Page 32 of Her Dark Melody
“I miss him. I miss Dada. And my UncleAtlas.”
Ebony’s tears flowed unchecked then, and she buried her face in Fino’s curls. “He loves you, baby, I swear he does. You haven’t lost him too. Just give him some time. He’s trying to make sure you stay with us for goodnow.”
Fino looked up at her. “Like as a newdaddy?”
“He’ll never replace your father, sweetheart,” she promised, feeling his body rigid with confusion. As she spoke, he relaxedslightly.
“He’s my uncle. But will you be mymomma?”
She smiled through her tears. “If you want me to be, then yes,darling.”
He didn’t say anything else, but his little arms tightened around her. Ebony looked up to see Atlas watching them from the doorway. His eyes were soft. “I love you,” he mouthed, and she smiled athim.
Later,after Fino was in bed and the house was quiet, Ebony and Atlas retired to their room, laying on the bed together and talking. Atlas, who had been meeting with his lawyer, stroked his thumb over her cheek. “Cormac doesn’t have a case, that’s the bottom line. I just don’t understand why he thinks he does, why he feels he has to do this. He’s always been an asshole, but I never thought he was thispetty.”
Ebony shook her head. “I can’t tell you why,” she said, “maybe it’s just a reaction to Mateo dying. Maybe he feels guilty for treating him so poorly. Maybe he thinks by bringing Fino up, he can redress thebalance.”
Atlas smiled and kissed her. “I love the way you try and see the good in everybody, even in the worstsituations.”
“Atlas, you know you can tell me anything,right?”
“Ofcourse.”
“Then tell me…is there anything, anything Cormac could use against you? However small, however insignificant. Because if I know about it, we can get out in front ofit.”
Atlas sat up, studying her. “Ebony Verlaine…the fact you are so invested in this means more to me than you would everknow.”
Ebony sat up, crossing her legs underneath her. “Thank you, but you avoided the question. We swore to each other we wouldn’t hideanything.”
Atlas sighed, hesitating. “The only thing, and I mean, theonlything he could even try to use was a bust for possession at college, and it was one joint, personal use. It didn’t even go to court; I got a caution. But that’s fifteen years ago, and no judge is going to hold that againstme.”
“Cormac must know all of this, so why the hell is he going through the motions?” Ebony sighed and wriggled closer to Atlas. “Darling, I can’t see this going any other ways thanyours.”
He pressed his mouth against her forehead. “Me too, baby. You, I, Fino and the baby will be afamily.”
He pushed her onto her back and covered her body with his. Ebony, smiling up at him, wrapping her legs around his hips, sighing as he thrust his cock deep into her. “I loveyou.”
Atlas’ pace quickened as his arousal grew. “You’re so beautiful,baby.”
They made love until after midnight, then fellasleep.
Ebony’s dreams that night turned into vicious, bloodthirsty nightmares, reliving Mateo’s murder, then watching in horror as each of her friends, her brother, even Fino, was slaughtered by a faceless man. Finally, he turned to her, gun raised and shot her again and again until she woke with acry.
Atlas sat up immediately, and she told him about the dreams. He took her in his arms. “No one is going to come near us again, I swearit.”
But Ebony found she couldn’t go back to sleep. Her stomach roiled with nausea, and finally, she slipped from the bed and went to sit in the bathroom, leaning her hot head against the cool tile. For once, her body didn’t betray her, and she wasn’t sick – maybe she was finally turning acorner.
At six a.m., the phone rang, and Blue told them that a different corner had also been turned at the hospital. Romy was wakingup.
ChapterFifteen
Romy wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep. Although she was delighted to see Blue, see the relief in his face as she woke from her coma, feel his kiss on her dry lips, the pain of her injuries was searing – and worse, she kept reliving the stabbing over and overagain.
It had happened so quickly,so utterly shockingly. One moment, she was walking down the corridor, charts in hand and the lights had gone out. One more step and she felt a crushing blow to her head and slumped to the ground. Then someone, a man, was flipping her onto her back and pushing her scrub top up. Dazed and disorientated, she heard him say, “I’m going to enjoythis.”
Then the pain,god,the overwhelming, unimaginablepainas he drove the knife into her soft belly again and again. Her mind whirled…Dacre? Wasn’t this what Dacre wanted to do to her? Had he come back from the dead?No…
He gripped the handle of the knife and stabbed her again, with more force this time. Romy could feel her spine scream with pain – he’d hit it.Oh god…she really was going to die here, wasn’tshe?
