Seeing his face broke me. Emotions I’d been fighting so hard to hide trampled over me like a herd of rhinos, and I didn’t know how to keep Grey from seeing it. I was crushed, ripped apart and flayed open. Tears streamed down my face, and I struggled to control my breathing.
I set the phone down, then looked up at Grey. My tears blurred his face. “Thank you,” I managed to whisper.
He laid a linen napkin across his lap, then grabbed his fork. I caught a slight tic in his jaw as his dark blue eyes met mine. “I’m trusting you.” Then he looked down to where his fork cut into his salmon. “Don’t make me regret it.”
“How did you get the pictures?”How did you know I needed this?
He held his fork in mid-air, stopping to shoot me a glance before taking a bite.
I cleared my throat. “Right. You know things.”
He continued to chew.
“Do you know why they chose me? Why I was there that night?” I did. I knew exactly why.
He didn’t answer. I didn’t expect him to.
“It’s because I know things too.” I pushed the vegetables around my plate with my fork. My appetite was long gone. My stomach was knotted too tight to eat. “The night before I… The night before they took me… I confronted Kipton Donahue about something he’d done, something horrible.”
Grey set his fork on his plate and focused on me. “Confronting Kipton Donahue should’ve landed you ice-cold in a morgue with a toe tag. Kipton doesn’t ship people off. He kills them. You weren’t chosen for Judgment Day because you knew too much. You were chosen because someone had a plan for you. I just need to find out who.”
The hairs rose on the back of my neck and ice ran through my veins. This whole time I’d believed I was here because I’d pissed off Hell’s ringleader. Now Grey was saying it was more than that, that there was someone else involved. Pain and betrayal tore through me while my mind scrambled to recall someone who would use me as a pawn, someone who would want me to suffer this fate.
I shoved my plate away, then scooted my chair back. “Thank you for the gift.” I stood up and grabbed the phone. “I’m not very hungry anymore.”
I sank lower in the water and scrolled through the pictures on my phone, letting the hot water and memories surround me. When I looked at the girl in those pictures, I almost didn’t recognize her.
I wasn’t Lyric Matthews anymore.
I also wasn’t Lauren Radcliffe or Mrs. Grey Van Doren.
Most days I had no idea who I was.
Some days I felt like a prisoner.
My gaze roamed around the lavish bathroom. As far as prisons went, mine was nothing to complain about.
Grey gave me the one gift I never expected, the gift he knew would mean the most, yet he still fought so hard to remain closed off.
I hadn’t even thought to ask when his birthday was so that I could return the favor. I walked this house all day every day, inspecting every corner of every room and there was so much I still didn’t know about this man. It shouldn’t have surprised me. Men like Grey relied on distance to hide the darkness.
The bathroom door creaked open, and he walked inside, holding a book in his hand.
“Is this okay?” he asked as he walked slowly toward the same spot where he’d sat so many nights before.
He’d seen me naked more times than I could count. He’d been inside me. Of course it was okay.
I handed him my phone to place on the bathroom counter, then smiled because I was all out of tears. “Depends on what book you brought.”
He held the hardback in the air. “Count of Monte Cristo.”
My brows shot up. “The revenge book.”
He slid down the wall and sat on the floor. “It’s my favorite.”
Which one? Revenge? Or the book?I wanted to ask but didn’t.
I mindlessly swirled my hand through the water. “I miss this. I miss you.” There I said it.