Taming London (Warwick Dragons #1) - Milly Taiden Page 0,49

James puckered his lips and nodded his head, impressed. He clasped his hands together and rocked back on his feet. “Well, then I gather this means you’re ready to go to the police. Shall we go now?”

Bethany gasped, and a cold shiver ran up her spine. “The police?”

“James, for fuck’s sake. We just walked through the door. We’ve only just gotten together. Can you not give me the time to tell her?”

“Tell me what?” Bethany asked. She hadn’t meant to yell or for her voice to come out in a panicked squeak, yet it did. Every single inch of her body was telling her to run. As far and as fast as she could. This didn’t feel right at all. She especially didn’t like the way London was staring aggressively at his best friend. Her skin pulled at the thought that she had freely and openly given her heart to someone who voluntarily kept things from her.

After all, she should have known better. She had known all about London’s reputation. How could she have been so trusting? Surely, her crush on him had weakened her defenses, regardless of what she knew about him.

“James,” London growled in warning.

The man held up to hands defensively, but the damage was done. Bethany needed to know what was happening. She gave London an accusatory stare down.

“You’ve been keeping more from me?” The hurt in her voice was clear as a bell in the quiet room.

“No, not quite. I wanted things to be settled between us before I told you…”

“Oh my god. You purposefully kept things from me and made sure I agreed to be with you before you came clean? That is so manipulative.”

London took hold of her shoulders. The gesture was soft and gentle, but she hated it nonetheless. It felt restrictive. She pushed away from him.

“Beth. Please. You know how we just discovered that if we had just been honest, the whole Sabrina thing wouldn’t have come between us? This is the same type of situation. If you just let me explain…”

“What the hell did I know? Don’t you see that the conversation we had makes this all the worse? You had me go on about how sorry I was, about how we needed to be more honest, and have discussions before getting upset. All the while, you were keeping things from me?”

“This is a dangerous thing, love. I am trying to protect you. If you just take a breath,” he placed his hands on her shoulder again. “Just breathe and listen. I found out who killed your mother.”

The world dulled around her. The edges of her vision began to blur.

“I found out just before I went to get you to bring you to the country. I wanted to get you away for a bit. Someplace safe while I figured out how to proceed.”

“Who?” Her voice was a barely audible whisper.

“A hitman by the name of Jean Rochelle was hired to kill her.”

Bethany gripped London’s arms as her legs began to tremble underneath her.

“Who?” she asked again.

London’s face softened, and he sighed sadly. “This might hurt…” His thumbs ran along her shoulders. The gesture was meant to be comforting, but Bethany barely felt it. “It was your stepfather.”

Bethany’s legs gave out, and she crumbled to the floor as a sob tore out of her. The acid in her stomach surged up her throat, and she was sure she would vomit. She coughed, hoping to stave it off. The sound was a strangled cry as she began to cry in earnest.

Too much was happening in her head all at once.

The words made no sense. Leonard wouldn’t have hired a hit man. He couldn’t have.

London knelt by her, closing his arms around her, but she pushed him away, struggling to get to her feet.

Leonard Humphries was by no means a good man. He was greedy and selfish, but she had been convinced he loved her mother. Lilly had been sure of it. A fresh wave of sobs wracked her body.

How had she been so blind? So completely tone-deaf to her mother’s life?

“I need Eugenie,” she managed to say as she headed toward the door.

London cried out her name and chased after her. He stepped in front of the door. “I can’t let you leave when you’re this upset. We can deal with this together. We can go to the police together.”

Bethany shook her head. “I need Eugenie. I’ll…” She took a deep breath, letting herself believe the lie. “I’ll call you soon.”

He looked like