Page 20 of Wicked Riddles & Bitter Heartbeats (Till Death Do Us Part #1)

Chapter Seventeen

Atticus

The conference doors open and thousands of people flood out.

Kitten and I stand to the side, watching as the men and women head outside and down the hall.

There’s no way I’m going to spot James in this crowd of people, but I have to try. I have to start somewhere, and I know he’s here, in this room. He’s attending this conference, he’s here in this hotel. Though… perhaps this is the wrong place to look. Why didn’t I think of that sooner?

I grab Lilah’s arm. “Come on.” I hurry us through the crowd, getting dirty looks as I cut in front of people and shoulder past others to get to the door that leads to the stairs.

“Where are we going?” she asks as we start up the stairs.

“I’m looking in the wrong place,” I say.

“Huh?”

I shake my head, but don’t answer as we continue up the stairs until we reach the sixth floor. I head down the hall, looking for James’ room. There are a few people on this floor, coming and going, but none of them are the man I’m looking for.

His room is on a corner, so I head down the hall more, and lean against the wall, pulling my phone out.

“What are we doing?” Lilah asks in a quiet voice.

I jerk my head toward James’ door. “Waiting for him to go to his room after the conference.”

“Oh,” she says. “That makes sense.”

I should have thought of it sooner. It’s possible he’s in there already. But if he is, then he has to come out at some point. Hopefully that’ll be sooner rather than later. I don’t want to stand here all night. Though, I will if I have to.

I aimlessly scroll on my phone, keeping my gaze on James’ door, waiting for someone to show up to get in or for it to open and let someone out.

People pass us, and I smile and nod or say hello.

They continue down the hall and make it to their rooms. No one questions me being here, maybe even thinks I’m one of them.

They’re all dressed nicely in button downs and slacks. So am I.

Do these idiots think I’m a cop, too? The thought is humorous, and I crack a smile.

“Oh no,” Lilah mutters, moving closer to my side.

I frown as I look at her, but anger fills my chest when I feel her body shaking against my side.

“Kitten—”

“Lilah, is that you?” The voice pulls my attention. There’s something in it that grates on my nerves.

A man old enough to be my father stops in front of us, looking at Lilah with an odd smile. I don’t like the way he’s looking at her, or the way his hair is gelled back. He smells like an ashtray and his teeth are too yellow. I don’t fucking like him.

“Can I help you?” I say, trying to keep calm. Lilah is upset. This guy is a douche. Something isn’t right. I put my arm around her, shielding her with my body.

The guy looks at me and scoffs. “No, thanks,” he says harshly. “I’m just trying to say hello to my niece.”

All I can see from this angle is the top of Lilah’s head, but she isn’t moving a muscle outside of shaking.

“Doesn’t seem like she wants to say hello to you,” I respond.

“Well, I don’t give a fuck what she wants. Lilah, say hello to your uncle.”

Her shaking gets worse, and I step forward, moving her behind me completely. The closer I get to this douche, the worse the smell gets.

“I suggest you leave,” I say calmly.

The man laughs. “Who the fuck do you think you are talking to me like that? She’s family.”

“And you smell like shit.”

He huffs out a disbelieving laugh, pointing a finger in my face. “You’re going to regret that.”

He takes a step forward, looks around me to see Lilah, but I move in his way, holding his gaze.

Try me, asshole. I fucking dare you.

Smirking, he holds my gaze for a long moment before walking away, shaking his head and muttering to himself.

“Are you okay?” I ask Lilah as I turn to face her, resting my hands on her arms.

“I can’t be here,” she whispers. “I have to go.”

She shoves past me and moves down the hallway.

“Kitten!” I call after her. When she doesn’t stop, I go after her, jogging around the corner and slamming right into something hard.

“Fuck!” we shout at the same time. My hand goes to my forehead, because it slammed into something that felt like steel. When my eyes open, I see he’s doing the same.

He… as in James.

My body reacts by freezing, while he groans.

“Watch where the hell you’re going, dipshit,” he mutters, then shoves past me and goes into his room. The door slams, something loud bands inside, then it’s quiet other than my racing heart.

I snap out of it and glance down the hall. Empty. Lilah is gone. I need to get her. James can wait.

By the time I catch up to her, she’s storming through the parking lot. I open my mouth to call after her, but don’t want to make a scene. We shouldn’t do anything to be noticed around here, in case something happens to my asshole brother—or her even more of an asshole uncle.

Let’s be serious: something is going to happen to both of them. But Lilah comes first.

I hurry after her until I can reach her. I grab her around the waist and pull her to me.

“It’s okay, Kitten. I’ve got you.” I hold her tightly to me, her body still shaking. Until it stops. She goes still and for a split second, I panic. But then the sobs leave her and she’s shaking all over.

I keep her against my body, holding her as tightly as I can without crushing or suffocating her.

I did this to Violet once. She was panicking and told me to hold her.

She said it helped. If someone were holding me like this when I was panicking, I’d explode.

But Lilah isn’t telling me to let her go, and her fingers are clawing at me like she’s trying to get closer.

I have no idea how long we stand in the lot like this, but I spend every spare second thinking about her uncle and all the ways I’m going to kill him.

He did something to my kitten. Something that fucked her up so badly she’s a trembling mess.

This isn’t my girl. My girl is strong. I saw her moments before she was about to die, and even then she wasn’t such a mess.

I’ve seen her while I beheaded her boyfriend.

I’ve seen her while I gutted a pedophile.

She didn’t even flinch. Death doesn’t phase my kitten.

Meaning… this man did much worse to her.

And so that means I’m going to do much worse to him.

When her sobs stop and her body settles, I pick her up and bring her to the car so we can go back to the hotel.

I carry her up to our room and lay her in bed.

I get her undressed and under the thick comforter, before getting naked and climbing in after her.

She curls up, burying her face against my chest and wrapping her arms around me.

“It’s okay, Kitten. I’m going to handle it.

I’m going to take care of him for you.” I kiss her forehead.

“Whatever he did, I’ll make him regret it.

” I keep my voice soft and calm even though I’m speaking evil things.

Something tells me what I’ve imagined doing to him doesn’t come close to what he did to Lilah.

And no one hurts my kitten and gets away with it.