“I’d do anything for you,” I said as I took my place next to her.
“Even jump through fire?” she asked sleepily as her head found my chest.
“Jump through fire, leap from the tallest bridge, scale buildings, anything.”
“My hero.”
I wasn’t her hero.
Or her white knight.
But I knew what I could be and as corny as the thought was in my mind, I was going to be . . . her Prince Charming.
ELLE
A tiny detail sat on the outskirts of my consciousness.
It was right there but I couldn’t place it. I was in the bathroom when it hit. I’d just woken up and Logan wasn’t back yet. Feeling clearer-headed than I had earlier, I replayed the events of the past few days in my head. It wasn’t long before my mind felt overworked trying to pull everything together and I wished Logan were here to bounce my thoughts off of.
Unfortunately, that tiny piece of the huge puzzle was lost before I could figure out what it meant. Frustrated, I stared into the white porcelain sink, trying over and over to bring it back.
I didn’t know how long I’d been standing in front of the mirror. Just looking. Thinking. Concentrating. Until eventually, I gave up and let my mind wander. I wondered if I’d have a scar. When I could kiss Logan without my lips scorching in pain. If the day would come when he could look at me without feeling racked with guilt. This wasn’t his fault. Whatever this was.
“Elle?”
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up.
The voice caught me off guard. I gripped the sink, feeling panicked. Shifting my eyes around the small space, I knew I had no choice but to answer. There was no escape.
Still, I didn’t move.
Michael tapped on the bathroom door. “Elle?”
“Yes, I’ll be right out,” I called in a shaky voice.
Why was I frightened? I had no reason to be. He said he’d be back. Why hadn’t I thought to call and tell him not to come?
Stupid.
Stupid.
Stupid.
Logan had left me his phone in case I needed anything while he went down to talk to Miles, but that left him without one. My instructions were to call Miles if I needed anything, but the phone was on the table beside my bed.
Standing straight, I opened the door. It was when I looked at Michael that the small fragment I’d been trying to recall from somewhere in the back of my mind came to me in a flash. The memory was of me getting out of Michael’s car after Lizzy’s funeral. I was trying to avoid a conversation I didn’t want to have with him and was rushing for the door when a man called out to Michael. I twisted my head and the man calling to him had icy blue eyes, the same eyes as Michael. The same eyes as the ones I had seen in the rearview mirror. And his son was with him, the same boy who had groped me and injected me with insulin. Seamus. The man’s name was Seamus. Michael called him that.
I felt myself pale and squeezed my palms shut.
“What is it?” Michael asked.
Pensive, I stepped out into the room very aware that I was naked beneath my gown and hating it. It made me feel vulnerable. I shook it off and decided it was time I came clean and that Michael did as well. “Who was the man who came to the house after Lizzy’s funeral with all the flowers?” I asked sharply.
Michael’s entire demeanor instantly turned aloof. “How would I know? There were a lot of people there that day.”
I knew he was lying.
“Why do you ask?”
My mind was wandering again, back to the picture in Erin’s house, the one with the family of five—Michael, his sister, his mother, his father, and the fifth unknown. I changed tack. “Do you have an older brother?”
Michael took a step toward me. “What are all these questions about?”
I stepped back. “Do you?”
For a moment, neither of us moved or talked. “Have you thought about my proposition?”
Stunned, I couldn’t even comprehend why he’d bring that up now. “No, Michael, I haven’t. I’m sorry, but someone just kept me captive and injected me with insulin until he could figure out how to put me on the right path.”
Blatantly ignoring me, he matter-of-factly stated, “You have something I need and I have something you want. It seems like such a simple choice, but still, I need to hear your answer.”
“I don’t understand why you’re changing the topic,” I said, exasperated.
He took a deep breath. “There are so many things you don’t understand.”
I sighed. “Then help me—tell me what I need to know.”
“Elle, before I leave here, I need to know your answer. That’s all you need to know.”
I threw my hands up. “Why? Why before you leave here do you have to know?”
“Clementine’s safety depends on you saying yes,” he said in a broken voice.
Panic tore through me. “That’s not true. You’re using her to get what you want.”
He frowned. “I wish I was.”