“Oh, right, he’s really been suffering!” Susan gave a bitter laugh, and then her expression sombered and she turned her gaze back to Harper. “You really seemed to care when Jenny died. I thought you were suffering like me, so I tried not to blame you.” Her gaze shifted to Drina, and her lips twisted bitterly. “But then this slut showed up, and Jenny suddenly meant nothing. I couldn’t believe it when Genie called and told me how the two of you were humping in the schoolyard. She was sure you’d have screwed her right there in the snow in front of everyone if Teddy hadn’t come along to stop you.” Her mouth tightened. “I didn’t believe her at first, so I was going to come over and see what was going on, but then I saw you through the back window as I walked up to the house, the two of you going at it in the pantry like a couple of horny teenagers, groping each other through your clothes and . . .” She paused, her mouth twisting with disgust and grief.
“I thought I saw someone in the yard,” Drina muttered with a frown.
Harper raised an eyebrow. He knew what Susan was talking about. The day Stephanie had given them ten minutes alone while she prepared for their trip to London. He’d drawn Drina into the pantry and—
“How could you forget Jenny so quickly?” Susan asked plaintively.
He shifted uncomfortably, not sure how to answer that. Just days ago he’d felt guilty for letting go of his grief over Jenny so soon, but that was when he’d still thought her a life mate. All of that had changed, however, and his mind was swirling with confusion between what he’d always thought and what was true. But Sue didn’t really want an answer anyway, and continued.
“I hated you for that. Jenny died, and it was your fault, and you were just moving on, humping on this—this ho—like she was some kind of bitch in heat. I followed you when you left a few minutes later. I trailed the three of you all the way to London and you were all laughing and having a good time as you walked into the mall. You had your arm around Bat-bitch here and kept kissing her and squeezing her.”
“Bat-bitch?” Drina asked with disbelief, and then her eyes narrowed. “You are the one who tampered with the car brakes.”
Susan lifted her chin defiantly. “I knew an accident wouldn’t kill any of you. I just wanted you to suffer. But it didn’t even slow you down. The next night you two were up in the porch, going at it against the windows for anyone and everyone to see.”
“You threw the Molotov cocktail into the porch,” Drina said wearily, and then arched an eyebrow. “And the one at the gas station I presume?”
“By then I wanted you dead,” Susan said, staring at Harper and not bothering to glance Drina’s way, even as she added, “And slutty vamp there too. Jenny was dead and the two of you were—” She paused and took a breath, rage burning in her eyes, as she said, “I knew the Molotov cocktail probably wouldn’t kill you when I threw it at the porch. But then when I saw your car at the house the next night and crept in to see what was going on and caught her going down on you in the upper hall . . .”
Harper’s eyes widened incredulously. He was amazed that she’d managed to get into the house and up the stairs without their realizing it. The house was old, the stairs creaky. They should have heard something. Of course, they’d been a bit distracted at the time, he acknowledged with a grimace, thinking it was a good Goddamned thing that Leonius hadn’t been behind this. The man could have slaughtered them that night before they’d realized he was there.
“I wanted you both dead then,” Susan finished dully. “You shouldn’t live and be happy when Jenny is dead. I went home and fixed up another bottle. I was going to come back and set the house on fire, but I was afraid you’d just get out and heal like you’d done the last time, so I waited. I heard you saying you would go to the gas station, and I knew that was perfect. If it exploded . . . well, you couldn’t survive that. So I followed you there, but she got out and went inside. I almost threw it anyway, but by then I wanted her to suffer too.”
“So you waited until I came out,” Drina said, sounding impatient now. “Only he caught it, and you fled. So when you heard the search had been called off, you came here to watch the house, and when everyone went to bed, you came in intending to blow his brains out and presumably mine too. All because your stupid, selfish sister decided to steal Harper’s one turn and basically killed herself.”
“She wasn’t stupid. And she was dying, she was desperate,” Susan said at once.