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Arthur walks into my bedroom with confidence just two hours after he left. He drops a bag on the floor by my drawers. “I need space for my clothes,” he says.
I take a drink from the glass of water Mama B just left me. “What for?”
“Because I’m staying.”
I laugh, but when he doesn’t join me and I realise he’s serious, my smile fades. “You can’t stay here.”
“I’m staying, Meli. Mav’s fine with it.”
“I’m not,” I snap. “Besides, you have a guest to take care of.”
“I’ll check in with her, but I’m staying in this room every night, with you.”
“Until when exactly?” I ask. “It’s not practical. My room isn’t made for two. It’s also ridiculous seeing as you have a huge house, and how long before you’re taking another important call and rushing off? Just do us both a favour and go.”
He takes off his shoes, followed by his jacket. “Ripper,” he says, hanging the jacket on the chair in the corner, “is lucky he’s dead.” I don’t want to talk about Ripper, so I pick up my new mobile phone that Mav got me, and pretend to be engrossed in it. “And if I could kill him all over again, I would. I’d do it slow.” He sighs. “Meli, I’m not gonna walk away. Know that every time I go out that door to sort business, I’m coming back to you. I’m gonna protect you from now on. No more monsters.”
I lean back against the headboard. “What if you die?”
“I won’t.”
“Someone might kill you.”
He grins. “They might. That’s not technically my fault, so you can’t be mad at me for that.”
“I can. Don’t tell me you’re not leaving if there’s a chance you might die,” I say, shrugging.
He laughs. “Okay, I’ll try not to die or get killed, but there is a small possibility, like there is with everyone, that it could happen. And if it does, I want you to know I’m truly sorry and I never meant to leave you.”
I put my mobile down. “All jokes aside, Arthur, this could be a train wreck.”
“I’m quite good at staying on track,” he whispers, making his way to the bed. “I’m sorry you got hurt. It should never have happened. I’ve dealt with it, and from now on, I’ll make sure you’re safe all the time.”
“Are they dead?”
He shakes his head. “I need them to relay a message back. They haven’t made it in one piece, though.”
I nod, glad. They deserve it. “Did you find out how they knew?”
He shakes his head. “No, but there’s a strong possibility someone’s watching the house.”
“Isn’t Jolene there?”
“Rosey and Albert are taking it in turns watching over her.”
I feel a pang of jealousy that he’s watching out for Jolene. It’s ridiculous, he’s being a nice guy, but it bothers me. She’s got her sights set on him, and the fact he’s helping her makes her think she’s in with a chance. Maybe she is . . . I frown, wondering if I could really let him walk away if he chose her over me.
He lays between my legs, propping his chin on his hands to look at me. His blue eyes twinkle as he grins, showing off those bad boy dimples. “Do you forgive me for everything?”
“Yes.” I lean down to kiss him and hiss when my ribs ache. He lifts my shirt and kisses the dark bruising there instead. “Because you don’t listen to me when I tell you to go anyway.”
“Will you tell me about Ripper?” he asks, bringing his eyes to me again. “I know it won’t be easy to hear, but it’ll make the awful scenarios in my head go.”
I bite my lower lip. “It’s not as bad as everyone makes out,” I whisper, gently running my fingers through his hair. He closes his eyes. “I know it was all wrong. I see that now, but back then, when I was just a kid, I thought he loved me, like a boyfriend loved a girlfriend.” His eyes open again, and he looks sad. “And I can’t tell anyone that because . . . because they’ll think I wanted him to do that stuff, and I didn’t. I just didn’t know it was wrong.” Tears balance on my lower lash. “Does that make sense?”
He nods, taking one hand and linking our fingers together. “It makes perfect sense.”
“I thought he was being nice. It started with a mobile phone.” I release a shuddery breath. “If I’d have known what it would mean to take that phone, I would never ever have taken it. But he made it seem so normal, like it was a nice thing he was doing. I spoke to a therapist when it all came out, and she said it’s how a lot of men like him start—a gift that tells them if you’re going to keep secrets from your loved ones. And I did,” I wipe my eyes, “I kept it a secret because I wanted a phone so badly, and when I think about it now, it seems such a stupid thing to be desperate for. Why did I even want a phone at that age? Who was I going to call?” I laugh, but it’s empty.
