Twisted Palace(49)

“Mind if I go?” I ask once Steve puts away the last of his meal. There’s only so much of this I can take, and after thirty minutes of it, I need a break. “I’ve got homework.”

“Of course.” As I walk past his chair, he grabs my wrist and tugs me down to plant a kiss on my cheek. “I feel like we’re really a family tonight, don’t you?”

Um. No.

But I can’t diagnose what’s going on inside me. The kiss on the cheek from my dad feels odd. He’s a stranger to me in all the ways that count, and the urge to escape rides me hard.

When I hurry into my room, the expensive leather suitcase tempts me. I could take it and leave. Be done with this weird family and not have to face the emotions that Steve’s existence brings out in me.

But I just shove the suitcase into the closet, pull out my homework, and try to concentrate. Outside, I hear the television flick on and then off. The phone rings. There are other signs of life, but I’m not leaving this room.

Finally, around nine, I yell that I’m going to bed. Steve wishes me a good night. Dinah doesn’t.

After brushing my teeth and slipping into one of Reed’s old T-shirts, I climb into bed and call him.

He answers after the second ring. “Hey, how’s it going over there?”

“Bizarre.”

“How so?”

“Steve is awful to Dinah. He said he thinks she might have tampered with his equipment, so his revenge is to make her life hell. He’s doing a good job of it.”

Reed snorts, clearly not feeling any sympathy for Dinah. “Ella, she’s an original See You Next Tuesday.”

“Ugh, don’t use that word.”

“I didn’t. I used several words. Four of them. How you choose to interpret them is your business.”

“Dinner was so awkward. Worse than the night Brooke announced her pregnancy.”

Reed whistles. “That bad, huh? Do you want me to come over? You said you have your own room.”

“I do, but we better not. Steve’s so...I can’t read him. I’m afraid of what he’d do if he caught you in here tonight.”

“All right. Say the word, though, and I’ll be there.”

I snuggle deeper under the covers. “Do you think Dinah did it?”

“I’d like to pin it on her, but Dad’s investigators say she was on an international flight from Paris when Brooke died.”

“Shoot.” No motive then. “What about hiring someone? Like Daniel hired someone to knife you.”

“I know.” He blows out a heavy breath. “But there are three sets of surveillance cameras at the building. The lobby and elevator cameras show only me.”

“And the others?”

“The stairwell cameras show nothing. The third set are in the service elevators. Staff, movers, delivery people use those. They were down for maintenance that night, so there’s nothing there.”

My heart beats a little faster. “So someone could’ve gone up the service elevator.”

“Yeah. But the DNA all points in my direction.” He sounds miserable. “And Dinah and Brooke were friends, so what’s the motive? Brooke had a rough childhood, made friends with Dinah when they were teens. She and Dinah worked their way into a circle of rich men, hoping to land one of them. Dinah got lucky with Steve a couple years back, and Brooke set her sights on Dad. But he wasn’t willing to put a ring on her finger.”

“Do you think your dad…” I’m reluctant to say it, but…Callum could have hired someone, too.

“No,” Reed says sharply. “No one in my family offed her. Can we talk about something else? Where are you?”

I don’t want to talk about anything else, but I give in because I’ve had too much conflict tonight. I’ll never get to sleep at this rate. “In my room. You?”

“I’m in yours.” I hear him inhale. “Smells like you. You wearing my T-shirt?”

“Yeah.”

“And?”

“I’m not having phone sex with you before actual sex,” I reply tartly.

“Aww, poor Ella. I’ll make you feel good at school on Monday.”

His low-voiced promise makes me tingle, but since Monday is a whole forty-eight hours away, there’s no point to this conversation. I change the subject to the game, and we talk for a long time about nothing and everything and just hearing his voice makes me feel better.

“Goodnight, Reed.”

“Night, baby. Don’t forget about Monday.” He laughs quietly as he hangs up.

Cursing him, I shove the phone on the nightstand and am about to turn off the light when my door swings open with no warning.