Page 42 of Our Little Secret

“In and out. Dozing.” He patted the mattress softly. “Come on, Brooke.”

Once again she slid between the bedsheets, the duvet thick and cozy over her, Neal’s arm sliding familiarly around her waist.

This should be enough, she told herself.This man, our house, the daughter we share; it should be enough.

But was anything, ever?

And at that moment, not far away, she heard the sound of a motorcycle’s engine fire.

Her insides congealed.

She heard the bike’s engine whine and catch as the rider sped through the city, engine whining, then catching to rev again as the rider put the motorcycle through its gears.

Brooke’s fingers twisted in the pillowcase.

He’d been there.

She knew it.

Gideon had been outside the house. Watching. Waiting.

And maybe he’d been inside, she thought wildly. Hadn’t she heard footsteps?

The doors were locked, though. She’d double-checked. Did he have a key, or had he been trapped inside . . . watching her from inside the house rather than through the windows? Walking one step behind her as . . .

Oh God . . . but . . . no, the dog would have sensed him.

The back of her throat went dry as sand.

Why would he risk coming here?

For you, Brooke.

He wants you.

It’s not that he loves you.

Don’t kid yourself. You know better. He won’t let you go. Not ever.

He wants toownyou.

“Never,” she whispered, and Neal stirred beside her.

She held her tongue then and stared at the window.

She couldn’t let him destroy her life.

Somehow, some way, she had to get rid of him.

It was as simple as that.

CHAPTER 10

Sea-Tac was teeming as usual, the airport parking area filled with vehicles, cars weaving between taxis, buses, and hotel vans, all clogging the roadway.

Leah’s flight, delayed by two hours, had finally landed.

She had texted Brooke that she was heading to the spot where they’d agreed to meet, in a parking garage where Brooke had squeezed her Explorer into a tight spot marked “Compacts Only.”