Deceived 6 - Ultimate Deception Read Online Free PDF

it’d still be impressive, no matter how many times I saw it.”
    His eyes moved away from mine to watch where we were going and I watched as the humor faded from his face. I followed his gaze and saw what he was staring at. The staircase was massive and just as beautiful as everything else, but I folded my arms across my stomach in a protective gesture. I shivered, waiting for the memory of falling to come back to me.
    Patrick stopped and leaned over me, his hands rubbing up and down my arms. “Are you remembering?”
    I shook my head. “No, but just knowing what happened here...what could have happened...” I let my voice trail off, knowing I didn’t need to explain any more. Patrick’s hands stopped where my arms were on my stomach and I could feel the tension radiating off of him. He hadn’t said anything else since yesterday about how close he’d come to losing me and Victoria, but I knew it was still there, just under the surface. I could see it sometimes when he didn’t know I was watching him.
    “This way,” Nina’s soft voice interrupted the moment.
    Patrick began to push me again and we moved towards the far side of the foyer. Maybe it was a good thing I wasn’t supposed to be up and walking around, I thought, as we passed various doorways that appeared to lead to different parts of the vast building. We were moving slow enough for me to catch glimpses of the other rooms as well as admire the sculptures and artwork that filled the foyer. I knew Patrick was hoping that something would trigger a memory, but there was nothing. I tried not to let it bother me, reminding myself that maybe it was better that I didn’t remember what had happened, but I knew that a part of me wouldn’t be satisfied until I’d gotten my memory back.
    As we moved past a large portrait in an ornate golden frame, I reached back and squeezed Patrick’s hand. He stopped.
    “Chloe?”
    I didn’t say anything, staring at the painting, something nagging at the back of my mind, like this was part of some puzzle I had to solve. It was of three girls, sisters that I recognized as the Brontes. I’d never been particularly fond of them as writers, so I couldn’t say why I’d felt compelled to stop here, but I kept looking, my eyes moving over the broad artist’s strokes like it held some sort of answer.
    “What is it?” Nina asked.
    “Did I see this before?” I gestured to the painting without looking away.
    “I’m not sure,” Nina said.
    “I don’t think so,” Patrick answered. “We weren’t really in this part of the house.”
    “Hm.” I leaned back in the chair again, frowning.
    “Did you remember something?” he asked.
    “No, but there’s something...” I absently rubbed my hands over my belly. “Something about it makes me think...” My voice trailed off and no one said anything, letting me have the silence to try to figure things out. I rubbed my temples with my fingertips, closing my eyes as if that would help.
    Was it something about writing? About their books? Had I done something stupid like tripped over a book? As weird as that sounded, at the moment, I wasn’t about to rule anything out. Maybe it had to do with sisters. I didn’t have any, but Elyse and I were almost that close, and I was starting to think of Nina that way. Was that why I was fixated on it? I knew that Elyse had been at the party even though I hadn’t talked to her since I’d woken up. Had she and Nina been with me when it had happened? Nina hadn’t said anything, but maybe that was because she felt guilty since it had happened in her house. I’d ask Elyse when I talked to her tomorrow.
    “Babe.” Patrick’s gentle voice cut through my thoughts. “We need to get you into bed.”
    I nodded and opened my eyes, sighing in frustration. “It’s like there’s something there but I just can’t touch it, you know?”
    “Don’t stress yourself over it,” Patrick reminded me.
    I didn’t respond. I knew I couldn’t put too