“And yet she did nothing to deserve that?”
“Exactly,” I snapped back stubbornly.
“Rachel…” he sighed. “Come on. How bad can it be?”
“You don’t know her!” I said, rubbing a tired hand over my face. “When I said she didn’t do anything, I meant it. It’s just the way she speaks, the things she says. She never physically harmed me. That’s not her style. But she’s a nasty piece of work.”
“Must run in the family. I’ve yet to meet a Ms Brooks that doesn’t have a temper.”
“You laugh, but it’s not a temper. She’s just evil to her very core. You think my mother is bad? Well, she’s like Rebecca, but after twelve courses of steroids. She’s a vicious woman, and she likes nothing more than to remind me of all my shortcomings, and all the ways I’ve hurt my parents. I haven’t seen her since I… Since I killed Alex.” I swallowed heavily. “And even before then, she used to say the most horrendous things.”
“But she didn’t know,” Dante said softly, coming to sit on the end of the bed. “Surely your mother will have updated her? Now your mother knows why you used to act the way you did and what you were going through. Surely, she would have told Iris?”
“It won’t matter to her. Trust me. All she’s going to see is new ammunition to attack me with. It was bad enough when I was just acting out and causing my parents' stress. But since she last saw me, I’ve killed a guy, had my dad sent to prison, ran away to the other side of the world,andmy boyfriend burnt my mother’s house to the ground. I think she’s got plenty to work with, don’t you?”
“Boyfriend?” Dante repeated with a smirk.
“Oh, fuck off,” I snapped, throwing the hairbrush at him.
He dodged the flying object. “I’m sorry. I just haven’t been called ‘boyfriend’ since high school.”
“What do you want me to call you?”
“Well,there’sa loaded question.” he eyed me up and down, instant lust flaring in his eyes. “Do you want an honest answer to that question?”
“You’re not helping,” I snapped, ignoring the way my thighs clenched at his words. “And calling you ‘man I barely know but slept with a whole bunch of times’ hardly seems like I’m defusing the situation, does it?”
“Listen,” he said, coming off the bed and bent down low to crouch between my legs. He took my hands in his and rubbed his thumb over my knuckles. “You can call me whatever you want. Boyfriend, old man, husband, piece of ass,” I smiled slightly at his words. “I don’t care. If Iris has a problem with the way you define our relationship, I’ve no problem burning her house to the ground, too.” I gave a small laugh but knew by the protective flare in his eyes that he was being serious.
“You can’t burn everyone’s house down just because they upset me.”
“Does Iris have a partner?”
“Husband… why?” I eyed him suspiciously.
“Then I’ll kill him and introduce her to a new relationship term – widow.”
“That seems slightly extreme, but I appreciate the offer.”
“Honestly, Rachel. Just ignore her. I know you want to see your dad, and this is just where he’s at. He can’t leave the house right now. There’s too much press waiting to take his picture and get the juicy details. Most people had forgotten the case, but your dad’s early release has renewed interest for the media. It’ll die down. But I figured you wouldn’t want to wait that long to see your dad again. If I’m wrong, tell me and we’ll cancel the meeting.”
“I want to see him,” I said softly.
“Okay. Good. And if Iris gives you a hard time, I’ve no problem putting her in her place and getting her to shut the fuck up. However,” he said, placing his fingers under my chin and lifted my head up until I was looking at him. “The Rachel I know and have come to adore, would have no trouble putting the bitch in her place, either. Don’t let her get to you. You know your truth. She doesn’t. She doesn’t have a clue what you went through, and if anything, she’s to blame for not protecting her niece from the evil in this world. We’ll get through this together, and I won’t let her upset you. Agreed?”
“You’ll really kill her husband if she upsets me?”
“Kill him, gut him, and paint her walls with his blood, if that’s what it’ll take.”
“In that case, agreed.”
“Listen to me,” Dante said as he pulled the motorbike to a stop outside Iris’s house. “We need to go over some ground rules before we go in there.”
“Ground rules? Don’t be so fucking ridiculous,” I replied, pulling the helmet off my head.
“No, I’m being serious.” He climbed off the motorbike and grabbed my legs, twisting me around so he could stand between them, his hands on my thighs. “Whatever devil lives inside you, you just tell him to go right the fuck to sleep. Do not let him out to play. Are you listening? Be on your best behaviour for the love of God.”
“Believe it or not, Dante, this is not my first time out in public. I do know how to behave.”
