Page 152 of Restitution

My eyes widen. “Why does that look like a human head in the freezer?”

Tobias chuckles and lifts the plastic bag holding a man’s head. “It’s her driver. He tried to stop the ambush, so I cut his head off with a meat cleaver.”

He did the same at the manor. “You have a thing for decapitating people, it seems.”

He chuckles. “I had no idea, but I guess I do.”

I’m speechless as he tosses the bag back into the freezer and slams it shut before filling a pot with water and sticking it on the stove. So domesticated. Like he hasn’t spent over twenty years locked up and unable to cook for himself. Now he’s boiling eggs and offering me a biscuit from a tub labelled “Do not touch”. I guess Barry stole his cookies.

I have no idea why it makes me laugh, but it does, and Tobias looks at me like I have five heads. The man is a touch robotic with his movements as he shifts around the kitchen. He’s still learning to do things himself, and it must be weird to even make boiled eggs for someone else.

“I missed you.”

Tobias stops and turns to me. “What?”

“When we thought you were dead. You’re like a dad to me. And… and you were the first person to believe me. I told my own dad when Chris started abusing me, and he said I was just ahormonal teenager seeking attention. But you didn’t even hesitate to offer me support. It took me so long to find my voice, and it was you who got that voice to work. Thank you. Truly. You saved a little bit of my sanity that day.”

His cheeks go red, and he busies himself with the eggs again.

Socialising isn’t his strong point. But then again, he’s not wired like most people. If he has no response for someone, he’ll simply ignore them. I don’t find it rude – maybe because I spent every day with him for nearly a year and watched him fuss over baby Eva.

Sometimes Tobias will just stare into nothingness, still as a statue, hands on his lap. Like he’s in a trance. Whenever I’ve seen it happen, he doesn’t even blink, doesn’t respond, doesn’t snap out of it for ages. I remember Kade telling me about these episodes way before I met Tobias. He’d just come home from visiting him in America and told me the first time he noticed it was when he was seven. He was blank, unmoving, and they didn’t visit him for eight months after that.

He loses his grip on reality during those moments, but thankfully, since being here, he’s been focused.

“Can I ask you something?”

He sighs heavily, so like his son, slouches against the counter and replies, “If you must.”

Leaning my elbows on the table, I balance my chin on my hands. “Why don’t you want Aria to know you’re alive?”

“It’s easier that way,” he replies without having to think. “She’s spent the last twenty-five years worrying about me. Always visiting, calling, doing what she can to help me on my bad days.” Tobias shrugs, but I can tell he’s uncomfortable. “Me being dead will hurt her for a while, but then she’ll be free of me.”

“You’d just walk away from her after all those years she’s spentdevoted to you?”

“I escaped prison and am presumed dead. What benefits does she get from knowing I’m alive?”

“She’ll benefit from knowing because she loves you.”

Tobias looks away from me and stares at the wall. “Why were you out of bed?”

Could he and Kade be any more alike? Subject-changing assholes.

“I told you, I needed a drink of water.”

He turns his head and raises a brow. “Then why is your glass still full?”

I try not to blink.

Tobias scoffs. “You were going to see Bernadette.”

I can’t even lie to him now. It’s written all over my face. “She and I are due to have a chat. I wanted to give her a piece of my mind while everyone was asleep.”

Tobias laughs, nods then walks out of the kitchen without another word.

I stare at the empty doorway in total confusion.

A few minutes later, Tobias walks back in with a syringe to hand. I’ve still not touched my water. “Come on,” he says, nodding behind him. “I’ll take you down.”