Page 88

There was this therapy business again. I had hoped that we’d be able to find one with magic whom we could trust.

She turned in her seat to stare at me, but I refused to take my eyes off the pool. If she looked into my eyes, she’d see too much, and I’d give away all of my secrets.

“What I want to know is why you’re asking. Rain wouldn’t tell me about your involvement, just that the key players were dead and it was safe to come home. You want to tell me what went down? You know you can talk to me about anything, we are like sisters.”

I knew I could talk to her about anything, but we absolutely were not like sisters. How absurd. I’d never call someone who wanted to sleep with my dad a sister.

More proof Isobel was off her rocker

She might actually have been the only person I could talk to who would understand what I’d gone through, but I didn’t want to talk to her about it. She wouldn’t judge me, she’d listen and probably hold my hand while telling me everything would be all right.

Still, for whatever reason, I kept my mouth shut.

“Not today, Isobel. But thanks for the offer,” I said so as not to hurt her feelings. “Maybe someday, when I’m ready, I’ll take you up on it.”

I wouldn’t. I knew myself well enough to know that.

She protested, “But—”

“Maybe what she needs right now is for you to shut your mouth and go back inside so she can sit out here in peace once more,” Trenton said, cutting her off.

I wanted to tell him to shut his mouth but didn’t because he was not wrong. That was exactly what I needed, but he could have worded it in a way that wouldn’t hurt her feelings. At least he had been the one to do it and not me. I didn’t want to have that burden on top of everything else.

“Fucking asshole,” she snarled as she launched herself out of her chair and stomped across the deck to the sliding glass door. She slammed that sucker shut with so much force the deck shook.

“Why does she always have to be such a drama queen?” Simon mumbled under his breath. “I definitely didnotmiss her.”

At that moment, I didn’t think I’d really missed her either, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t happy to have her returned home.

I wondered how Romero would feel with her sleeping at Rain’s house every night. Would he be jealous? He was such a strange man.

Trenton and Simon fell back into their roles of playing the good little bodyguards. They stood behind me in silence. They were both obnoxiously quiet. They were going to slowly drive me insane.

I placed my coffee mug on the table, pushed my chair back, and stood up.

I didn’t want to do what I had to do next, but I was going to do it all the same.

Quinton had forced me to learn how to swim because he viewed it as a weakness someone could exploit and use against me. He’d been absolutely right.

The more I stared down at the water, the more my unease had festered, and fear had finally taken its place. If I let this continue, I’d end up terrified of the water and I’d be left with another weakness someone could use against me.

Not good.

Not good at all.

I walked down the steps and directly to the side of the pool. I could go inside and put a bathing suit on. I probably should, especially after what happened the last time I went swimming in this pool. The problem was, I left Tyson sleeping in my bed all by himself.

The cats had been missing by the time I had woken up, and I figured they’d either been kidnapped sometime in the night or they were off destroying something in the house. I was more than okay with both options.

I didn’t want to go all the way back up there because I wanted to let Tyson sleep. For him, but also for mostly selfish reasons. I didn’t need yet another shadow following me around. Two was already bad enough, three would be overkill.

Thankfully I added more clothes than just the tank top and underwear I’d gone to sleep with, so I could remove some things and I would still be able to keep my modesty in case I found myself with another audience.

I took off my fuzzy yellow socks and slipped out of my black zip up hoodie. I dropped it next to my socks. I shoved down my black track pants and stepped out of them. I dropped my tank top on top of the pile and stood in my bra and underwear. They covered up more than that orange bikini had.

“What the hell do you think she’s doing?” I heard Simon ask his brother.

“Who the fuck knows?” Trenton muttered back. “Let’s just hope she doesn’t take anything else off.”