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The next day, I had a bad feeling. Alistair and my mom would be gone for hours and hours, which meant Gareth would be free to do whatever he wanted in the house. I couldn’t say why, but I just knew… I knew something would go wrong if we were left by ourselves.
It was noon when I went to the third floor, where their bedroom was, in search of my mom. It was last minute, but I wanted to see if they could take Gareth and I along to this charity dinner.
The door was open, and that was the only reason I strolled in, thinking I’d find my mom at her makeup table in the corner and not, you know, someone in the process of putting on a shirt.
My feet skidded to a halt when I saw Alistair before the floor-length mirror near the makeup table, wearing nothing but dress pants. I got a good look at his bare back as he lifted his arms and slipped them inside the dark blue shirt he’d wear with his suit.
It was… a very nice back, obviously. I mean, I could’ve told you that. Might not have seen him naked that day, but I felt all his muscles through the wet fabric of his clothes, so… uh, I wasn’t sure where I was going with that.
Alistair noticed me, his icy blue stare spotting me somehow in the mirror, and he turned around to me, letting me get an eyeful of his lean, defined chest. And the abs, let’s not forget the abs. “What is it?” he asked, walking toward me as he started to button up his shirt from the bottommost one.
I let my gaze linger on his abs for a bit too long, wondering why he and Gareth had to be so hot. It made everything so much harder. “Uh, yeah, I’m looking for my mom.” The words tumbled out of my mouth quickly as I finally averted my gaze away from his abs.
Mostly because he’d buttoned the shirt up past them, so I couldn’t see them anyway.
“She’s in the bathroom right now,” he told me.
“Oh. Okay. Um.” Wow, I couldn’t remember a time when I’d tripped over my words so much. I sounded like an idiot, so unlike me.
“Is it something I could help you with?” Alistair’s emotionless face showed the faintest hints of concern.
“It’s nothing. I was just… I was just hoping that, maybe, you guys could bring us with you today. I’d love to visit the city again—”
Alistair wasn’t stupid. He knew what this was about. His voice dropped to a bare whisper, sounding so cold and calculated, “I told you what to do, Brianna. If you haven’t done it yet, it’s on you.”
I blinked. “Why? Why is it on me? Why is any of this my responsibility?” I shouldn’t even be here. Gareth Montgomery—and Alistair Montgomery—should be strangers to me, their names unknown.
He took another step towards me, done buttoning his shirt save for the one nearest his neck. It wasn’t tucked in either, so he looked undone. I wished that made him look less sexy, but it was the opposite. “I have tried,” Alistair whispered. “I’ve tried everything these past few years. Nothing works with him.”
“What makes you think I’m equipped to deal with him, then?” My mom was still in the bathroom; no telling how much longer we had. I really should take a step back and put a respectable distance between us; right now, Alistair stood less than a foot away, way too close. So close I could smell whatever cologne he’d put on.
“He views me as a different breed. He refuses to follow my code. I’ve tried to teach him, to guide him, but his hunger is too strong.” Alistair’s hands lifted, cupping my face and tilting my head back, causing my breath to catch in the process. “Gareth wants an equal,” he told me, “so give him one.”
“An equal?” I managed to speak, though how I did that with Alistair’s hands cupping my face like this, I hadn’t a clue. “I’m no—”
“You are. You can be. I see it in you, just like you can see it in me right now. You know I’m not like Gareth, but you also know I’m not normal, either. You can feel it, the darkness in me, in Gareth, because it’s inside you, too. You’re…”
I wanted to deny him, to tell him he was wrong, that everything he’d just said was nonsense, but I couldn’t. All I could do was gaze up into that icy stare and wonder if he was right.
Was this where I belonged? Was I just like them?
But right then, we heard the door to the bathroom opening, and Alistair’s hands dropped from my face. He was back before the mirror, finishing the last button on his shirt by the time my mom walked into the room, wearing a sparkling silver dress, her brown hair done up in tight curls, shiny diamonds on her neck.
She looked beautiful, I had to say. She really did thrive in this environment. I guess she was right when she said this was where she was always meant to be.
Somehow, though, I doubted she meant in a house full of psychopaths and serial killers.
My mom frowned when she saw me. “Brianna. What is it? We’re about ready to go—”
Alistair spoke near the mirror, “She wants to come with us.”
That got my mom to laugh, as if the thought of me getting all dolled up and going with her was the most ridiculous thing in the world. To her, I supposed it was.
“I told her maybe next time.” Alistair tossed a glance over his shoulder at me, wordlessly telling me to go, to face the music.
A fake smile spread across my face, and I turned its full power to my mom, who was still watching me. “You look beautiful,” I told her, knowing she’d perk up instantly—and she did. And then I turned and left the room, internally seething.
Ugh. Goddamn it. Fine. I guess I’d dragged my feet on it long enough. As soon as they left and we were alone in the house, I’d do it.
