Page 22 of Filthy Little Lies

“I had an apple, too.” I snap.

He lifts an eyebrow then turns back to Mrs. Neville. “We’re fine for now. You should get going; Jeffry is going to wonder what’s keeping you. I’ll heat up something if she gets hungry later.”

She smiles at me. “My husband takes me to the movies every Thursday night,” she explains for me. “I’ll be back in the morning.”

It hits me; this woman knew I was gone. Which means she’d gone up to the locked room I was being kept in and didn’t bat an eye at the fact a woman was being held against her will in the house. In fact, she’d probably been bringing me breakfast. And she was glad he’d brought me back.

So, I won’t be getting any help from Mrs. Neville if I want to make another escape.

“This way.” Gabriel cups my elbow, leading me to the stairs.

“Are you putting me back in the same room? I assume you’ve boarded up the windows?” I force lightness into my tone as we get to the top of the stairs.

“No. I need to keep a closer eye on you.” We pass the room where I’d been held and stop at one beside it.

It has a double door entry, and when he pushes them open, a full sitting room comes into view. It’s not a bedroom, but a suite. With a television and couch and a writing desk in the sitting room and another door that leads to the bedroom. That’s where he goes and stands at the doorway when I’m standing frozen in the first room.

“This is…” I don’t have words. “A full apartment. I don’t need this much room.”

He leans against the door frame. “Good, since you’ll be sharing it with me.”

I blanch. “What? Why? No.” If the emotions could get in a straight line for once instead of all bombarding me at one time that would be amazing. But instead my brain gets all tangled up with questions.

It’s this man. And the way he’s staring at me like he’s going to pounce on me at any second. He drops his leather coat over the back of the couch and leans with his arms crossed over his chest, making the short sleeves of his shirt strain against the bulge of his muscles.

“I told you, I’ll need to keep a better eye on you.”

My cheeks flush with heat. “This is a huge house; I’m sure there’s another room I can use. And really, you should have security cameras, considering your career choice.”

“We do have cameras.”

“Oh. I just assumed since I’d been able to get out and away so easily, there weren’t any.” I fold my arms over my chest, attempting to look as nonchalant as him.

“The man in charge of security last night has been dealt with.” He pushes off the doorframe and disappears into the bedroom.

“What does that mean?” I rush to catch up with him. “You didn’t…oh god, you didn’t kill him did you?”

Crushing guilt smacks me right in the chest, and I have to stop a second to catch my breath.

“He was too busy playing on his phone to notice you climbing out onto the roof, shimmying down the tree, or when you walked right up to the gate and pushed the button to let yourself out.”

My mouth dries. “You killed him.”

Several long-drawn-out seconds pass before he shakes his head. “He’ll live.”

Breath whooshes back into my lungs.

“But he’s hurt?”

He raises his brows. “Do you want to know how badly?”

“No.” I shake my head, deciding less is more when it comes to details.

“You could have killed yourself getting down from that window,” his tone darkens. “If you had, he would have joined you.”

I blink. “Why? I’m a nobody. Why would you care about my life so much that you’d kill one of your own men if I’d gotten myself killed?”

He crooks his finger at me.