Page 108 of Retribution

‘The things I said yesterday. I know it wasn’t a picnic for you in my dad’s house for the past few days. I didn’t mean any of that stuff. I was just…’

‘I know,’ she says. ‘I’m sorry too. I…’ She looks down, frowning at herself a little. ‘There are things that I should tell you…’

Her eyes find mine again. ‘Iwilltell you. Because I know that I’m supposed to, that it’s healthy to,’ she looks like she swallowed a bug for a second, ‘open up.’

‘But you don’t want to,’ I murmur.

‘No.’

I ache to hold her, but I can tell from the way she’s acting right now that she’d pull away immediately.

‘Why?’ I ask instead.

‘Afraid.’

I move closer, taking her small hand slowly in mine instead of what I actually want to do. ‘Afraid of what?’

‘That it’ll change things. Maybe you’ll look at me differently.’ Her lower lip trembles and I watch her clench her jaw. ‘What if, when you know everything, when you realize that I’m not what you thought…you don’t like me anymore?’

I let out a slow breath. ‘That isn’t going to happen.’

She shakes her head and opens her mouth to speak, but I beat her to it.

‘Nothing you ever do or say will change the way I feel about you. Mav and Blake, too. We love you, Daisy. That isn’t going to change, no matter what.’

I cup her cheek and raise her face to look at me.

‘I can see you don’t believe me, but that’s okay,’ I say softly. ‘We’ll prove it to you as many times as you need us to. We’ll spend our lives making sure you know how important you are. You’re never getting rid of us.’

She lets out a shaky breath and gives a tiny nod before she pulls away.

‘I need to focus, now,’ she says, turning back to the tablet.

‘Okay,’ I say, smiling in spite of being summarily dismissed.

She doesn’t notice me leave.

11

DAISY

Hours later, I’m almost done for the day. A batch of Envy is nearly made and I haven’t gone upstairs all day. I tell myself I’m not hiding, but the truth is, I feel less antsy while I’m working, and while I’m alone. The bad experiences of the past few days don’t feel so close to the surface when I’m focused, and I like the enclosed space. I feel oddly safe and secure. Invisible.

Halfway through the last stage, I turn off all the lights and I sit in the dark. I don’t cry, but I feel numb.

Ishouldbe having feelings and maybe I am, deep down. I know that it’s healthyand normalto have them and that I need to work through what has happened. But besides anger when I think about how I was treated, there’s nothing else I can name right now.

An alarm sounds and I get up with a sigh to turn the lights back on and finish up.

There's no one waiting for me as I go up the ladder to the upper level basement. I hear the chatter of the employees behind the double doors where the laundry is located and I seethe door to the room I was first brought to when Sauvage had me snatched.

I go past to the bank of elevators around the corner and press the upward arrow. When the nearest one opens, I use the keycard that was waiting for me in the lab this morning with a sticky note on it that said ‘for penthouse access’ on the reader inside, and I push the topmost button.

The elevator rises slowly and I half listen to the background music that’s coming from a speaker overhead. It’s soothing. The door pings and it opens into the living room of the penthouse Sauvage is letting us stay in. It sort of reminds me of guest bedrooms in the Novelle house with the same gray tones and patterns, and I wonder if everyone just uses the same interior designer in Richmond.

The clock says it’s about twenty minutes to eight. I had no idea I’d been down in the lab for that long and I'm conscious that I’m meant to be meeting with Sauvage soon in the restaurant downstairs for dinner. I look down at the clothes I’ve been wearing for days. I don't have time for a shower, but I can at least make myself look a little more presentable.

I call out for the guys, but I’m met with silence. I glance at my phone, which doesn't get a signal downstairs, and belatedly see a message telling me that Blake and Mav are exploring the way out through the tunnels under the hotel that they were shown this morning with Shade.