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“You have nothingnow. That might change.”
Whatever he was hiding, I’d better find out, because if I didn’t, I might not have any leverage to save myself. I was making a deal with someone who might be in direct conflict with one of the people I loved the most, and at her urging. This was insanity, and yet I felt myself moving along in the same direction. It was the only direction I had.
He stood and walked over to me, all the humor gone, nothing but cold lethality in his eyes.
“Are you giving me your word you won’t act against me? Because that’s binding,” he said. “If you break your word, there will be ramifications.”
“Same here,” I said, bluffing. What possible revenge would I serve? But I wasn’t going to stand here like a chump and not at least attempt to match him.
He smiled slowly. “Why do I have the feeling that you think I’m on the losing end of this bargain?” he asked.
“I know nothing other than what we’ve seen so far,” I said, probably sounding a hair too defensive. “If you’re saying that’s too much to handle, beyond your capabilities…”
He leaned on the mantel, eyeing me up in a way that made me want to shiver, and said, “I wouldn’t dream of bowing out now.”
“So that’s it? We have an agreement?” I asked, knowing I needed this more than him.
“We do.”
Now, as long as good old Gram didn’t have other plans, or Kaden didn’t realize who Gram was, maybe I’d make it to next year.
Chapter Thirty-One
My phone was on the table in front of me—silent. It was eight o’clock and it hadn’t buzzed with messages or rung all day. I thought I’d gotten used to this in the past couple of weeks, but somehow the silence burned deeper because of my birthday. This was officially my life now, and I was utterly alone.
The outpost was quiet, everyone off somewhere with something to do, except me, and it all felt a little surreal. I turned twenty-five today, and not even the woman who birthed me remembered. No amount of telling me that this was normal would take the sting out of this wound.
I picked up my phone, fighting the urge to call someone, and cracked. I dialed my mother.
The phone rang so many times that I thought it was going to go to voicemail.
“Hello?” she answered.
“Hey! It’s me.” I tried to tamp down the enthusiasm, the neediness she’d surely hear. Had she remembered? Had this date jarred her memory?
Silence spread, and all my hopes began to crash.
“Who is this?” she asked.
“It’s Billie.” And there were my emotions, a fiery explosion at the bottom of the cliff.
Dead silence greeted me, as if she were trying to jog her memory. She finally said, “Oh, Billie! Hey, what’s going on?”
She spoke the way people caught unawares did. She had no idea who I was.
“Just seeing what you were up to. Haven’t spoken to you for a little bit,” I said, trying to fill the awkwardness.
Again, a long pause, and her thoughts were practically broadcast through the silence as she tried to figure out why not talking would be an issue.
“I’ve been really running crazy with the new house. I didn’t realize you were expecting me to call.”
Why wouldn’t I? It was mybirthday. Did I bother to say it? She wouldn’t know why that would be an issue either.
“Billie?” she asked after a few more seconds of silence, this time my fault.
“Yeah, I’m here,” I said, almost too forcefully so my voice didn’t tremble.
“I’d love to catch up, but I’m actually meeting someone for a drink right now, so I have to get going.”
