Free Haven of Nightmares (Littlemoon Investigations Book 5) by Morgan Kelley Page B

stories he’d heard, he knew Bethany loved the piano.
    This was going to prove interesting.
    At his sister’s old door, he lightly tapped. Hopefully, Mattie would be safely behind it. When no one answered, he knew that she had to be the one playing.
    Heading down the hall, using the light from his phone to guide him, he crossed the large foyer to the conservatory door.
    It was open a crack, and he prayed that when he pulled on it, the door wouldn’t squeak too much.
    Holding his breath, Roman slowly began opening it.
    Thankfully, it was silent.
    Inside, sitting on the stage, there was the same old grand piano that he’d first seen Mattie at all those years ago.
    Her long blonde hair was loose, she was wearing a pair of sweats, and she looked exactly the same. It was as if ten years hadn’t even passed.
    She was lovely.
    It hit him.
    This was the woman he had fallen in love with all those years ago.
    It was how her fingers moved so eloquently across the keys, pulling such a haunting tune from it.
    It was seductive and called to him.
    Instead of announcing his arrival, Roman took a seat not far behind her.
    He listened.
    It was beyond beautiful.
    While he’d forgotten a lot, he couldn’t forget the melody. It was that same tune she’d played when he found her ten years ago.
    As she got to the end, she stumbled on a few notes.
    And she cursed like a sailor.
    It made him smile.
    Yeah, this was the woman.
    How had he not noticed the difference all those years ago? How had he fallen for the other woman when this one was clearly meant to be his?
    Oh, yeah.
    He remembered.
    It was the hormones.
    He wanted to get laid, he wanted a girlfriend, and he didn’t take into consideration the long term.
    He’d been an asshole.
    When Mattie stopped playing, Roman began clapping.
    She gasped and spun around, nearly tripping over the piano bench. Her glasses went sliding across the floor, and he went to retrieve them.
    Mattie didn’t move.
    She didn’t know why she came down here to play. Something compelled her to do it for old time’s sake. She couldn’t sleep, and the need to wander overtook her.
    “That was beautiful, Mattie.”
    She didn’t say a word. She couldn’t.
    Roman looked the same as he did all those years ago. He was even wearing that damn college hoodie—his alma mater. Then it had been his aspiration, but now it was his past.
    Oh God.
    She was sinking fast.
    “I’m sorry I snuck up on you,” he said, picking up her glasses and then hopping onto the stage. As he moved toward her, she took a step back.
    It broke him.
    She was afraid, and he didn’t doubt that it had everything to do with him being a suspected murderer. Could he blame her? He would have been skittish too.
    “I won’t ever hurt you,” he said. “I swear I won’t. I don’t hurt women then, or now.”
    That was a lie.
    He’d hurt her, and he knew it.
    Roman had to choose back then, and he’d picked the wrong twin. He was guilty of the crime, and he’d paid for it.
    “I came down to play,” she said, waiting for him to slip her glasses onto her nose. “I was compelled to do it. Sorry if I woke you.”
    “You didn’t. I couldn’t sleep. I never could after everything that happened here.”
    “Me either.” She stared at him. “I should go.”
    “Please, Mattie, don’t.”
    She paused.
    “We can’t keep evading this. At some point, we need to talk. I’m too exhausted over all of this to chase you down and force you. I just want it to be easy. It’s all my heart can take at this point.”
    She stopped with her back still toward him.
    Matilda knew how he felt.
    She felt it too.
    This whole thing had drained her, and she was on the verge of breaking. Mattie wanted to weep over the pain that was living in her.
    “What do you want to know?” she asked, unsure that it was her voice, which said it. She sounded so unfamiliar and distant.
    “Why didn’t you tell me that I’d made a mistake? All those years ago, why didn’t you