Page 38 of The Midnight Club
Later, when Shiloh and Benoit had returned to their suite, they sat out on the balcony that looked over Venice’s lagoon.
“This really is a magical place,” Shiloh sighed, and Benoit nodded.
“It is. Did you have a good time tonight,ma chére?”
Shiloh grinned at him. “Oui, monsieur.Your friends are wonderful. I liked Ori very much. Lucia, too.”
Benoit nodded. “Maceo is a lucky man. I think Alex has a little crush on Ori.”
“I saw that too. What’s his story?”
Benoit told her about Viola, and she was appalled. “That’s too awful.”
“Isn’t it? Now it looks like the killer is targeting Ori.”
“God.”
“Quite. Look, let’s change the subject. Why don’t you tell me what’s on your mind?”
Shiloh smiled at him. “Nothing much. Just wondering how Beau is doing. Liv spoils him when she looks after him. I’ll come home to a rounded pooch.”
It was weak, but Benoit seemed to accept that and Shiloh sighed gratefully. There was no way she was going to ruin their vacation by telling him about the job. Benoit stood and pulled her into his arms.
“Come to bed,” he murmured, his rich, deep voice sending thrills through her. As they made love, Shiloh could not imagine giving this up for anything or for anyone. Benoit made love to her slowly, carefully, but as he drove her relentlessly towards orgasm, she suddenly felt like crying.Why does life always come down to choices and compromise?she thought. She hid her tears until she was sure he was asleep, then let them fall unchecked.
I’m in love with you, damn it. And I have no idea how to let you go …
It wasn’t oftenthat Ori caught Maceo in a serious mood but lately he had been more pensive than she had ever seen him. It made her nervous. Was he tiring of her? She hoped beyond hope that he wasn’t and, in her heart, she knew that wasn’t it. But sometimes she awoke at night to find him at the window staring out unseeing, lost in thought. She was determined to find out and help him get past it.
So, she had come up with a plan. Shock him into giving it up. A few nights after the dinner with the friends, they were sitting on his couch watching an old movie, when she spoke up.
“Maceo … I know something is wrong, and if it’s that there’s another woman, I’d rather you just tell me. Even it’s just that you’re tired of me.”
Maceo sat up and stared at her with wide eyes. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Ori smiled at him. “I’m just worried; there’s something bothering you, and it’s driving me crazy not knowing.”
Maceo sighed and ran his hands over his face. “Bella, it’s not another woman, I swear, and believe me when I say I will never, ever get tired of you.Ever.”
Ori moved next to him. “Then what is it, my love?”
Maceo took her hands in his. “Mio caro,it’s about AJ and something he told me before he died. I have kept it from you because … because he told me in confidence, and because I didn’t want to cause you further pain.”
Ori’s heart was thumping now.Please, please don’t say the words.“Maceo ...” Her voice was barely a whisper. “If it’s what I think you’re going to say … that my stepfather….”
She trailed off when she saw the truth in his eyes. “OhGod.”
His own son.His own son.
Ori stood and darted to the bathroom where she threw up and threw up until she was dry heaving. Maceo held her hair back and cradled her as she sobbed. When her sobs faded, she turned heartbroken eyes to him. “I think I knew. I suspected. Once, I even started to say something to AJ, but he shut me down. I should have made him tell me. I should have protected him.”
“Sweetheart, AJ knew that if he told you, that you would have attacked Janek. AJ was positive that Janek would have killed you to silence you.”
Ori grabbed a bath towel and wiped her eyes. “Not if I killed him first,” she said in a low voice, shocking Maceo. She looked at him, anger burning in her eyes. “I should have. I had the chance once. He raped me on my twenty-fifth birthday. He was drunk and fell asleep on top of me. On my nightstand there was a photo frame, a metal one. It had these flowers, and one had this really sharp edge. I’d cut my finger on it lots of times. I lay there with this monster on top of me, asleep, watching the blood pulsing in his neck vein. All I had to do was reach out and grab the frame and….” She mimed slitting his throat. “I could have done it. Ishouldhave done it, even if it meant spending my life in prison.”
She buried her head in her hands. “Then maybe AJ would still be alive.”
Maceo wrapped his arms around her, not knowing what to say to comfort her. “We can’t know that, baby, and AJ would not have wanted you locked away for murder.”
