Page 33 of Wicked Promises (Fallen Royals 3)
We follow him up to his room.
He throws a towel at Eli, then one at me. “And please, for the sake of my nose, rinse off.”
Eli chuckles, disappearing into the bathroom.
I cross my arms. “We have to ditch the detective.”
“I know.” He whips out his phone and shoots off a text. It vibrates a second later. “Liam is on his way.”
“His car got fixed?”
He shrugs. “I guess.”
The bathroom door swings open, and Eli walks out, a towel around his waist. “You gonna let us borrow clothes or…?”
Theo groans. “I better get this shit back.”
Armed with a clean shirt and jeans—we’re lucky we’re all around the same build, although his pants will be long on me—I lock myself in the bathroom.
I should be home with Margo, but instead…
I shower quickly, suds sliding down my body. Once I’m passably clean, I dry off and pull on the clothes. I have to roll the bottom of the pants, shaking my head slightly. This is ridiculous. We should’ve driven here.
Eli and Theo are down in the front living room, playing cards.
“I swear I can feel the detective’s eyeballs like laser beams.” Eli glances up when I walk in. “He’s still out there.”
“Great. So we just act normal until Liam gets here—”
The doorbell rings, cutting off my words.
Theo’s eyebrows jump.
Liam has never, in his life, rang a doorbell. Which leaves one person.
Theo hops up, shaking his head, and I take his seat. We’re just going to have to act normal—like we weren’t planning on hunting Matt down like a fucking dog.
He returns with Detective Masters close behind him.
“Ah, Mr. Asher,” Masters says. “I thought you might be here.”
I clench my jaw instead of backtalking.
“Theo, did I hear—” Theo’s mother stops short. “Mr. Masters.”
“Detective,” he grits out.
She’s a formidable woman. After all, she raised Will and Theo. She works normal hours, is home at a normal time… but she’s a psychologist. I’m sure she deals with crazy shit Monday through Friday, nine to five.
She crosses her arms over her chest, gaze sweeping across the room. She barely hesitates on me, then is back to the detective. He seems to have shrunk in her presence.
“You’re aware that Caleb has an attorney, Jim, but on top of that—he’s a minor.”
I glance at Theo, but he just shrugs.
Everyone knows everyone in Rose Hill. For a community so close to a huge city, people sure do take pride in getting up in their neighbor’s shit.
So it’s not surprising, really, that Beth Alistair has heard of Detective Masters. But it is rather jarring to find they seem… familiar.