armani suit and a pissed-off expression.
Silas.
Now it dawns on me why Lotti seemed to let me move around with ease, because she knew Silas was close to being home.
“Going somewhere?” His voice has a dark edge.
46
SILAS
Three emotions fight for control inside me.
Anger. Because the woman I’m in love with just tried to sneak out of my house in the middle of the night to walk into whatever trap is waiting for her.
Concern. Because whatever threat is after her is lurking on the other side of the gate she almost breached, and that was a fucking close call I didn’t need right now.
And relief. Because I got here in time to stop her from making the stupid mistake that would get her killed.
Much to Leonore’s disgust. She’s vibrating with fury that she’s been caught.
But I’d rather her be angry than dead. Which she would be if she went looking for Konstantin.
I reach for her, but she pulls away from my hand.
“Sit down,” I say.
“I don’t want to sit down.”
“For once, will you do what I ask?”
“Don’t start telling me what to do. Konstantin has Nessa,” she bites, my beautiful dark creature, vengeful to a fault.