Page 44 of Thunder with a Chance of Lovestruck
Goodfellow grabbed my elbow. “Rachael, go! Now!”
Nile sneered at Drest. “You want in my niece’s pants. Forbidden fruit. Is that the appeal, Goodfellow?”
Goodfellow gave a half shrug, and an unapologetic grin. He slid in front of me somewhat, before taking a stance that screamed confidence. “You must be right, seeing as howyou’rethe expert on that.”
A spasm of irritation flickered over my uncle’s face. “You think you’re so much better than the rest of us.”
“Not all of you,” responded Goodfellow seemingly unshaken by Nile’s goading. “Just you.”
Nile’s attention snapped to me. “You certainly do have a type, niece. Tell me what it is about these two…men…that leaves you hiding behind their legs and desperate for their attention and affection.”
“Don’t speak to her,” warned Drest. “Don’t even look at her.”
As if in direct defiance to the order, Nile stared at me in a way that made me feel like I might be sick or pass out. I hated him so much. Hated that he was yet again finding a way to intimidate me. Hated that he’d dragged our family through the mud. And I hated realizing someone else was aware of Nile’s disgusting obsession with me.
Goodfellow’s hand shot out and caught mine. “They’re his perverse thoughts, Rachael. You have nothing to be ashamed about. They’re his demons and his alone.”
Drest watched the act of Goodfellow touching me and for a second, his blue gaze turned icy.
Nile’s laughter echoed throughout the courtroom, a reminder to the fact the four of us were alone in what had only minutes prior been standing room only.
I tugged lightly on Goodfellow’s hand. “Where are all the deputies and the rest of the, um, other guards?” I didn’t come right out and say Nightshade, but I’d wanted to.
“Where indeed?” Goodfellow echoed. “Drest, this is not a mistake. Not oversight.”
Drest nodded, his angry gaze focused on my uncle. “I know.”
Nile chuckled again. “It pays to have friends in high places.”
“You don’t have friends,” I spat.
“Now, Rachael,” he said, his voice softening. “There is no need to be rude. You were raised with better manners than that.”
“And you were raised not to hack up dead bodies and collect their parts, but that didn’t seem to stop you any,” I returned, unsure where I was getting the courage from. I didn’t even care. My hate of the man was that great.
“There is the Frankenstein iron-will peeking out,” said my uncle, full of pride.
“Rachael, you need to leave now,” said Goodfellow. “Get out of here. Let Drest and me handle this.”
I shook my head. I was done backing down from my uncle. Done receding into the shadows, letting him push me around.
My uncle grinned, his gaze sliding to Drest. “Hear the concern in his voice, Hunter? Did you hear what I heard under it all? Desire.Youdiscarded her as if she was nothing. Looks as ifhesees her worth. Unlike you. Tell me, how does it feel knowing she’ll warm his bed before the year is out?”
“Screw you,” said Drest to Nile as they circled one another.
Nile lifted a dark brow. “It’s not me you want to screw, Hunter. I can feel need pouring off you when you look at her. I could almost taste it each and every day of this ridiculous trial.”
My uncle was so far gone mentally that I wasn’t sure he could ever be brought back.
“Don’t you have a dead body part you want to cuddle up to or something?” asked Drest snidely. “I don’t even want to guess at what you were doing with those parts when you were alone with them. Sick fuck.”
Goodfellow tensed. “Drest, this isn’t an escape attempt or him trying to hurt Rachael. This is his attempt to get a mistrial and be labeled insane.”
Nile turned his head in such a slow and deliberate manner that it left fear trickling down my spine. “Tell me, Goodfellow, do the people of New York know the truth about you? About who andwhatyou are?”
Goodfellow ignored him, focusing on me instead. It was then he noticed my other hand. “Rachael, you’re bleeding. How badly are you hurt?”
I shook my head. “It’s not that bad.”
