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“It’ll give us a direction to go off of.”
“Yes, it will.” There's a humming sensation rippling through my body, the buzzing of excitement, possibility. “I like this idea. I’ll come up with a few stories I know will get under her skin, and you break down the men into groups.”
The sound of tires crunching over gravel draws my attention, instantly wiping away all thoughts of Amanda when I catch sight of Tatum's car flying up the driveway.
Romero grunts in disapproval as we watch. “It's bad enough she refuses to have a driver,” he mutters. “But does she have to drive like a bat out of hell?”
The car breezes past us before squealing to a stop in front of the house. The two of us watch, silent, as Tatum shoves her door open and jumps out, then reaches into the back seat for shopping bags which she yanks from the car almost violently.
“Tatum?” I call out, but my voice goes unacknowledged. She doesn't look my way, either.
“Great,” I mutter, with Romero sighing in agreement. There I was, thinking everything was getting better.
What's worse, Bianca waits to open her door until Tatum is already stomping her way up the front steps and into the house. The worry in her voice when she calls out gets my legs moving without thinking. “Wait a minute, Tatum. Please?” Bianca goes ignored, too, which tells me whatever this is has to be serious.
“Bianca.” The dismay on her delicate face draws me to her. Nevertheless, she's already hurrying from the car and up into the house by the time I reach her. What the hell is going on? I am chasing behind them both.
What could have happened? Fear knots in my stomach. Everything was fine when they left the house. So whatever it is, it must have occurred while they were out, and it upset Bianca enough that she ignored me in favor of chasing her friend.
Considering I'm already dealing with the bitterness of knowing I've been betrayed by one of my own, today is not the day to test if I’m willing to put a bullet in someone.
“Bianca!” I bark once inside the house. My angry bellow fills the air, echoing in the cavernous entry hall.
She peers over her shoulder, and it damn near stops my heart. I can't identify what's written across her face using any other word but fear. She's frightened. Immediately every horrible, terrible thought fills my head. Who hurt her? I swear to god I’ll kill them, destroy them, make them wish they were never born.
“What happened?” I demand, marching toward her while she backs away, closer to the door separating Tatum's wing from the rest of the house. My daughter has already disappeared behind it.
“She's upset.” Bianca peeks behind her to the closed door.
“No kidding. Why? That's my question. What happened while you were shopping?”
“I...” She shakes her head, shrugging, but her body betrays her as a slight tremble moves through her. “I'm not sure.”
“Bianca, please tell me this isn’t where we are again. Don’t lie to me, because that's what you're doing, and you've never been any good at it. We promised to be honest with each other going forward, so I deserve to know. I don’t like both of you being upset without knowing how to fix it.” I reach for her and recoil with surprise when she flinches away from my touch. “What happened?” I demand. “I swear to god if I find out that someone…”
“No one did anything.” She interrupts me before I can finish my thought. “It's just... I don't know…” Her chest begins to rise and fall rapidly, faster with every second. Her gaze widens, and she reminds me of a bunny in a trap. Now it doesn't matter if she flinches. I can’t bear to stand by and watch her suffer like this, so I grab her by the arms and pull her close, holding her against my chest while she trembles against me.
“Whatever it is, you can tell me. We’ll work it out. However, we can't if I don’t know what we’re up against.” Deep down inside, I know too well that if she is afraid or hesitates to tell me the truth, it's no one's fault but my own. The way I treated her before, my moods swinging violently back and forth depending on how determined I was to keep her away from me for her own good. It's only natural she would still be afraid of me at times. That's a punishment I'll have to learn to live with as I earn her trust.
“Can we go sit down somewhere? Somewhere private?”
With an arm wrapped around her waist, I walk her to my office. Dread weighs heavier on me with every step we take. While in my head, I can't help but try to guess what's coming. It's a habit of being in my position for years; the effort to keep me and mine safe by foreseeing every obstacle and danger.
