Page 107 of Once Bitten, Twice Mine

Her mother’s face softened. “Well, that’s good to hear.”

“Were you the one that bit me?” Her father asked with a stony face.

Caroline winced. She had forgotten this thorn in all of their planning. This was possibly even worse than her killing Edgar.

“Yes, sir. I had a task in coming here, but I couldn’t perform it because I loved your daughter too much. I wasn’t going to feed from you again, even if you hadn’t left. It felt…wrong. And I do apologize for doing so in the first place.”

Caroline appreciated the apology, but she would speak with Valeria about it later. As of now, she could feel as if her parents were on the precipice of either accepting her or throwing up many objections. Her father downed the rest of his whiskey and sighed.

“George,” her mother said quietly as she looked at her father.

He sighed. “Where is Edgar now?”

“He’s in my room. We placed a sheet over him.”

“There’s a dead body in my house,” her mother hissed, glaring at both her and Valeria.

Her father sighed again and stood up. “And he’ll be here for a few more hours, but I promise it’ll be settled before lunch.”

“Do you have a plan? Valeria said she was going to get rid of the body. We don’t have much time because she goes to sleep at dawn.”

“It’ll take longer than that, but of course I have a plan. Did you think you came by your planning naturally? I don’t often execute my ideas, but I’ve been known to have a plan or two.”

* * *

It was nearly half past ten in the morning, and Caroline had yet to go to sleep, but she was too jittery to be tired. Her parents were dressed for the day while drinking tea in the bathroom they were hiding out in. As a group, they had decided Caroline should stay in her night clothes. It would make it more believable as a young, grieving widow.

“How much longer do you think he’ll be? The messenger had to have gotten there a while ago.”

“Give him time,” her father said as he read the newspaper. “Murnau would have rushed here if he was alive, but no doctor will rush to a dead body. He’ll be here soon, but he probably had to finish up with someone he could help.”

Her father’s logic made sense, but did little to quell her anxiety. Their plan was simple—as all good plans were—but she knew precisely how important it was that everything went to plan.

And it gave them time to prepare.

“Do you think his estate will be tied up in probate for very long?”

“I think it will be a while; his family will certainly fight it, but you should get at least a nest egg to get you started somewhere else. You weren’t married long, but you were unquestionably married.”

Caroline stopped short. Her father sounded entirely unconcerned about the money her family desperately needed.

“We need the money for the roof! We can’t afford to have it all tied up while there’s a legal fight.”

“All of the deposits have been paid. It will be months until we have to settle the rest of the bill. You don’t have to worry about it, Caro.”

She balled her hands into fists at her side. She hated how he never seemed to take anything seriously. He sat there so casually while she was fretting over their future. She couldn’t imagine ever feeling that calm over anything.

“Of course you’re not worried because you’re not the one who is going to have to find the money.”

“Caroline,” her mother said in the same scolding tone she used when she was a child.

“No one has asked you to find the money. You’ll inherit the estate ultimately, but I am still in charge.”

Caroline snorted. “Yeah, and how has that been working? Why do you think I married Edgar in the first place? We need his money to keep everything afloat, and now who knows what I’m going to do next, but I won’t be getting married again.”

“Is money the only reason you married Edgar?” Her mother asked, frowning.

“Basically. I knew I needed to marry smart and for money. I didn’t want to be backed into a situation where I was stuck with a man I didn’t choose.”