Page 47 of Romeo

“Very.Treated me like her own daughter.I remember being so scared when I first met her and Odie, yet she just welcomed me right into the family.”

“And Odie?”

“He was less than thrilled,” I admit.“But I think that had more to do with him grieving the loss of his dad.He’d passed two years before she met my father.”

Riley doesn’t respond, but I don’t miss the tension in his shoulders.

“You don’t like him.”

“Who?”

“Odie.”

Riley leans back against the wall and crosses his arms.“I told you, I don’t care for bullies,” he replies.“And Odie is a bully.”

“If you knew half of what I put him through, you’d understand.”

“Nothingyou did is worth being treated as less than a human.”Riley’s tone is low and serious.When I meet his gaze, I note it’s just as solemn.

If only you knew.

“Are you ready to see the study?”

“Only if you’re ready to show me.I need you to walk me through what happened that night.Every single detail,” he adds.

I swallow hard, a lump forming in my throat.“I can do that.”

“If it gets too hard, we can take a break, but I need to know, okay?”

“Okay.”I lead him out of the bedroom and down the hall.There’s no caution tape on the door, which honestly surprises me, but it could just be that Odie took it down once he got the all-clear from local law enforcement.

My grandfather’s desk is right where it was.

There are papers scattered all over the top of the once-gleaming mahogany desk, as well as the carpeted floor.But it’s the bloodstained carpet right in front of the closet that strangles my ability to speak.

Riley moves up beside me, and his hand takes mine.

I normally hate being touched.

But right now, his hand grants me quiet strength and eases my heartache rather than spiking my anxiety.

So I hold on.And take my first step back into the room where my life nearly ended.

“I came in to check on him after I finished straightening up the living room.He’d been here nearly all day.”

“You saidnearly.What time did he come up here?”

“Maybe eleven?Odie showed up right as we sat down to breakfast, and that was about nine-thirty.I left them and went for a run.When I got back, Odie was gone, and my grandfather was already in his study.I brought him lunch about noon, but he didn’t touch it.”My gaze lands on a plate turned upside down on the floor.“That was his dinner.”

“Did he do anything out of the ordinary?”

I shake my head.“Aside from stepping out to use the restroom, he was in here all day.I assumed he was writing.He’d often disappear up here for hours at a time to work on his book.”Tears blur my vision, but I blink them away.

“What else do you remember from that night?”

I take a deep breath.“I came up and brought him dinner, but he’d insisted that he wasn’t hungry.I noticed that he seemed a bit frustrated, so I opened his window for him.”I point to the window I’d opened.A decision that ultimately saved my life.

“That’s the window you fled from?”