Page 43 of Cruel Crypts
He stared up at me, heavy-lidded and gorgeous, and I wished for a minute that this could be real. That there weren’t so many secrets and lies between us. That we weren’t polar opposites in all the ways that mattered.
“Leave it with me,” he murmured, and I nodded.
“Thank you.” Leaning down, I stole a kiss from him because I knew he wouldn’t give me one. It wasn’t even really a kiss, just the barest brush of my lips over his before I straightened up, and then I left him alone.
28
ELENA
My mother and I hadn’t crossed paths at all yesterday—I’d had a full day of intensive driving lessons, and she’d been out somewhere until quite late. So I’d made sure that I set my alarm for an hour earlier on Monday morning, and now here I was, ready for school in my perfectly pressed uniform, my hair neatly tied back, and light make-up enhancing my features. I entered the kitchen, where I knew my mother would be giving JoJo her breakfast, hoping that there wouldn’t be anyone else around.
I was in luck. We were alone, other than JoJo, who was digging into a bowl of Cheerios, half of it ending up on the floor around her high chair.
Before my mother could say anything, I slid into the seat opposite her at the kitchen table. “Mum, I need to talk to you.”
She glanced up at me, her eyes narrowing as she took in my serious expression. “What’s wrong?”
I’d spent all night thinking about this, and yet I still struggled to find the right words. “I think…I don’t want to do this anymore. I don’t think we should do this. We should leave and let the Ashcrofts live their lives.”
Her mouth fell open as she stared at me. “Elena, why are you saying this? Don’t you remember why we’re doing this?”
“I know, I just think—”
“It’s the boy, isn’t it?” She shook her head, her lips thinning. “Don’t allow your head to be turned by a handsome face. He’ll feed you all the lines you want to hear, and then you’ll end up pregnant and alone. Is that what you want?”
I sighed. “Mum, are we talking about me or you here? Anyway, Knox isn’t the reason. Do you think that it’s worth it? If you find something and use it, you’ll be ruining a family. What about JoJo? Isn’t it better that she grows up with both her parents in her life, parents who clearly love her and love each other? The Ashcrofts…they’re good people. Yeah, I know they’re rich and sometimes arrogant, but that doesn’t mean they deserve—”
“Howdareyou.” Her words were like a slap, a stinging mark that flew through the space between us, and I recoiled at the sheer venom in her voice. She’d never spoken like this to me before. “Our family has already been ruined. Anthony Ashcroft deserves everything that’s coming to him.”
JoJo was now staring between us with wide, worried eyes, and her little bottom lip was starting to tremble. My mother smoothly plucked a banana from the fruit bowl, peeled it, and broke off a piece, handing it to her. She was immediately distracted, thankfully.
“Mum, please. Think about it. Seriously. Because I have. When it was all planned in your head, it…I guess it seemed like a good idea. I was angry, like you. I wanted payback. But now we’re here, and these people have done nothing but make us feel welcome…” Except for Knox, of course.
“It’s not that simple. If we just gave up, where would we be? I know you’ve saved some money, but it isn’t enough for us to start again.”
“Okay, then can we at least forget about revenge and stay here until we have a decent amount saved? I can sell some more things and increase my hours—wait, what’s happened to the money you’ve been earning?”
My mother closed her eyes, pinching her brow, and when she opened them again, there was something calculating in them. Something I didn’t like. “My money has been paying back my contact. His interest rates are…excessive. But that’s beside the point. You tell me to forget about revenge, but who will pay for what happened?”
I steeled myself, forcing out the words, although I knew she wouldn’t want to hear them. “Why does Anthony Ashcroft need to be the one to pay? I don’t think you’re going to dig up any skeletons because he’s a good man. What happened wasn’t his fault, not really.”
The betrayal in her face was almost too much to bear. “Yes it was. He was supposed to be the best, and he failed. I losteverything.”
Shelost everything? It hadn’t been just her that had been affected.
“Your aunt’s life is over. Your uncle’s life is over. Our lives are over. What do we have to look forward to, Elena? There’s nothing left for us anymore.”
“Please,” I begged. “Please just think about it. No more lives need to be ruined.”
“If you’re not with me, you’re against me.” Her tone was final.
I stared at her, the woman who’d raised me from birth, and yet, at that moment, it felt like I didn’t know her at all. “Of course I’m with you,” I said, but the words were bitter on my tongue. They tasted like a lie.
* * *
“What’s wrong?”
Knox’s voice pulled me out of my dark thoughts. As usual, he was tapping along with his obnoxious music, the rhythm of his fingers on the steering wheel strangely soothing.