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A creak from upstairs had him lifting his face to the ceiling. Strange. Everyone was supposed to be asleep. Sure, they could have awoken, headed for the bathroom or to get a drink of water, but the footsteps that followed that creak weren’t the footsteps of a person moving purposely toward a place they had every business going to.
No, those footsteps had sounded like someone slowly creeping up on another someone who had no idea that they were there.
CHAPTER 20
Gina caught her breath. “Who’s that?”
She didn’t recognize the shape of whoever hovered in the hall, and she should. Why wouldn’t she immediately recognize the outline of every person in the house? There weren’t all that many.
She wanted to step away from the hovering shadow, but trapped in her room, she had nowhere to go. Instead, she made herself move forward, and as she did, the shadow solidified into—
“Jase.” She let out her breath in a relieved rush, then immediately drew it in again. “Is something wrong?”
He stepped from the darkness and into the silvery light. “I don’t know; is there?”
Gina frowned, annoyed. “I don’t have time for games.” She made to step past him, and he grabbed her elbow.
She glanced at his hand, then into his face. He appeared as annoyed as she. But why?
“What happened?” She tugged on her arm. He didn’t let go; instead he urged her farther into the room.
A prickle of unease washed over Gina, which she quickly quashed. This was Jase. She’d known him all her life. He would never hurt her, though right now … She shifted her shoulder; his grip wasn’t exactly pleasant.
“What did happen?” he murmured, his dark eyes appearing even darker in the hazy gleam of the falling moon. “We were happy here.”
“Happy?” she repeated. “I guess.”
They’d been on the verge of bankruptcy. Working like mules. But, sure, they’d had some good times.
“Then he came and ruined it all.”
“Teo?”
Jase’s lip curled, and he let her go with a little shove. “‘Teo’?” he mocked. “You mean ‘Dr. Moldy.’”
“I mean Teo. He saved us, Jase.”
“Saved?” Jase laughed, but it wasn’t his laugh, the one that made her laugh, too. This laugh was bitter and kind of mean. Not Jase’s laugh at all. “How fast things changed once you let him fuck you.”
“Bite me.” She started for the door again. Jase stepped in her way.
“Did he bite you? Did you like it?”
Gina’s hand curled into a fist. She very much wanted to sock Jase in the gut. Unfortunately, from previous experience she knew that his gut was rock hard and she’d only hurt her hand.
“Move your ass,” she said quietly.
“Or what?”
“I’ll call your mother. She’s down the hall.”
Fanny might appear mild mannered and sweet, but she could get downright nasty if Jase needed her to be. Right now, Gina thought he might need her to be.
Jase stepped back, but he didn’t clear the path to the door. “We were going to get married,” he said, and his voice sounded broken.
“Who?” Gina blurted before her mind caught up to her mouth. “Us? Jase.” She shook her head, took his hand. His was so cold she rubbed it between hers. “No. We weren’t.”
“If he’d never come—”
