Twisted Palace Read Online Free PDF Page B

detective said they detained a suspect for questioning.”
    Reed and I slowly edge away from the railing, but it’s too late. Dinah has spotted us. Sharp green eyes laser into us, and she releases a cry of outrage.
    “It’s him, isn’t it! Reed did this to her!”
    Callum steps forward, entering my line of sight. His shoulders are like two granite slabs, rigid and unyielding. “Reed had nothing to do with it.”
    “She was having his baby! He had everything to do with it!”
    I flinch.
    “C’mon,” Reed mutters, reaching for my hand. “We don’t need to listen to this.”
    But we do. That’s all we’re going to be listening to once the news of Brooke’s death gets out. Soon everyone is going to know about Reed and Brooke’s affair. Everyone’s going to know that she was pregnant, that he went over to the penthouse that night, that he was interrogated and charged with her murder.
    Once the story breaks, the vultures are going to circle. The pitchforks will come out, and Dinah O’Halloran will be leading the charge.
    I suck air into my lungs, hoping to calm myself, but it doesn’t work. My hands are shaking. My heart is beating too fast, each thump-thump vibrating with fear that I feel straight to my bones.
    “I can’t lose you,” I whisper.
    “You won’t.”
    He pulls me away from the landing and draws me into his arms. Easton disappears into his room as I press my face tight against Reed’s muscled chest.
    “Everything will be okay,” he says gruffly, his fingers sliding through my hair.
    I feel his heartbeat against my cheek, and it’s steadier than mine. Strong and even. He’s not afraid.
    And if Reed, the guy who was just arrested, isn’t afraid, then I need to take his lead. I need to borrow his strength and conviction, and allow myself to believe that maybe, for the first time in my screwed up life, everything will be okay.

5
Reed
    “ T hink word’s already spread , bro,” Easton mutters under his breath.
    I shove my shit into my locker before surveying the room. Usually chatter and jokes are tossed around the locker room during our early morning practice, but everyone is quiet today. A number of eyes slide away, not willing to meet mine. My gaze ends on Wade, who winks and gives me the thumbs up. I’m not sure what that means, but I appreciate the support. I return the gesture with a brief nod.
    Beside him, our left tackle, Liam Hunter, stares at me. I give him a nod of acknowledgement, too, just to piss him off. Maybe he’ll come at me and we can work out some of our aggression on the tile floor. I lift my hands to motion for him to come forward, but then the lawyer’s admonition rings in my ears.
    “No fighting. No detention. No bad behavior.” Dad had stood next to Grier outside the police station, glowering as the lawyer reeled off instructions. “One wrong step and the prosecutor will be all over it. You have that assault charge for whupping that kid’s butt at your school last year.”
    I had to bite a hole through my tongue to keep from defending myself. Grier knows why I beat that boy’s face into a pulp, but I’d never hurt a woman.
    Though if there ever was a woman who needed hurting, it was Brooke Davidson. I hadn’t killed her, but I’m sure as hell not sorry she’s dead.
    “You shouldn’t be here,” a low, angry voice says from behind me.
    I pluck the athletic tape out of my gym bag before turning to face Ronald Richmond. “That so?” I say easily, taking a seat on the padded metal bench in front of my locker.
    “Coach kicked Brian Mauss off because he accidentally hit his girlfriend.”
    I roll my eyes. “As in her face accidentally fell onto his fist and she sported a shiner for three weeks and all her homecoming pictures had to be digitally altered? That accident?”
    Beside me, Easton snorts. I finish wrapping my hands and toss East the tape.
    Ronnie scowls. “About as accidental as you offing your dad’s trashy girlfriend.”
    “Well, then you’ll