curve of the bracelet. I couldn’t see evidence of a tracker, but then I had no idea what one even looked like.
I held out my wrist. “Take it off me.”
Arthur clenched his jaw, and his cheeks turned red. His eyes narrowed, and the Arthur of old surfaced. “Take it off me!” I said louder, my voice carrying authority around the large room. “Now, Arthur. And if you can’t, get me someone who can. I don’t want a tracker on me.”
Arthur got to his feet, positively vibrating. “No,” he said stubbornly, and my anger levels rose to match his. “No!” he bit out again, seeing me about to stand and challenge him.
Arthur’s hands slid through his hair and he became … undone. He unravelled before me, the cool exterior he always wore cracking down the centre, and a manic and haunted man was revealed underneath. He paced back and forth in front of me, neck corded and veins protruding from his muscles.
“You have to wear it,” he said curtly, but I heard the slight trembling of his voice. The betrayal of his unease. I was mute. I didn’t know what to say, seeing him this way. He was always so calm and collected. I didn’t understand why he was like this over a tracker. Over a bracelet.
“Arth—”
“You have to fucking wear it!” he snapped, cutting me off again. I watched him pace like a wolf, hands in his hair, then dragging down his face. “Just in case.”
I reached out and grabbed his hand. “Arthur,” I said sternly. “Stop.” He did. Stock-still. But his eyes were still blown. Still wide as he towered over me.
He launched forward and placed his hands on either side of my head. “Listen to me,” he said, his eyes searching mine. “You have to be protected. I have to know where you are.”
“Did … did something happen?” I asked, a trickle of fear crawling down my spine.
Arthur laughed a single laugh, but it was without humour. “Did something happen?” He shook his head, then pressed his forehead to mine. “They killed my mum and sister,” he said quietly, so quietly it was heartbreaking. His hands were unyielding on my head, keeping me close. “They killed your old man, your wankstain of a fiancé, your two best mates, and they tried to fucking kidnap you,” Arthur hissed, eyes squeezing shut momentarily. “They fucking wanted to sell you. Like those cunts did Ronnie. Like they did the women in the shipping container.”
“Baby—”
“It’s them!” he said, his wild eyes imploring me to listen. To understand. “They’re the ones behind all the attacks on us. They’re the ones sneaking around, fucking with us. And I don’t know who they are. I don’t fucking know who they are!”
Desperately, he smashed his lips to mine. The kiss wasn’t gentle. It was raw and savage and unrestrained. When he broke away, my lips felt empty. “I can’t have them taking you. If something happens, if they strike again, if they fucking get to us somehow, I need to be able to find you.” His hand slid down to the wrist that wore the bracelet. “This makes it so I can find you. If everything goes up in fucking flames, I’ll be able to find you.” His skin drained of colour and his voice broke to half a whisper. “I can’t fucking lose you,” he said, so sadly it stabbed through my chest. “Princess … I can’t lose you too.”
I put my hands on his face too, anger melting to sadness. We stood at the foot of his bed, hands on each other’s faces, holding on to one another for dear life.
“Please,” Arthur said, and my blood cooled at the sound of someone like Arthur Adley pleading. “I’ll fucking beg if you need me to, princess. But …” His breathing hitched. “Just wear it for me. Please, just fucking wear it so I can fucking sleep.” I thought of the headstones in the garden. The ones he could barely acknowledge when he found me on the bench talking to Gene.
“I can’t have you buried out there too,” he said, reading my mind. “Not you too … especially not fucking you.”
“Okay, okay,” I said calmly and kissed his cheeks, his wrists and his lips—softly, soothingly, gently. “I’ll wear it,” I said. And I would. I didn’t like the idea of a tracker on me. But then I replayed the attackers tying my hands and gagging my mouth. Remembered being dragged down the stairs of the spa