Page 14 of Love Me

Thomas’s eyes seek mine in the rearview.

“Celine.” Warmth mixed with concern fills his baritone voice. “You could have had a life outside of all this.”

That’s not possible for me.

“Thank you for your concern, but I’m right where I belong.”

“You’ve changed.” A sigh heaves his chest, making his disapproval clear.

A flash of anger strikes me.

“I did what I had to do.”

He’s silent for the remainder of the drive until he pulls up outside the two-story mansion.

“We’re here.”

Thomas opens the door for me, but my eyes trail toward the neighboring house as I step out.

“Kaden has changed as well,” Thomas says.

“I don’t care.”

“You consider only your perspective. You’re still young.”

Young? I don’t know many nineteen-year-olds who can do what I can. I have become what circumstances forced me to be, but what I will never regret is getting rid of that pathetic girl in love.

I step inside. Nothing has changed. The same blueish paint, mine and my mom’s obsession with blue, is presented by this museum-like house. Strangely, it stopped feeling like home the moment I returned as an orphan.

Inside my old bedroom, I unpack. I stick my knife under the nightstand and all my other weapons under the mattress, and then I take out my camera and microphone detector. For the next two hours, I search every corner of the house.

When my father calls me, I drop down on the couch.

“How did it go?”

“Checking in on me?”

“You’re my daughter.” And I wish, at times, he’d behave more like a father.

“Grandmother said to be her eyes.”

“She puts you at odds with the others, then.”

“I’ll deal with that.”

“Cillian, Mia, and Hunter are on the plane. Don’t get distracted. Never forget the end goal.”

How could I?

“I won’t”

After showering, I glide my hand down the mirror, erasing the condensation.

You can do this. No one and nothing will stop you.

I blow my hair into big curls that fall down my back, add a touch of makeup, and put on an A-line, knee-length blue dress with matching silver sandals. Elegant, prim, and proper.

One last glance in the mirror to check everything sits perfectly, and I walk down the stairs. Outside, the driver picks me up.

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