“I told her that I was into you, and that I was sorry. That I should’ve broken up with her first, but that nothing happened between you and me prior to that.”
Ugh.
Yeah, Justin will like this, but I don’t know how I feel about it.
“And?” I choke out carefully, squeezing the book tight against my chest. “What did she say?”
“She doesn’t care about me or our relationship or anything else; she misses you. She’s worried. She truly believes that Tess is blackmailing you. I can’t talk her out of it without giving too much away, so I just let her believe it.”
I nod. There’s no good way to handle this, but at least that’s something. And I’m glad Maxx is being as honest with my sister as he can be. That’s the most important thing to me.
He moves over to me, brushing some hair back from my forehead.
“Read your book, Kota. I got this wine thing handled. Anything else you want from me? You just ask. Snacks, hot cocoa, a foot massage.”
I give him a look.
“You’d really give me a foot massage?” I query back and he grins, pushing hair off his own forehead in a way that just sings look at me, I’m a gorgeous, confident bastard, aren’t I? Never in my life did I think I would fall for three guys at the same time. Yet, it’s happening. I have three crushes. Three … whatevers.
“Ask me,” he commands, crossing his arms over his chest. “See what happens.”
“Give me a foot massage,” I tease, and he nods his chin toward the bed.
“Lay down, crack that novel, and give me your feet.”
So I do, and he does, and holy shit, when his strong fingers press into the arch of my foot, I nearly pass out from the rush of pleasure that rockets through me.
“I can’t believe you’re doing this,” I murmur, and he just lifts both brows in reply.
“Believe it. I can be a dick, but I can also be incredibly charming in my attempts to make up for it.”
“Uh-huh.” I give him a look in response, but I can’t maintain it. What he’s doing just feels too damn good. I don’t let myself think too hard about what we’re doing here; Chasm was right when he told me to let it lie for the time being. So I focus on my book as best I can, biting my lip as he kneads all the stress from my body through my feet.
When he’s done, standing up to return to his duties at his laptop, he drops a single kiss on my temple, and I curl up on my side to read. But I would be lying if I said there wasn’t a smile gracing my lips.
Oh, and the wine bottles? Maxx confirms it: they are from Secret Cache.
Excellent.
The idea of going to Whitehall the next morning is almost too daunting to consider. I can’t deal with that shit today. Besides, I finished the book, and I still can’t figure out the puzzle. I need to read it again.
So I head downstairs to find Tess pouring a generous amount of Paul’s scotch into her coffee and ask if I might stay home for the day. The excuse I make is that I’ve got really terrible period cramps—to be fair, I sort of do—and she waves me off without another word.
I text Chasm to let him know I won’t be there, and also to make sure that he’ll be safe without me. He promises that it’s actually easier for him if I’m not there anyway, so I curl up on Parrish’s bed while Maxx cleans GG’s cage, feeds him, and then settles down next to me.
For the remainder of the day, we work with what we know.
Maxx goes through all the books that we collected from the state hospital, searching inside for all the things I’ve checked the Agatha Christie novel for: highlights, dedications, secret letters.
There doesn’t seem to be anything there.
After I finish The Mysterious Affair at Styles for the second time, I want to pull my hair out.
I’m missing something.
Or else Justin just hasn’t fed me the information I need.
I make another attempt to talk to Tess, but she isn’t having it. She avoids my questions and then locks herself in her office, blasting Mr. Brightside from The Killers so loudly that the windows in the upstairs shake. The song makes me think of my first time, of Parrish, and I nearly spiral, plopping myself in front of Maxx’s computer for some more internet sleuthing.
I haven’t bothered asking Tess to give me the rest of my electronics back; I don’t want them. They’re just more tools for Justin to spy through. For now, I’ve got a phone and X’s laptop. That’s enough. When my efforts once again yield zero results, I run myself a hot bath, read the book for a third time, and go to bed early.
