maybe, they really were just trying to keep me safe.
Yet I couldn't ignore the certainty that they knew more than they were letting on.
10
Thick snow blanketed everything by Thanksgiving morning. I'd been cooped up in my bedroom all week, studying my ass off for exams and kicking myself for being so damn distracted all semester. Something about the snow, though, made everything so calm and peaceful.
I hadn't heard a single word from my father since he and Cherry had left on their cruise, and I didn't care to reach out. He'd shown his cards, and I was no longer interested in making an effort with our toxic relationship.
It was still more than two years until I'd be permitted access to my inheritance—from my mother—but I couldn't fathom the idea of remaining a prisoner so long. I needed my freedom, my independence. More than that, I needed to be rid of my stalker. And my attempted murderer... if they really were unconnected.
I'd woken early, again, and shivered as I padded around the kitchen in my socks. I needed coffee more than I needed a sweatshirt.
"Good morning, Miss Danvers," my father's elderly butler, Steinwick, greeted me in a quiet voice as he came into the room. "Would you like me to make that for you?"
I shook my head quickly, giving him an alarmed look. "Uh, no offense, but no. I remember the last time you tried to make me a coffee on this machine." It had probably been about three years ago but was bad enough to stick in my memory.
Steinwick gave me a watery smile and inclined his head. "Well, if you need anything..."
He looked a bit forlorn, and I smiled. He'd been in my father's employment for about five years, but I saw him so rarely I barely knew the man. "I know how to find you," I assured him, nodding to the intercom that we never used. "But maybe just enjoy the break while my father is away. I trust he's still paying your wages, even if none of us really need staff around?"
The older man hesitated a moment, then gave me a small nod. "Yes, miss. My employer is taking good care of things, even if we are a bit bored."
I gave a short laugh. "Well, enjoy it. I'm sure he'll make up for it by being a demanding fuck when he gets back from his cruise."
Steinwick murmured a bland agreement and shuffled silently out of the kitchen. Seriously, the household staff were like ghosts. That was the most I'd spoken to Steinwick in... forever.
Rubbing my arms, I clenched my jaw to stop my teeth from chattering as I waited for the espresso machine to warm up.
A warm hoodie draped over my shoulders a few moments later, though, and I shivered into the garment.
"Thanks," I murmured, threading my arms into the sleeves and hugging the body-warmed fabric around me. It smelled like Steele, all clean soap and car grease. "You want coffee?"
"God, yes," he mumbled back, his voice thick with sleep as his arms came around my middle and he zipped the hoodie up for me. But he didn't move away when he was done, instead resting his face on the bend of my neck a moment while his inked arms rested across my middle. "Why are you down here shivering your cute ass off at this time of morning, Hellcat?"
"Making coffee, obviously," I replied. I didn't move out of his embrace, leaning back into his chest as I went through the motions to make our coffees. "What are you doing down here pretending like we're okay again?"
Not that I was complaining.
Steele sucked in a deep breath, releasing it in a long sigh that ruffled my hair before he replied. "I want us to be okay again. I hate all the anger and resentment and silent treatment... It’s fucking killing me."
Damn him for speaking the thoughts I was too stubborn to say out loud.
Finishing our coffees, I set them aside and turned around in his arms so I could face him. He'd taken his own hoodie off for me, leaving him in just a T-shirt and sweatpants. His skin was prickled with goosebumps and he was rumpled from sleep, but damn he was attractive.
Blame it on the snow for bringing me a weird sense of calm in the early, pre-dawn light. But I was ready to let go of some of that crap. I looped my arms around Steele's neck, letting the long sleeves of his hoodie cover