Chapter 157

He tilts his head, his eyes raking over my face, searching. “What makes you think that?”

“It was in the way he looked at me,” I say. “It’s the same wayyoulook at me. I know you said he loved your stepmother, but I swear it’s true.”

“I saidsheloved him. I never said he loved her back.” He glances out the windshield, his hands tightening on the steering wheel. “Is that why you killed him? You didn’t appreciate his attentions?”

“He came to the house when my father wasn’t there. I’m not even sure how he got in. But he followed me from room to room and begged me to give him a chance. I asked him to leave, told him that he was scaring me. He decided to grab me and try to kiss me.

“I got out of his hold and ran to the desk drawer my father keeps his Glock in and threatened him. He still refused to leave. The moment he took a step toward me, I shot. It was meant to scare him, nothing more. I could never kill anyone. The bullet grazed his arm, but he was alive.”

“You didn’t follow him out?