Billy & The Beast (Ever After, New York #3) - Eli Easton Page 0,68

it off.

I wished I could turn this whole nightmare off. Erase the past few weeks. Be back with Billy at Malfleur again. Have this whole betrayal vanish—as if he’d never done it, as if I’d never heard about it. But life wasn’t so easy to fix.

Mrs. Martin came in with two tall glasses of iced tea, handed me one, and sat down on a chair. She leaned forward, hands cradled around her glass, and studied me. I touched my mask, feeling self-conscious.

She was about to say something when a dog padded into the living room from the hall, yawning. He looked like a shepherd mix, and he didn’t seem bothered by my presence, just came over to say hello. I petted his head, unable to resist smiling.

“That’s Mr. Barks,” Mrs. Martin said.

“Billy told me about him. I said he was welcome to bring him to Malfleur but—”

She looked at me questioningly.

“He said Mr. Barks kept you company.”

She tsked. “That’s Billy. He always worries about me.”

Mr. Barks went over to lie by Mrs. Martin’s feet.

“Aaron . . . you really hurt Billy.” She turned the glass in her hand. “Hurt him in a way that, as a parent, you hope your children will never be hurt. He’s devastated. Crushed. And he doesn’t deserve that.” Her voice grew thick with tears.

I felt a wave of shame. I looked down at the glass, wiping away condensation with one gloved finger. “I was . . . told some things about . . . about his intentions. It was extremely disturbing, to say the least. But I came by to speak with him about it.”

She gave a tiny noise of displeasure and leaned back in her chair. “I don’t know what you were told, but I can tell you that Billy is the most loyal, most tenderhearted person you’ll ever meet. He always took care of me, even when he was hardly old enough to take care of himself. I think he tried to take care of you too. In fact, I know he did.”

I looked up at her in surprise. I had to drink some iced tea to relieve the tightness in my throat. “I thought . . . maybe if there was a money problem, I could understand that. If he’d just come to me.”

She scowled. “Are you implying that he stole from you? He would never do that!”

“No.” I sighed. “But he might . . . sell a story about me. To the press.”

To my surprise she laughed. If I’d been hoping for some kind of telltale reaction, guilt maybe, this wasn’t it.

She shook her head. “Oh my. I don’t know where you got that idea, but, mister, that’s not my son. Not in a million years. He’d walk over coals to protect you—to protect anyone he cares about. And if you don’t know that, well, I’ll just keep my opinion of you to myself.”

And just like that, I knew she was right. Sitting here, in this little house, that kind of plotting and sneaking around and machinations were as far away as . . . as . . . New York.

Either Billy lied or Emmanuel did.

Which left me with a serious problem and a feeling that I really had no idea what was going on.

Chapter 26

Aaron

When I drove up to Malfleur in the old truck, it was almost sunset. The gate on Hillcrest was closed, but something felt off. I paused, engine idling, and looked around. There was no sign of anyone—no bike, for example.

Of course, there wouldn’t be a bike. I’d just been at Billy’s house, and his mom said he was in California. Still, I couldn’t stop the momentary spark of hope.

I noticed the security camera at the gate was off. The little red recording light was not lit. That was odd. I hadn’t touched it. Automatic system reboot? Power surge?

The gates swung open under the power of my remote control. A flash of red on the driveway drew my eye. It was a rose, lying crushed on the asphalt. Had I driven over the blossom on my way out? If so, I hadn’t noticed. More uneasy now, I drove on through and the gate clanged shut behind me. Funny how it used to make me feel safe. Now it just made me feel incredibly lonely.

Only I wasn’t alone. When I reached the house I saw Emmanuel’s car was parked in front. I muttered a curse. I had to speak to him, but I wasn’t up for doing it