Page 84 of Love is Angry

Tears are streaming down my cheeks, too. To my astonishment, Rhue is coming through for me in ways I couldn’t even begin to imagine.

Change is coming, and I believe that not even Julian Echeveria can keep it at bay.

Not when someone like Rhue is riding the wave.

He asked me to have a little faith, then went on to save my father’s business and our home in the blink of an eye. Yeah, I have faith. I absolutely have faith in him.

Chapter 36

Madison

“Well,” Dad says, wiping his face and pretending he hadn’t just been crying. “It’s about that time. Who wants to help me make dinner?”

“Oh,” Rhue says. “I was actually wondering if I could steal Madison for a little while.” He turns toward me. “I need to talk to you about the Brazilian transgender subculture. You know, the module we’re doing next week in Mr. Haynes’s course. I was hoping we could go over the course material before that.”

We did that module last week, which means he has something to tell me that he doesn’t want to say in front of Dad—or he wants an excuse to get me alone. I’m not sure I’m opposed to either of those; him saving dad’s livelihood has me seeing him in a whole new light.

Dad looks a little crestfallen, and I’m irritated at Rhue for not waiting just a little bit longer. Is it really so urgent that we talk now?

“We can help,” I say, but Rhue is already up and gently clutching my elbow as he gets me up and off my chair. Within seconds, we’re crossing the kitchen.

“Come on,” he whispers. “We need to talk.”

“Sorry, Dad!” I call out as we reach the hallway.

Dad says something along the lines of “Don’t worry, honey!” but it’s too late for me to hear it clearly. Rhue has us gliding up the stairs. By the time we reach my bedroom, I am breathless and flustered and slightly confused as I don’t quite understand the urgency.

“Rhue, what the hell?” I hiss.

We’re in my bedroom, and Rhue has just locked the door behind us. I don’t know why, but I feel hot and vulnerable. The darkness in his eyes and the smoothness of his movements make him seem like a tiger about to pounce on his prey. Chills tumble down my spine as he looks at me for what feels like forever.

“Do you remember my mom’s personal assistant?” he asks, finally breaking the heavy silence. With his arms crossed, I realize this conversation will not devolve into any clothes off and gasps for breath and ravenous kissing. Oddly enough, I’m disappointed. “Sibel Osman. Did you ever meet her?”

I have to think about it for a moment. “I may have seen her around your house once or twice, but only in passing, when I was either coming in or leaving a session with you.”

“Tall brunette, long hair, brown eyes.”

“Yeah, legs for days. Turkish, right?”

“That’s her,” he says, his brows furrowing and lips pulled tight. “I saw her today. Turns out she gave conflicting statements to Rochester PD about the day my mother died, but no one ever followed up after the coroner ruled it a suicide.”

“Oh?”

My blood runs cold. Laura’s theory. On the one hand, I’m surprised that Rhue decided to follow up on it. On the other hand, I am genuinely terrified. We’re poking a hornets’ nest here, and Rhue is basically a hornet by blood. He won’t get stung the way I will if Julian catches a whiff of us looking into Roxanne’s death—especially if he did kill her—but even if hedidn’t. It would make him look bad, and if there’s one thing Julian hates, it’s looking bad.

I sit down numbly, and Rhue notices the color leaving my cheeks.

“Maddie, I had to. With everything you told me—everything Laura said—all the stuff in mom’s diary…I couldn’t leave it at that.” He seems remorseful, but I know he will keep at it, despite feeling this way. Hell, I would probably do the same. “There’s definitely something fucked up about this whole thing.”

“What do you mean?” My voice trembles. Every reference to Roxanne’s death and my trauma sets off all kinds of nightmares in the back of my head—dark monsters waiting for nightfall and sleep to hound and torture me until dawn.

“About my mother’s death. I’m not gonna straight up accuse my father, but I think Laura is on to something. There is something fishy about what happened, and it may have had something to do with Julian. I found a detective in the Major Crimes unit who seems to agree with me.” He tells me about his meeting with Cordero, the file he acquired, and his encounter with Sibel. I listen carefully to the details as he elaborates.

“But in the end, Sibel didn’t have anything new to tell,” I sigh, feeling rather disappointed.

Rhue shakes his head, thinking deeply. “She’s scared, Maddie. She’s terrified, and I’m pretty sure my father’s paying her to keep quiet. There’s no way she could afford that place, even if my mom paid her double the going rate. He’s got everyone under his thumb—bribes, blackmail, or both—except you.”

“Rhue––” I start to say but find that I can barely speak. My throat is knotted and closed up.

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