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“I watch you all the time. I’m learning your expressions.”
“Creepy,” I teased.
He grinned. “What else is going on, Duchess?”
“It’s about my stepfather.”
“What about him?”
“I want him to pay for what he’s done,” I stated baldly.
“I know.”
“I wish I had proof.” I shook my head. “He’s just going to get away with what he did to my father.”
“Okay, let’s say there was proof. You know how this would go? An exhausting trial with your entire family’s dirty laundry on display—not to mention the company’s dirty laundry on display. At best, he’d get convicted and probably strike a deal to go to some white-collar prison where he could play pool and watch TV. And it wouldn’t feel like a prison at all for him. And in a few years on good behavior, he’d be out again, because that’s the world we live in now. And you’d know he was still alive, even if day to day you could forget about him, you’d never forget that he was alive and your father is dead. Or, if you want real justice, I can give you real justice.”
His offer hung in the air between us.
“And you won’t lose sleep over it?” I asked.
“I wouldn’t regret it for a minute.”
“Do you have any regrets at all?”
“What’s the point of regrets, Duchess? Can you change the past? No. All you can do is move forward.”
“I wish I didn’t know,” I murmured. “I wish I didn’t know what he did to my father. Because that’s not something I’ll ever be able to rectify, even if Arnold pays for what he’s done.”
Bones pulled me into his arms, and I fell against his chest. I buried my head into the crook of his neck.
There wasn’t anything Bones wouldn’t do for me. The man would kill for me. He’d stain his soul in the name of justice.
Arnold’s death wouldn’t bring my father back. It wouldn’t replace the last three years. But maybe it would bring me peace. And that had to be enough.
Chapter 54
My phone trumpeted on the nightstand, startling me out of a sound sleep.
“What the fuck,” Bones muttered. His face was pressed into the pillow. “Who the hell is calling so early?”
I glanced at the alarm clock. “It’s just past eight, it’s hardly early.”
“It’s early when you go to bed at 2 AM,” he pointed out.
I grabbed the phone and quickly silenced it, but not before glancing at the screen. “It’s my mother.” I set the phone aside and snuggled back down into bed. “I’ll call her in a bit.”
Bones threw an arm across my waist and crushed me to him.
My phone began to ring again.
“It must be important,” I said.
“Important like what flower arrangements you want at the party she’s throwing for us, or important like which jewels should she get out of the vault important?”
“Be nice,” I chastised. “The fact that my mother adores you after such a short time speaks volumes.”
With a sigh, Bones removed his arm from across my body so I could rise. I picked up my phone and pressed a button before putting it to my ear. “Good morning.”
