Page 152 of Like Grim Death: Part One
“Is anyone hurting you, Ella? Is anyone giving you a job you don’t want to do?”
I’m shaking, I realize. Trembling, like a scared little girl.Be brave. You’re doing good things. You’re doing the right thing. Mavy will see. He’ll love me for it, when it all comes out. He’ll be proud.
I close my eyes, squeezing them shut tight. Pressure builds behind them, and I want to tell him. For one single second, I want to confess to Atlas. Is this what he’s been trying to do since we got here? Walk circles around my brain, scramble it into mush so all that comes out of my mouth is the truth I can’t hide anymore?
“Baby,” he murmurs, brushing his lips over mine.
My body is tingling, anticipation racing through me. Fuck a confession, I definitely can’t cheat. I can’t do this. No, no, no.
He runs his mouth over mine again. I taste him. Mint. He is so clean. His tongue licks along my bottom lip. “Kiss me back,” he whispers.
I keep my eyes closed. I don’t speak. I can’t find words.
“He’s not giving you enough attention. He’s so focused on everyone else, he hasn’t seen those marks, has he? Maybe I was wrong. Maybe he doesn’t care at all.” He arches his hips, his cock pressing against me. “I care. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t do this for you.”
“Stop fucking with my head.Stop.Why did you tell me all of that, about RC? Am I the crazy one? Am I the… The one they’re going to use? What ishappening,Atlas?”
He trails one hand around my waist, causing my stomach muscles to jump as he dances his fingers over the hem of my pants. “Do you feel crazy?” He runs his bottom lip over my top one, a moan coming from my throat. “Right here, with me? Or do you feel safe? Do you feel seen?” A sharp breath leaves my mouth, and he laughs a little. “There you go, baby. Just give in. Kiss me.”
He slips his fingers inside my pants, just there, at the hem, over my low belly.
“Tell me the truth. Tell me if you’re being hurt, okay? I want to protect you.”
My knees feel weak. But inside my head, I see Maverick holding me close. His eyes sparking up when he looks down at me as we sit on the back porch, and he smokes a joint. I see him handing over a credit card, in my own name, like it’s nothing, without a word. No limits, no rules. I feel him carrying me upstairs to watch a movie, and I get to pick, and he watches it with me without picking up his phone once. I sit on his lap in his office. He kisses me goodnight and compliments my food and goes to the grocery store with me every three days, without fail. I see him shifting gears in his car, his smile when I clap while he flies down the highway.
I see him holding tight to Rain, and I know,I know,he’d love any kids we had so fiercely. God, he’d kill for them. Forme.
“No.” I say the word out loud, shoving away from Atlas. My eyes pop open to see him studying me closely. I shake my head, rearing back so our lips don’t touch. “No.” I swallow down the saliva in my throat, waiting for him to accept my answer.
Finally, he drops his hands from around me, nodding once. Then he says, adjusting himself as he does, “I think we’re done here.” He smiles, winking at me. “Are you the crazy one, Ella?Or am I?”
I’ve become adept at moving through the woods around Corpus Ave, but that doesn’t mean a slight apprehension isn’t present as I gather what’s not carved of my wits and turn toward the back door, my mind a mess.
But before I can leave, I hear it again.
The floor shifting, somewhere upstairs. This time, it’s louder. There’s no mistaking it.
I stop, my heart leaping to my throat as I turn to look at Atlas over my shoulder. He’s already staring at me. “Go,” he whispers, “and don’t turn back, no matter what you hear.”
What?I open my mouth to argue as the footfalls grow louder, distinguishable now as exactly that.Someone elseinside this house.
“Go.”Atlas mouths the word, but he turns his back to me, staring into the room we use to train, where I’ve seen the shadow of a staircase at times, but I’ve never ventured up. Never been invited to.
Is it Natalie? Is he keeping herhere?
“Who—”
Atlas holds up his hand, the back of it facing me, to silence me. The steps seem to fade, but I think it’s only because they’re heading toward the staircase, which isn’t directly above the kitchen.
I hold my breath, darting my gaze from Atlas to the door that slips into the backyard. I could just grab the tarnished silver knob. I could just leave. But he seems nervous, his shoulders tense, his hand still there, hovering in the air.
Does he even know who it is? Did someone break in?
Is it Maverick?
Fear in the form of vertigo washes over me, everything spinning as I stumble toward the door, circling my fingers around the knob. I could help Atlas fight off anyone else. I could try my best to save him.
But only if it isn’t Mavy.
