Page 21 of A Light in the Darkness
“And extreme boredom.” Elaine laughs suddenly. “It’s not the sort of flight an esteemed woman such as your wife wants to take. I’m sure you’re exhausted from the trip here.” Her voice is simpering, catering to the senator’s wife. And it appears to work, whatever Elaine is up to, because Addison sighs.
“Painfully so. I haven’t slept much since Mason was born, and it only got worse after Brantley.”
“Two boys?” Elaine asks. “Oh, you poor thing. I can’t even imagine your fatigue.” She tuts her tongue like she is thinking of something. “Why don’t you come relax at the house with me? We can leave the men to their manly business, and I’ll treat you to a wonderful dinner. And we have some of the best spa treatments in the world, right here at our disposal.”
Addison glances at her nails, thinking that offer through, and then turns to her husband. “I do need the rest, you know. It’s the whole reason I came along.”
“Of course,” he agrees quickly. I’m not sure yet whether the senator is a man used to agreeing with everybody or if his wife has just trained him well, but either way, he seems eager to please.
“Make yourself at home,” I say with a smile, taking Elaine’s lead.
“Thank you.” Addison says, and I have no doubt that she absolutely will.
The senator and his wife kiss goodbye, and then Elaine ushers her to the car we brought to the airfield. She even shepherds the woman to her door like a chauffeur, closing it behind her. Addison did an impressive job ignoring the rest of the crew, but once she’s safely inside the car, her husband turns his attention to the people he hasn’t met yet.
“I’m Victor,” he says, sticking his hand out for whoever wants to take charge and shake it first. Not surprisingly, that person is Michael. He’s just closing his hand around the senator’s when Elaine pulls me back just enough to whisper to me.
“Tell him everything. I’ll distract the wife, but lay it all out, Rem. If he’s the guy I think he is, he will help.”
I’m not so sure she’s right, but I don’t say that because she steps quickly away and slips into the driver’s seat. A moment later, the car disappears from the airfield, turning onto the paved road outside, and everyone has been introduced. I can feel the distrust coming from the crew I’ve assembled as they assess the senator with his suit, and I can feel his confusion as he assesses them, looking for their commonality, looking for mine.
“Let’s get inside,” I suggest, tipping my head toward the front of the plane. “And I’ll explain everything.”
Chapter fourteen
Claire
I haven’t left the apartment for a week because the thought of facing Moose makes me want to peel my skin off. He followed me on his day off, drugged my drink, and coerced Austin into handcuffing me to his bed so that my bodyguard could come prove why I need him. That’s all embarrassing of its own right, but then add to that the fact that I literally begged him to fuck me, and I could die. I might, the next time I see him.
It was the week before spring break, so classes were light as a feather. I didn’t miss anything I couldn’t take care of by logging into the student system and doing, so it has been easy to avoid him.
Of course, it doesn’t last. Rhea calls me out to the living room without any explanation, and when I enter, she presses a glass of wine into my hands. No sooner does she do that, I notice Moose standing in the corner next to the barstool with irritation written on his face. He doesn’t look at me, which I expect to be grateful for, but somehow that feels like just another rejection.
“Rhea…” I sigh, turning to go back to the comfort of my room.
In the last week, I’ve torn apart everything in my room, and I still haven’t found any sort of camera. Whether Remy and Moose really are spying on me, I can’t say, but I’m assuming they were telling the truth, so I’ve been too mortified to do anything other than read and sleep. I’ve even started changing in the bathroom, just in case their prying eyes are looking for something that neither of them has the courage to come get.
“Just, sit.” She pushes me toward the couch, and the wine in the glass nearly sloshes over the side as I fall onto it.
“You haven’t been yourself lately, Claire, and it scares me. I know what you went through last year.” She raises a hand, as if I was going to argue the point. Next to me on the couch, Eli looks confused. He’s also on my shit list, being that he let Moose intervene on my night out. As big as he is, he always balks to Moose… like a little bitch. “But that’s not what I’m talking about. I mean, since we got back home, back to school, you haven’t been acting right. And it kills me to see you suffer like that.” She shakes her head sadly. “I think it’s this place that’s doing that to you. This apartment, this campus, college.”
“Just… waiting for my life to begin.” I muster a smile.
“Exactly!” Rhea points a finger. “That’s exactly my point! You’re not living right now, you’re… floating.”
Floating feels good sometimes. Other times, your muscles ache with the need to move. I don’t bother telling her any of that, because she won’t bother listening. I also don’t tell her any of that because I’m tired of floating too.
“So, I think we need to get you out of the water… drag you onto land.”
I narrow my eyes on her, not sure where she’s going with this metaphor. “I like the water.”
“I don’t like watching you tread it.” She laughs. “Which is why we’re going to party on shore… or maybe on a boat, we’ll see what happens.”
“Rhea,” I sigh. Sometimes she’s exhausting. “What are you talking about?”
“Spring break! We’re going to spend it in Miami. I think the sun is going to do you a world of good, because you’ve been hiding away for months. You’re so pale that the tan lines you’ve had since our first summer together are gone.”
“How do you even know that?” I ask, narrowing my eyes on her.
