Chapter 27: Chapter TWENTY SEVEN — PAYBACK
Candace
"Welcome back, Luna Candace!" Bree rushed forward as I stepped out of the limo.
Everyone else was caught up in welcoming the Alphas and fawning over Deidre. My maid beamed up at me, her blue eyes bright with excitement.
I studied her warily, pulling Cookie against my chest. Why was she being so...nice? "It’s Lady Candace, Bree. I’m not Luna."
Yet, Star added smugly.
"Oh, but you will be soon," Bree replied, darting past me to retrieve my luggage from the boot.
She was probably just being nice, I knew that, but she made my chest tighten uncomfortably.
Was she pretending? Was this some ruse to get under my skin and then drive a knife into my back?
She seems nice, Star quipped as Bree fell into step beside me and we walked into the packhouse together.
"How was your trip? Did you go to the Eiffel Tower? When Tanya said you guys were going to Paris, I almost passed out. I heard it’s so beautiful!" She gushed, practically bouncing on her heels as she wheeled the luggage ahead of me.
Nice or not, it could be deceptive. Everyone in the pack had turned against me the minute my family was declared traitors — everyone except my anonymous helper.
"...Is it as high as they say? Oh, we’re here." Bree’s voice drifted back into focus.
She opened the doors to my quarters and immediately set about unpacking my luggage. She kept chatting as she worked, while I sank onto the sofa in the living area, watching her quietly.
Cookie wriggled out of my arms and darted around the room, yipping excitedly on her little paws. Could Bree be my anonymous helper?
No, she was just a kind girl. Where would she have free access to medicine and food as a maid?
Maybe we can learn to trust her with time?
Yeah, I thought. Time.
Speaking of time, we’d better get on with investigating that night, Star reminded.
That was true. I had to get my head back in the game and clear my father’s name. That was the most important thing to me now.
"Is there anything I can do for you, Luna? Do you want something to eat, or can I draw you a bath?"
I pressed my lips into a polite smile. "Thank you, Bree. I’d like to be alone, if that’s all right."
Her wide blue eyes dimmed slightly, but she nodded, dropping into a curtsy. "Of course, my lady. Send for me any time."
I waited until the door clicked shut. Then I crossed to the closet and pulled out the bags Luna Ashley had given me before the honeymoon.
I settled onto the plush carpet, Cookie trotting over at once to nose through everything alongside me.
Inside one of the bags were books, a few photographs, and some of my mother’s things that Luna Ashley had kept. I found a note River had slipped to me several days before he died.
I had already been working as a maid by then. My father was executed for betraying the pack, and my mother, Stephen, and I were stripped down to pack slaves.
But the Pendragon brothers still came to see me back then. They would appear at the small room where I stayed with Mom and Stephen — waiting for judgment — in the evenings or far too early in the mornings when no one else was around, and for a while, it made things a little more bearable until when I woke up in River’s pool.
I didn’t know that the next time I would see him, he would be lying in a pool of his own blood, with everyone pointing to me as his killer.
I smoothed the note open, frowning as I read it for the first time in three years. It was one of River’s riddles or at least, that was what I assumed. He had always loved them. He had tormented all of us with his riddles since we were children.
"Count backward from the evening bell. X marks the spot from hell. If anything happens to me, find the truth, Candy."
Did he know something about the setup my father had been caught in? Why was he so certain something would happen to him?
What did the riddle even mean? X marks the spot — that had to be a location, didn’t it?
I pressed the heels of my palms against my eyes and breathed through the pressure building behind them. One week had already slipped by, and I was no closer to the truth of the night that had taken everything from me.
Candy, calm down, Star soothed.
Cookie let out a low whine and came over to nuzzle my legs.
"I have to know what happened. I have to clear my name and my family’s name. It’s just so freaking hard!"
We won’t find anything if you’re agitated, Candy. Maybe we should go for a swim? We’ll feel better.
I lifted my head. A swim sounded good. Everyone would be tied up with whatever, I could have the pool to myself and think about what to do next.
I reached down to give Cookie a gentle pat.
"Thanks, girl. Thanks, Star."
I’ve got you.
Rising to my feet, I browsed through the closet and found a sunset-pink bikini. I hadn’t worn one in three years.
It felt rather strange standing before the mirror in only a bikini. Some of my scars were starting to fade.
I studied my face, and warmth rushed into my cheeks when my eyes landed on my lips. Ragnor had stared at my lips back at the hangar, hadn’t he?
I could have sworn he was going to kiss me. My body warmed at the thought. I hated that I would have wanted him to, too.
With a quiet huff, I grabbed a robe, slipped it on, and headed for the pool. My flip-flops scuffed against the floor as I walked.
Thankfully, there was no one around. I shrugged off the robe and dove in, laughing softly as the cool water closed over my body.
"Oh, it has been so long," I sighed, gliding forward. I had only taken a few strokes when my skin prickled.
Someone was near. My head pushed through the surface, and the scent of vanilla bourbon, dark amber, and smoke curled through the air.
Only one man carried that scent. I swept my hair back from my face and looked up into Reign’s hazel eyes. A cigarette hung between his lips.
He had on nothing but black swimming trunks, and they rode low around his hips, revealing the sharp V that disappeared beneath the waistband. My throat went dry. I dragged my gaze away from his trunks and up his muscular torso, over the tattoos trailing along his arm.
His hair was tousled, a single loose curl falling across his forehead.
He’s gorgeous for an asshole, Star purred in my chest, and I swallowed a snicker. I had to get out of here before he opened his mouth and ruined it.
"I didn’t know you wanted to use the pool. I’ll leave."
"Stay."
I tried not to look at him. The pool was large enough for two people to swim without acknowledging each other’s existence, but it was growing very difficult, considering Reign was moving through the water barely feet away from me.
From the corner of my eye, I watched him cut through the pool, the muscles in his back shifting with each pull. He came up for air and dragged a hand through his wet hair. Water streamed down his neck, his chest, the ridges of his abs... Goddess, I needed to get out of here.
Just a few more minutes, Star yipped. We can stop after just a few more-
You are no help to me at all, I told her.
The pool water seemed saturated with his scent, his heat as though everything else had dissolved and he was the only thing left.
Every breath he drew when he dove under, the sound of his arms slicing through the water, the low grunts he made as he surfaced, all of it wound around me like something I couldn’t shake.
When he straightened to his full height, the water lapped just above his tapered waist. I wet my lips, suddenly parched, my eyes tracing where that deep V led.
"I can take it off if you wanna see more," he drawled, lifting his arms to rake through his dripping curls. His biceps rolled with the motion.
Wonderful. He had caught me staring. I ignored him, pretending he wasn’t speaking to me, but when had Reign ever picked up on a social cue?
"Like what you see?"
He was not going to let this go.
I turned to face him then, color rising in my cheeks as his gaze dropped to my chest. The memory of his lips on my skin on our wedding night surfaced and then, just as quickly, the ugly memory of his cruelty, and what he and his brothers had done.
"Watching a stray dog lick his balls would have been more impressive," I snapped and moved to climb out of the pool.
The edge was too high, though, and I slipped. In an instant, Reign closed the distance and caught me before my head could connect with the concrete.
"What the fuck?" he snarled. "You could have hurt yourself!"
"As if that’s any worse than what you three have already done to me." I pulled away from him when he spun me around, my back hitting the wall behind — his hazel eyes blazing, a thick arm locking around my waist.
A gasp tore from my throat as my back met the concrete edge, and his body, hard and unyielding, pressed flush against mine. My eyes went wide as it registered exactly what was happening.
Reign groaned, squeezing his eyes shut for a breath. The thick swell of his cock pushed against his wet trunks, hot even through the water, and he bared his fangs as he leaned in.
"Let go," I gritted out, fighting to gather my senses. "What would your precious Didi say if she saw you like this pressed up against an like me?"
"You tell me, sweet." His voice had dropped to something rough and frayed. His face dipped against my hair, and I heard him draw a long, slow inhale before his nose skimmed down the side of my face and along my neck.
My back arched without my permission, pressing me even closer against him.
No, no, no — what am I doing?
"Smell so fucking good. I’d wager you’re already wet, Little Dove," he breathed, his hot tongue flicking over my neck. His mark throbbed warmly, and for one unguarded second, the pleasure of it swept everything else away.
There it was again. Little Dove. He hadn’t called me that to my face in three years — not until our wedding night — and now twice more in the same week.
"Wet with disgust?" I scoffed, pressing my palm flat against his chest and pushing with every ounce of strength I had. "Yeah. You’re right."
His hand left the pool edge, and he traced his thumb across my lips, leaning closer still. His warm breath washed over my face.
"If you don’t let me go, I’ll knee you in the—" I swallowed the remaining words when my eyes swung behind me to meet a familiar pair of cold green eyes.
Deidre.
An idea took shape in my mind, and my gaze slid back to Reign. Maybe it was time for a little payback. I closed the distance between us and crashed my lips against his.
