You know, don’t you, Mother?Buthowdid she know?
“You’ve centered in on your first test subject,” Magnolia murmured.
Yes, she had.
Atlas Bennett.
Atlas.Named for the Titan of Greek myth.The one who bore the weight of the world on his shoulders.
“Do you think he’ll carry your burdens?Take some of your darkness away?”Magnolia shook her head.“I doubt it, darling.I think he’ll just pull you under with him.The weight might just crush you both.”A shrug.“I always worried you’d be attracted to the wrong kind of man.I mean, just look at the failure of your last relationship.”
She wasn’t talking about that relationship with Magnolia.
“He was a user,” Magnolia said.“Tried to warn you about that.You didn’t listen.”Her lips pursed.“Will you listen this time?”
“I’m not attracted to research subjects.”
“That’s not what he will be.”
Their gazes held.Fought.
“Live up toyourname,” her mother urged her.
That was the problem.She already had.And now I have to find a way to stop.Someone has to help me stop.Because she wasn’t sure if she was strong enough to do it herself.
ChapterEight
Present day…
Lily rantoward the open front door of her rental house.She could see the shattered doorbell camera, broken and smashed into pieces on the narrow porch.The lock on the door had been broken, too, apparently banged to hell and back, and a discarded hammer—the hammer from the small shed in the back of the property, a hammer Lily had used just days before—had been dropped near the door.Her hands flew out to push the door open.
“Nope.”Atlas’s arms curled around her stomach, and he hauled her back.“Did we learnanythingfrom the explosion tonight?Let’s not run straight into traps.Don’t particularly want to watch you burn in front of my eyes.”
She struggled in his grip.“I have to get inside!”
Again… “Nope.”He lifted her off her feet, completely ignored her struggles, and carried her back toward the limo.Where he basically hurled her inside as if she weighed nothing and tossing her was the easiest thing in the world.
She landed on the seat and immediately surged forward.
But Atlas blocked her exit.“Do I honestly look like I will allow you to die tonight?”
“It’smyhouse!”
“No, technically, it’s mine.I own it.You are the tenant who broke the terms of her lease when she started painting and doing repair projects without authorization.”
“What?”Since when did he own it?When?
“That’s probably like check or checkmate.Me, owning your place.Didn’t see that coming, did you?So much for being the all-knowing Lily.”
“Atlas.”She’d never claimed to be all-knowing.And when had he bought her house?
All traces of humor fled.“You’re not going near the house right now.So get over it.Desmond is calling the cops.After tonight’s very, shall we say…hotevents, I want a bomb squad checking the property before you get anywhere near it.”Flat.Hard.
And…
Smart, dammit.Smart.She should never have just run inside.The perp had made it clear her house had been invaded.Thus, the broken lock and smashed doorbell camera.Correction—Atlas’s house.Only it had not belonged to him when she moved in.Lily was certain of that fact.
“Thinking more clearly now?Excellent.We won’t have long before the cops arrive.”He climbed into the limo.Slammed the door after him.“Tell me, Lily, what is inside that the cops should not discover?”
