Page 86 of False Idols

Earlier I thought Simon, the older of the two and someone I know from the parties my parents have thrown, was going to have a heart attack when he didn’t find us after breakfast. We were in the wine cellar, investigating just how much time my father spent here by the amount of wine he had stored. When we came back upstairs, Simon had his gun out and was radioing Marcus for back up.

“Right, I thought Simon was going to shoot us when we came back upstairs,” Nevaeh whispers and looks around like she thinks Marcus or Simon might be listening. Maybe they are, but I don’t care. Nevaeh gets her shoes on and I get an eyeful of her ass. She’s wearing a sundress, something that doesn’t much look like an outfit my mother would wear. It’s far too short, sheer and floral. There’s a ruffle around the hem of it that only hits Nevaeh’s mid thigh. It’s definitely my father’s mistress’ dress Nevaeh is wearing. It makes sense, with the way this place looks kept up. It explains the fresh food and the linens that felt freshly laundered when we got into bed last night. I wonder if my mother knows my father is cheating. Probably not, if he’s bringing her out here. I’m not surprised he’s cheating, but I am surprised that he would play house with another woman.

My mother is vindictive and cruel when she needs to be. If she found out he was cheating on her, she’d bury him. Whoever it is must be worth it.

“I’m ready!” Nevaeh yells once she has her shoes on and I pause to look at her. Not just see her, but really and truly look at her. We opened the curtains up this morning to let the sun in and the late afternoon sun slants in and frames her. She looks so innocent and fresh faced. Her dark hair has a slight curl to it from my fingers and the smile she sends my way is bright and open. If I didn’t know better, I’d say she was having a vacation, not hiding out from a serial killer. Since last night, there has been a shift in her and I can’t put my finger on it. When we went to bed, she felt like stone in my arms. I could feel her heart racing. She managed to get to sleep, but it wasn’t easy. Every creak of the house had Nevaeh stiffening and scooting closer to me until we were pressed so close that it was hard to breathe.

But this morning?

This morning she’s been like a different girl. She’s laughed and walked around barefoot and carefree. She’s laid out by the pool and texted Sunny while she snacked and went through fashion magazines she found in the den. There’s something not right about her. Even as happy as I am when I’m with Nevaeh, this feels off. This isn’t happiness, it’s a manic energy that has Nevaeh bouncing on her toes while I lock the door and watch the sky.

“The storm is almost here. We’re going to need to come back sooner than I thought.” I point to the sky and lead her towards the trail that runs from the house to the lake. It makes a big loop, so if we stay on it we’ll be right back at the house.The loop isn’t long, maybe a mile and a half, but I don’t think we’ll be able to do it before the rain hits.

Nevaeh pouts and drags her feet as she falls behind me. “Stop being such a downer. I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

Yup, there’s definitely something up with Nevaeh. She’s cautious and smart, so why is she acting like a careless pre-teen?

“Uh-huh.”

She sighs behind me. “You’re being so grumpy.”

“And you’re acting out of character.”

“How do you even know that? It’s not like you’ve spent time with me,” Nevaeh tosses at me and then starts walking faster. The trail we’re on is dirt and has a lot of uneven parts to it. The people that used to own the property had horses and would ride them down to the lake and back. Nevaeh shoves past me and almost eats shit when her toe catches on a rock, but I catch her arm and hold her up.

“Like hell,” I tell her and drag her back against me. “I fucking know you and we both know it. There’s not a thought in that pretty head of yours that I can’t read. You’re mine, angel.”

She slaps at my hand and turns to glare at me. “You don’t-I’m not yours. I’m just me. I don’t belong to anyone, okay?”

“Keep talking like that and I’ll take you to get my name tatted on your ass when this is over.” I’m half serious when I say that. There were plenty of guys in lock up that had their women tattoo their names on them as a promise of waiting till they made parole. I never thought I’d be one of those men, but Nevaeh makes me want it. There’s an appeal to thinking about my name sitting on the curve of her ass where I can see it. Nevaeh turns her back on me and marches off. The fast pace that she’s walking sets an extra sway to her hips and makes her dress ride up slightly.

Oh yeah, I can see my name marking her perfect ass.

“Whatever,” Nevaeh tosses over her shoulder as she stomps forward. When she stumbles I sigh and call out to her.

“Slow the fuck down or you’re going to eat shit.”

“You don’t tell me what to do!” she explodes and turns back to face me with a glare on her beautiful face. “No one tells me what the fuck to do!”

I stop walking and cross my arms over my chest. “That so, angel?”

“Yeah! And stop fucking calling me angel! I’m not an angel!”

“You are to me,” I tell her and Nevaeh jerks back like I slapped her.

“You’re a liar!” She screams and points a finger at me. “I’m not an angel, you’re saying that to make fun of me. You hate me for what I did.” Her voice cracks and I see tears in her eyes. The wind kicks up and blows her hair across her face. Nevaeh pushes at her hair and tries to keep the skirt of her dress down when the wind flips it up.

“Nevaeh…” I take a slow step towards her and then another. She’s wearing stupid sandals. Shoes that my dad’s mistress probably only wears to walk around the pool and not on this shit trail. When Nevaeh tries to back up from me, her foot catches and she falls to her knees.

“Angel,” I start when I see her shoulders shake. She’s crying when she looks up at me.

“Stop calling me that! I’m not an angel. I fucking ruined your life!”

“Nevaeh-”

“I ruined your fucking life! You can’t love me, that’s insane!”

“And you shouldn't love me either after what I did to you!” I explode and get in her face when she gets up off of her knees. “It’s insane that you want me after the way I fucked you.”

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