Chapter 44 CHAPTER 044
Linc POV:
I saw it earlier and I didn't like it one bit, it made my blood roar in my ears. The look of pure fear on Amelia's soft features when I mention Tyler. I can now ascertain that it is not guilt or any of crazy conclusions I arrived at on my way here. Amelia is an open book. I see her affection for me etched deeply into her face that it genuinely scares me. I wonder if I am worth her love. I can't stop thinking about the fact that she is very young and has her whole life ahead of her.
"What are you talking about?" Amelia says, I wince at the slight trembling in her soft voice.
I will wring the fucking life out of that kid if he had hurt her in any way. God, I am barely keeping myself in control because of her. I feel like I could explode with the quietly powerful rage rumbling inside me.
Amelia tries to move away from me but I don't give her the space to, I hold her chin securely with my thumb, her eyes flare with that fear again.
"Cut it out, Amelia. You are an open book to me. I see the look of fear that flashes through your eyes when I mention him. What did that bastard do to you? I was dumb to think you were both messing around. I can't apologise enough for allowing a petty emotion like jealousy blind me to the real issue here. Which you will tell me about this instant." I look deep into her eyes flickering with panic.
I feel like I should know what the matter is without her having to say it out loud but God help me, I really can't come up with anything. I barely even know the kid. I ignore him at the meetings. Though he never stopped trying to get my attention. Fucking Marcus just brought him in from God knows where and I didn't like that this was a kid at an appropriate age for Amelia and they already knew each other. Classmates.
"Linc." Amelia whispers. Then I see the moisture glistening in her eyes and I allow my control slip. I jump off the bed in an instant, Amelia's eyes flare with panic.
"What are you doing? Where are you going? Linc?" I tug on my pants, ignoring her. I need to find Tyler and I need to find him right now. Marcus said he didn't show up to work but he must know where he lives. I do a mental check to see if I have Marcus's contact on my personal phone. I doubt it. But I could reach Charlotte at the office and ask for it.
If Amelia is too scared to tell me, then I will simply go to the source for answers.
"Going to get answers from this Tyler kid." I say and Amelia jumps off the bed too, my eyes rake over her naked body and I feel my anger dissipate by a huge fraction. Fuck, I have to focus.
"What answers? Linc, calm down." Amelia pleads and it only makes me agitated.
I get out of the bedroom to look for my phone in the living room. I search everywhere with a quick scan of my eyes but it is nowhere to be found. I either left it in my car or forgot it in my office. Fuck.
Amelia is behind me, wrapped in her bedsheets, her eyes are wild and it drives me crazier. As I walk past her, something catches my eye. Her left wrist. There is an angry red scar that surrounds the thin width. I grab her arm, look closely at it and confirm that it is what I am thinking it is. Someone put their hands on her. Someone hurt her. Someone hurt Amelia. I see red and I am no longer looking at her wrist.
"Who did this to you?" I ask through gritted teeth. There is a dull ache thudding in the back of my head. How the fuck did I miss it when I first barged in?
Because I was being an old insecure fuck. That was how. God. I feel foolish.
"Amelia, you need to answer me right this instant. Who did this to you!" I did not intend on raising my voice nor do I realise I am shaking her shoulders hard till I look in her eyes and see the tears glistening there again. I let her go and take a step back, feeling like a foolish monster. I can't get anything right.
"Amelia. Please." I whisper. Feeling confused and helpless. And angry. So fucking angry. I can't fathom why she would be keeping quiet about it.
"I am fine, Linc. Really. You are being irrational. I burned my wrist yesterday when I was cooking. It was just a slight burn. I don't understand what you are on about." Amelia says, tightening the bedsheet around her body. I can't unsee her hand trembling as she does it.
I start making my way towards her bedroom to get the rest of my clothes so I can get out before I choke on my blinding rage. She won't say the truth and that makes me angrier than should be normal. My blood pressure is through the roof.
Amelia follows me into the bedroom, watching me as I put on my shirt. She stands at the door like she would try to stop me so I don't leave. Like she could.
I tuck in my shirt loosely, with my tie slung over my shoulder, I turn and head for the door.
"Move out of the way, Amelia. Whatever reasons you are protecting him for better be worth it." I say tightly. And I mean it. It doesn't occur me to connect this befuddling Tyler situation with the scar around her wrist.
"Linc. Wait." Amelia says quietly, biting down on her lip. I hate the fragility I see etched into her beautiful face.
"No." I look away and make to sidestep her when she opens her mouth and stops me cold in my tracks.
"It was Tyler. That day. The door. He recorded us. He is blackmailing me." Amelia stumbles over her words, wanting to get it all out in one breath but I hear her loud and clear. My brain scratches to a halt like a faulty record player, trying to make sense of what she said.
It hits me like ice cold water over my head. That day. The door that clicked shut. I had gotten so busy with work and tracing Arthur Beau over in fucking Paris that it skipped my mind totally.