Betrayal of Innocence (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 1)

“We are helping,” Justin argued.

“How? All I can see is you are trying to stop me looking for my sister,” she snapped.

“I just don’t want you getting hurt,” Justin replied, digging deep for his patience.

“Don’t you think you should concern yourself with those who might already have been hurt?” she replied crisply.

She was deluged with emotions she daren’t put a name to and couldn’t even bring herself to acknowledge right now, and it wasn’t all her growing fears for her sister.

“Well you can stand here all day, but I am going to do what I came here for,” she growled.

She threw one last look at the window. Although she couldn’t see Curtis, she had no reason to suspect he was coming back to the house a second time. Before she had second thoughts, she stepped around Justin and made her way to the door. Vanessa didn’t care if he intended to follow or not. Right now, she was angry with him for kissing her the way he had and awakening things within her she hadn’t even known were dormant. She was annoyed with herself, her sister for vanishing, and for Curtis for being so heartless over whatever he had done. Nobody was going to stop her from getting to the truth, no matter what it took, and that included the highly distracting Justin.

It was a relief to be able to put some distance between them, even if it was only a few feet down the hallway, to the small door that led to the attic.

Justin silently followed her. He closed the door behind them and kept a respectful distance as they climbed the narrow steps to the small roof space. To his consternation, it was completely empty.

“Now, where have all the packing boxes and the like gone,” she murmured aloud.

“There were things stored up here?” Justin asked, glancing around at the empty space. It was unusual for it to be completely devoid of the odd nic-nac here and there.

“Geraldine kept some of the things she didn’t want in the house up here. I know because I asked her to borrow an old loom she had and came up here with her to fetch it. It was full of clutter; moving boxes, even unpacked boxes full of things she didn’t need but didn’t want to get rid of. You know, memories of our childhood, that kind of thing.”

Justin nodded. “The usual things.”

“So, where has it all gone?”

“Would she have told you she was having a clear out?”

Vanessa looked at him. “I came up here with her for the loom two days before she vanished, Justin.”

Justin kept his face devoid of emotion. He knew Vanessa was staring at him and daren’t give her any hint of the thoughts running through his mind right now. Whatever had transpired between them in that bedroom had gone far beyond a kiss. He suspected they had developed a connection somehow that had given her the ability to read his bloody mind, and it was enough to drive him out of his mind.

“Damn it,” he growled in frustration, unsure what he was going to do about it.

It was too late to turn the clock back, even if he wanted to, which he wasn’t at all sure he did. Unfortunately, it made the investigation into Geraldine’s whereabouts considerably more personal.

“Damn it all to Hell.”

Vanessa lifted her brows at him. “Do you believe me now?”

Justin growled at her as though displeased, which of course he was, but not entirely with her.

“No, I do not,” he snapped.

Vanessa planted her fists on her hips because the urge to swing at him was strong. To her amazement, he nonchalantly turned around and descended the stairs without bothering to look at her. It was as though he had descended into a world of his own; one where she didn’t exist. She had never felt so dismissed in her entire life. Stymied, she slowly followed him, inwardly battling the hurt that began to flood the centre of her chest.

It was a surprise to find him rummaging around in the main bed chamber.

“For God’s sake,” he growled.

“What is it?” Vanessa asked as she entered the bed chamber and watched him slide one of the dresser drawers closed.

“Show me downstairs,” he ordered, then marched out of the door.

Vanessa stood mutely by the sitting room door while he searched the contents of the bureau. Solemnity stole her warmth when she looked at the empty spaces on the walls where her sister’s artwork had once sat. There was very little else in the room for her to search.

“The furniture?” Justin asked.