Eden

He gives me that mean, cocky grin of his and says, “The fuck you smiling like that about?”

I hurry to shut my door behind me and narrow my eyes into a glare. “What are you doing here?”

He shrugs. “What else? Nora wants to see you.”

“Now?” I gasp.

He nods. “Yeah, now.”

Shit. I’m not ready to see her yet. I thought I’d have time between now and our Sunday meet-up to prepare what I’d say and how I’d act. Spur of the moment like this, I’m not sure I can keep a cool head around her.

“I’m not really in the mood to see her,” I say with a shrug.

Ghost’s lips curl and he seems entertained by my defiance.

“Well, then it’s a good think I don’t give a shit about what you want, isn’t it?”

“Ghost, really, it’s not a good day for this,” I insist. “I can’t see Nora right now.”

“Again, I don’t give a shit,” he points out. “She wants to see you, and I want her happy, so you’re coming with me whether your ski

My mind scrambles to come up with something to distract him with. Something to dissuade him from making me go to her.

“What happened to your family, Ghost? Does she know what happened to your father? Does she know where your little sister is?”

“Why the fuck do you want to know so much about them?” he hisses.

“Well, it’s just that you’re so adamant that Nora’s been so protective and maternal of you, I’m just curious if she somehow fucked your family up as badly as she did mine.”

He looks confused—and increasingly agitated. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Nora is your family. You should be grateful that she’s given so much attention to you.”

“Grateful?” I release a bark of bitter laughter. “You really don’t know the truth about her, do you?”

“Watch that mouth of yours, bitch,” he growls. “You’re going to say something you’ll regret.”

He’s likely right, but I’ve come too far to back down from him now.

“Did you know Nora was responsible for my father’s death? Did you know she was working with Angelle back then? They plotted it together. She wanted my father’s money, and it was only an accident that she was anywhere near that house when it burned down. She’s been lying all this time. Angelle only targeted her after he found out she pla

Ghost stares at me for several long moments. I think I may have truly shocked him.

He shakes his head. “Lying slu—”

“Why would I lie? What would I have to gain? My mother helped kill my father. How do I win with that?” He looks at a loss for words. His mouth opens and closes several times, but no sound comes out, so I pull up the video on my phone and toss it to him. “I’m sure you’ll erase it to save her, but don’t worry, I have copies.”

He watches every second of the footage, a hand skimming his tattooed throat, a muscle working in his jaw. When he’s done, he stares at the dark screen for a long time, then places the phone face-down on my desk.

Suddenly, he turns to the door.

“I thought Nora wanted to see me,” I say.

He shakes his head hard and doesn’t look back at me when he snarls, “I’m fucking done.”

When the door slams shut behind him, I release a shaky breath of relief. I’m sure there will be consequences for that later, but for tonight, I’m just grateful that I’ve escaped another encounter with Nora.

I need more time to figure out exactly how I’m going to make her pay for everything she’d done.