So why would he return again?
She gulped, her throat tight. In the light of day, there were a couple of reasons he might that she hadn’t thought about last night. He paid for five nights in advance; he only stayed for three. Since his stuff was gone, he’d already come back once. What if he wanted to finish what he started?
What if he wanted revenge?
Her voice shaky, she asked, “What’s your plan?”
“Let me ask you something, Maria. This place… Ophelia—do you still want to keep it? Open it to others, invite them into your home?”
“It’s my dream. For seven years, it’s all I’ve wanted.”
He nodded. That’s exactly what he expected her to say.
“Lucas. Please. It was one bad guy. I don’t want want to shut down because of one bad guy.”
“I know.” He moved back towards the table, picked up one of the sheets. None of it made any sense to Maria. “I’ve been thinking. Figuring it out. He never would’ve been able to get into your room if it was locked—”
“Do you think I don’t know that? No one in Hamlet locks their doors!”
He went on as if she hadn’t had her outburst. “—and I know the locks here aren’t good enough. Security isn’t good enough. I will fix it. I’ve detailed a plan for you. Locks that can keep guests both in and out. Maybe on a timer, I don’t know. Cameras. Locked windows. Anything that’ll keep you safe.”
Calming slightly now that he wasn’t immediately shutting Ophelia down, Maria took the paper from him. She glanced at it, shaking her head when she caught on to what he was proposing.
She offered the sheet back to him. “I don’t think Frank or the other guys could do work like that. It’s very… extensive, Luc.”
“I’m going to get you the best. I’ll go outside if I have to, spend what I have to. Money means nothing. I need it done fast and I need it done well. I won’t chance anything happening to you again.”
Maria’s stomach tightened. “He won’t come back,” she insisted, pretending she was trying to assure Lucas when it was a struggle to believe it herself now. “He won’t.”
“No. He won’t.”
There was that chill again. Just like last night. He sounded so cold when he said that, she couldn’t help but shudder. Maria kept her back to Lucas. Something told her she didn’t want to see the look on his face.
“But,” he said softly, the change in tone drawing Maria to reluctantly look at her brother over her shoulder, “that doesn’t mean the danger isn’t real. You want to keep Ophelia open?”
“Yes. You know I do.”
“Then you’ll do this. For me.”
There wasn’t much Maria wouldn’t do for Lucas.
She turned around. When she asked this next question, she wanted to see his reaction.
“I let you install the locks, and you won’t push me into turning guests away?”
“That’s right.”
He was lying. Lucas was a phenomenal liar, but Maria knew better. He had a tell. It was a tiny one, barely noticeable, but she’d known Lucas her entire life. Whenever he was telling a lie, his left eyebrow rose just a little. The tiniest lift.
She saw it then. Lucas was never going to let her open Ophelia again. And Maria didn’t have the strength to argue with him over it.
He sat back down. “I’m going to finish working on this. I’m not leaving anytime soon. Why don’t you go take a shower while I’m here?”
She had to look really bad for Lucas to make such a suggestion. “I will. I—”
A communicator chimed, the buzz filling the kitchen. Maria recognized it as her radio. One problem: she had no idea where she left it.
“It’s by the fridge,” Lucas said, without even looking up from his work.