“Wouldn’t you? Your mother repaid me by handing my mother over to her father. He raped and brutalized her because he couldn’t fucking have her for himself. Donte ensured we allknew the horrors he’d inflicted upon her for loving another. Why should her daughter be any fucking different?” he snarled as his palms slammed down on the bar. Turning his back to me, he inhaled and released it slowly before turning back around.
My eyes rounded in shock as I scurried back, shaking violently from the animosity oozing from him. Shaking my head slowly, I held my palms up as he strode around the bar, rounding it, coming face to face with me.
“Rhys, please. I didn’t hurt her. I’m not my mother,” I pleaded through quivering lips as tears scorched the back of my eyes. “I don’t know who attacked her, but it wasn’t me. Think about it. Why would I have you take me to your house, where no one can save me? Only then to attack your family? It would be the same as committing suicide.” Rhys’ pupils swelled as dark, inky veins slithered from beneath his lower eyelids. “I’m not stupid enough to think I could get inside your house, attack your sister, and live. What would I gain from hurting her?”
“I know you’re not stupid, Love. I haven’t figured out what you intend to gain from harming her, but I promise you this: I won’t let you accomplish whatever you intend to achieve here.”
My entire body trembled with fear and anger. It was a lethal mixture. Rhys continued, forcing me to back up until my knees collided with something solid. Without warning, Rhys’ hands lifted, then pushed me backward onto a soft settee.
“I suggest you get comfortable. Until I know you’re not a threat to anyone else in my house, you’ll not leave these apartments. You breathe because I allow it, Remington. I’d suggest you not push me to the point where I no longer care if you continue to do so.” Looming over me, he looked like an avenging angel.
“You aren’t foolish enough to fall for this shit, Rhys. Your hatred for me and my family will be your downfall. I didn’t do this, meaning someone else did. If it wasn’t me, that means someone in your household was willing to kill your sister toplace the blame on me.” His eyes thinned on me. Folding his tattooed arms over his chest, he snorted.
“Are you trying to pit me against my brothers now?” His face darkened with something sinister filtering over it, sharply.
“Why would I come here, of all places, to harm Nyota? If I’d wanted to hurt her, I could’ve done it a thousand times over by now. Why would I wait until I was inside your house, the only Silversmith within it, to harm her? I’d have to be the biggest fucking idiot to do this. Think about it reasonably. Stop allowing emotions to rule your rational mind.”
The obsidian in Rhys’ eyes vanished as if sucked back inside a vortex. The veins receded until his face was once more handsome and safer to look at.
“Bathe before you join me in our bed, Remington. I’d rather you didn’t soil my chamber with the scent of my sister’s blood.” Turning on his heel, Rhys moved through the front room, then became a black plume of eddying smoke as he vanished before reaching the staircase.
Chapter Eighteen
Theensuitebathroomwas elegant in its simplicity. Like the rest of the wing, it was onyx, striking against the glossy white fixtures throughout the space. The candles I’d lit generated a soft glow of warm, gentle light, softening against the sharp contrast of the dark backdrop. A huge soaker tub sat before a built-in crystal inglenook nestled in the corner.
Once I’d turned the water on, I inhaled deeply before expelling it from my lungs. My eyelashes dusted against my cheeks as I fought off the need to crawl into the fetal position and rocked back and forth on the glistening, clean floor.
Today had been the longest and worst day of my life. Both of my friends were gravely wounded because of me. Neither deserved what transpired or happened to them. I’d lost my brother, then stood accused of harming one of the very few people in my life who had never shunned me or acted as if I didn’t exist.
Turning toward the sink to search for a toothbrush, the air escaped past my lips. My eyebrows shot up as tiny fairy lights sparkled enchantingly against the obsidian-colored paint. Along, flowing oblong-shaped mirror sat above two glossy white basins.
Beauty products were on the floating shelves beside the vanity. A glance told me they were my preferred brands. At least, they’d been so when I could afford such luxuries.
Picking up the watermelon scented soap, I smiled as it comforted my nerves. Normalcy wasn’t something I’d ever thought to crave, but I did. I needed it as deeply as I wanted someone to hold and assure me that everything would be okay. It was just a bad day, not a bad life.
I’d taken such things for granted before I’d learned how precarious life was. It was fleeting and could be lost without warning. Tomorrow wasn’t for everyone. One day, you’d wake up without knowing it would be your last.
I’d never fully comprehended or had experienced emotional pain before. Not until Rhys denounced his claim over me and now this. Losing my brother and both of the friends I held near to me. I’d never realized a heart could break. That it could physically ache until you felt like you’d never fully breathe again.
Today, a new type of pain had cut through me. It had swallowed me entirely when I’d watched Nyx’s limp, lifeless body colliding against the porch of the chateau.
Grief wasn’t something I’d ever had to feel until today. I’d had it forced upon me with vicious cruelty. I’d gone from thinking I’d lost Nyx, to learning I’d lost my brother, to then being accused of attempting to murder Nyota in only a matter of hours.
Reaching for the crystal knob, I leaned over and cupped the water in my palms. Splashing it over my face, I shivered as it chilled against my heated flesh. Straightening my spine, I stared at my pale, exhausted reflection with uneasiness.
The dress I wore had been drenched with Nyota’s blood. It was dried and glued to my flesh. Peeling it off over my head, Itossed the soiled garment to the side. Next, I hooked my fingers through my thin lace panties, forcing them down over my hips.
On the stand beside the soaker tub sat my shampoo, conditioner, and body soap. Ambling closer, I tested the temperature of the water as goosebumps spread over my flesh. Once I’d ensured there were towels and a washcloth set out, I slipped into the heavenly warm water.
The moment I was fully submerged in the water, a sigh of contentment escaped from deep in my chest. Resting my head against the curved back of the tub, I studied the dancing flames of the fire as they crackled comfortingly.
Rhys hated me.
At least, he worked to make me believe he did.
I’d been foolish enough to think there was hope for more between us. In the end, I should’ve realized there couldn’t be. Rhys wouldn’t unpack the baggage he carried.
He blamed me and my entire family as if we’d been present when the horrors of the past occurred. We were as guilty as if we’d murdered his mother; that we hadn’t wielded the weapon was the one thing staying his hand from slaughtering us all. At least, it’s how it felt to me.
