AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I remember the cold, blank expression on his face as he drove past our house, as he sped away from me even as I ran after him in my prom dress that was drenched in my parents’ blood.
So, either he deliberately hid the truth from the twins so they wouldn’t find out and viciously cut me off for some reason that he won’t divulge, or…
Or… I refuse to contemplate the alternative.
No.
I won’t.
Brooksknew.He had to know. He saw the blood all over me, the horror in my eyes. He saw, and he didn’t stop, didn’t even roll down the window as he drove past.
He would have seen reports about their violent murders on the news. One look at the crime scene photographs, and he would’ve understood that my parents were attacked by demons. Anyone with a little knowledge of the supernatural would know that. Hell, Becka and I were new to all this, and even we figured it out.
Brooksknew, and he left me all the same.
Heleftme.
And he took his brothers far away where they couldn’t find me.
The righteous anger of the knowledge is all that has kept me going these long years as Becka and I hunted down every monster we could find and made their kind pay.
All this time, I could have had Jackson and Orion at my side. But Brooks took them away from me. I’ll never be able to forgive him for that.
I stare down at Brooks’s T-shirt in my hands. With a cry, I hurl it at the wall. I think about that moment last night, when our fingers touched, and I felt…something. Something that woke in me those same intense feelings Brooks stirred five years ago when he pushed me against an alley wall in my prom dress and kissed me like he needed me to breathe.
“Fuck you, Brooks Bellua!” I yell at the wall.
The crumpled T-shirt doesn’t answer me.
Even now, he’s trying to manipulate me. Barging his way into this room, trying to take over the investigation, and last night when…
Maybe he didn’t know,my foolish heart whispers.Maybe he actually didn’t see you that night. Maybe something else…
Nope.
I’m not going there.
I clamber off the bed and hunt around for my knives, which I jam into their sheaths. I cast one last look at Brooks’s rumpled side of the bed before I head toward the door.
I’m not moping around and falling apart over a guy who doesn’t even want me.
I am banishing this ghost fuckingtonightso I can get the fuck away from the Bellua brothers once and for all.
To do that, I need some ghost bait.
I findthe concierge in the lounge at the rear of the hotel. Luckily, no Bellua brothers are nearby. I wait until Freddie’s finished helping an elderly couple identify some nice walking paths on a fold-out map before approaching him.
“Hi, Freddie. I wondered if you could help me with something?”
“Certainly, Mrs. Dean.” Freddie gives a short bow. “That’s what I’m here for. What can I do for you? Is everything satisfactory with your room? Would you and Mr. Dean like to reserve a romantic table for two in our award-winning restaurant?”
I resist the urge to make a face at the idea of trying to have a romantic dinner with my fake husband. “I’m really keen to get started on my project. Did you ever end up finding information about the hotel? Maybe a scrapbook of newspaper clippings…?”
Freddie appears resigned. “Unfortunately not. I’m sorry. We have a few photographs on the wall in the billiards room, buthonestly, the guests aren’t interested in the hotel’s history, so we don’t highlight it beyond a few mentions on the website. There are things in the past I think the owners would like to forget.”
You mean the murders,I think but don’t say.
“What about the staff?” I ask, thinking that I may get lucky, and someone could still be working. “Or the owners? I could talk to them?”
