Page 17 of Provocation
‘Yes,’ I say again.
She sighs. ‘Are you going to tell me?’
I shake my head. ‘All you need to know is that, yes, there is a deadline, but now that we have a working formula, it doesn’t matter.’
Her lips thin. She doesn’t like it, but she doesn’t argue.
‘Tomorrow. Early. I might need some things. But I won’t know until I see the lab for myself. Will you be able to get them for me?’
Mav nods. ‘Just give me a list.’
‘Okay.’
She finishes her piece of pizza and selects another one. I think we’re done talking, but her eyes find me again. ‘Is there a box in your boot…trunk? Some things of…Mom’s?’
‘Shit, yeah. Stevens put it in there the other day. I forgot about it. I’m sorry. I’ll get it out tomorrow and you can take a look.’
‘We can go through it together if you want,’ she says in a small voice.
My eyes clench shut as, without warning, I’m hit by a tidal wave of grief. I draw in a harsh breath, trying to cover it, and I feel her fingers touching mine.
‘Yeah,’ I whisper. ‘That would be good.’
We finish the pizzas in silence, and she gets up when she’s finished.
‘I’m tired,’ she announces, and her eyes fall on Mav. ‘Will you sleep with me tonight?’
He nods. ‘Yeah, Tulip. I’ll be in in a minute.’
‘Goodnight,’ she says, glancing at me and Blake.
‘Night, gorgeous.’
‘G’night, Daisy,’ I say, watching as she leaves the room and disappears into her own almost silently.
I flop back on the bed with a groan. ‘Jesus.’
‘What are we going to do about Banderville?’ Blake asks quietly.
‘Which one?’ I mutter. ‘They’re all pretty terrible.’
‘All of them, but Joe has earned himself the top spot as of tonight,’ Blake snarls. ‘What the fuck happened? How was he able to do that to her without anyone knowing?’
‘They knew.’ I close my eyes, bile rising in my stomach. ‘I shouldn’t have left her in the room.’
‘You fucking think?’ Blake hisses. ‘She was supposed to be safe with you!’
‘She was! She is! I just… John is a lot of things, but he never hit April or Daisy. I didn’t realize. I didn’t think…’ I rub my face. ‘This is my fault. I had no idea this was my father’s plan, and Ididn’t know Joe would… He already sees her as his, which means he’s known for a while.’
Blake nods. ‘That’s what she thinks too. She said he knew something about her time in England that he couldn’t have unless he’d seen something on a camera. And if he was keeping tabs on her then, it could be him who’s watching her now and sending those notes.’
‘What are we going to do?’ Mav asks. ‘He’s a fucking monster. He’ll destroy her.’
‘We have time,’ I mutter. ‘A few months to get everything up and running. We can’t do anything with Sauvage breathing down our necks. We need money.’
‘What then?’ Blake asks.
‘Trying to fight my father in court would be a mistake,’ I say. ‘He’ll have his bases covered and he’ll draw it out to kill us with the legal costs, not to mention he plays golf with most of the judges in the county.’
