“Because this is where your brother put him for me.” She looks back at me, then back out to Stefan again. “This is what I’m risking for you, Neve, so don’t get arsey with me again. I don’t have the patience for it, and you’re lucky I just reacted the way I did rather than sending you home.”
She’s quiet for a while as I watch him milling around. He starts running after a few minutes, cricking his head around like he used to and striding out. It’s good to see, and something I remember about him from when we were kids. Would’ve been a good athlete if he’d put some effort into being a normal human being, but then shit happened and life turned south for him.
“Is he ill?”
“No. But according to the court battle Landon won, he is categorised as criminally insane. Benthill is the place they put people like him.”
“And am I to assume he shouldn’t be here from that statement?”
I look at her, another sigh coming out of me. “Where should people like him be? He raped and killed five women. Hurt like shit to see him go down for it, but here is better than somewhere else. At least here he’s alive and women are safe. He wouldn’t last five minutes in a real prison. Never was a fighter. That was my job on the estate.”
She frowns and looks back at him rather than me. “And so Landon what? Makes you do his dirty work in return for him manipulating the court process? He sent him here instead of somewhere else?” I nod. “Sounds just like him. Forever?”
“As far as I know. Or at least until Stefan's dead, or I am.”
“How did he get caught?”
“It was my evidence that sent him down.” The shock on her face is clear. I shrug and watch him doing press-ups, then smile as he gets on some exercise benches to prove his worth to himself if no one else.
“You gave him up?”
“He wasn't going to stop. I thought it was all fun for a while, just some women and a good time, but then a couple of those women disappeared. Didn’t take me long to work out what was happening. Drugs. Off his fucking head. No thought. I don’t know, but he started turning into someone I didn’t know anymore. I didn't like it, or what he was doing.”
“Wow.”
I snort and look at her. “Wow?”
“Yes. It must have been a hard decision to make.” She leans on me, her hand reaching for my knee. “The right one, though.” Doesn't feel like that most days. “So, under all this cranky exterior, there’s a pretty good man there,” she says.
“You think?”
“Must be.”
I run my eyes over her again, too comfortable talking about this shit with her. She just rests her head on my shoulder, nuzzling in as if she could sit here all day with me. Seems strange to me. Who sits there and accepts all this as okay? It isn’t. My brother is a rapist and a killer. She should be running for the fucking hills, not pretending she’s happy to listen to my story. I could be the same as him for all she knows. I’m not. That shit doesn’t run through family genes, but I could be.
“It doesn't bother you?” I ask.
“What? That your brother is in here?”
“Yeah.”
She shrugs her shoulders, still looking at my brother rather than me. “We’ve all got a past. We wouldn’t be here now if mine was sparkly clean, would we? I'm no angel at the moment. If anything, this makes you more … real to me. An understanding because we've both betrayed our family. It’s interesting.” She sighs about something, rubs her cheek onto my arm. “And you’re interesting enough already, Noah Locke. I didn’t expect that when you came hunting me.”
“Interesting?”
“Yes, Noah. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, but I’m very interested.”
I don't know what I'm letting happen here, but those last words aren't helping me see any straighter than I was earlier. I look back at Stefan, then back at the top of her head again as she gets in closer. Interested. In me. Might be fucking pleased about that.
I tip her chin towards me, fingers unsure what they're doing. “Interested.”
She smiles. Looking coy about something. “Yes.”
My hand travels up her face, skims over her cheekbone until it's behind her neck and pulling her closer to my mouth. Kissing is more fucking stupidity, especially after I’ve already done it once, but I don't seem to give a damn about that. We'll go set up the surveillance later. Right now, I'm taking a bit of peace with someone I shouldn't be touching at all.
Chapter Fourteen
NEVE
