Page 119 of Chandelier Enthralled
Yeah, she didn’t know everything, and I doubted Cameron had told her the extent of what that woman was capable of.
I motioned for Willa to come down off the counter. “Come on, I need to get you something else to wear. You can’t leave the house like that.”
“I can’t stay?”
“He won’t let you.”
She looked horrified. “Is my brother on his way?” Her tone expressed betrayal. “I thought when you ran that bath, I was going to become…”
“My submissive?” I asked. “You don’t belong in our world. You have trouble managing yours.” I looked away, realizing how that sounded. “Willa, I’m sorry.”
She set her mug down and leaped off the island, knocking my hand away when I went to help her. “It’s good to know exactly what you think of me.”
“I respect you, but clearly that isn’t enough.”
“No, you don’t.”
The thought of her kneeling before me sent a shiver up my spine. To boldly control this woman, protect her, would be the ultimate achievement.
I had the urge to demand she kneel before me and let me take my place where I belonged, as her master, a man who would adore her.
I would keep her safe, keep her out of Pendulum.
“Just tell me why,” she said. “Tell me why it’s impossible for us…”
The sound of a car approaching the house caught our attention. Her brother was seconds from taking her away, and I couldn’t decide whether to be relieved or destroyed by Willa slipping through my fingers.
This is what’s best for her.
You are not.
I was going to have to be diligent so that Cameron couldn’t read my expression and see the truth…that I’d fallen for his sister.
We both stared at the kitchen tile as though it might offer up answers.
Finally, she looked up. “Let me help you find out what happened that night.” She pointed toward the pool. “In turn, you help me get the story that helps my career.”
“Absolutely not.”
Disappointment showed on her face.
Before she could object, I said, “You should go upstairs and change. There’s a pair of sweatpants in the guest room’s dresser.”
In silence, she left the kitchen, and I heard her climb the stairs.
A few minutes later, she returned downstairs, and we walked together down the hallway toward the front door.
Willa tilted her head to look up at me. “You have security.”
She’d seen me deactivate it on the way in. “Yes.”
“Well, you have a camera at the back door, in the kitchen. Doesn’t that tech record if you go out during the night? If you didn’t deactivate it that’s your alibi.”
My mouth went dry, it was so obvious. Atticus and Cameron had to have considered that, too. In my sad fugue state, I’d not considered this because I had not felt like I needed an alibi.
Should Atticus and Cameron explore the security data, they’d have the answer they needed. Was this why they hadn’t asked to see it. For fear they’d see proof it was me who’d harmed Amelia?
Either they were protecting me or trying to solve this case themselves.
