Page 83 of Leah

“They didn’t see my face—”

“They’ll know your name in an hour. They’ll have your life story done by tonight. There will be pictures up, along with everything they believe happened, all before you lay your head to rest tonight. And by morning, it will be everywhere. That’s the world we live in, and you’ve just been dragged into it by the stellar guy sitting next to you.”

Carter stared despondently out the window, confirming Rome’s words with his silence.

Jesus Christ, I was fucked.

“How did they find us?” I asked, hysterically. “I don’t understand. How? I don’t…”

It could have been anyone, really. Could have been my boss. Could have been the motel lady. Could have been the trucker that passed us along the road. Fuck, it could have been someone we didn’t even know that had seen us.

It was worrisome not knowing who had been watching.

What kind of person could live through this?

“How?” I asked again, shocked.

“Doesn’t matter,” Carter mumbled. “It never does at the end of the day.”

No one spoke after that.

Twenty-Four

Leah

Overwhelmed, I opened the apartment door and stepped inside. Carter and Rome followed after me. I threw the keys down on the counter just as Melanie stepped out of her room in nothing but her pyjamas.

“Hey hooker, you gonna tell me where the hell you’ve been—” Her words immediately died when she spotted the boys. Staring a beat longer at Rome, she forced her gaze away. “What’s going on?” she asked me solemnly.

“Nothing good,” I muttered.

“They got ambushed outside their motel room,” Rome told her, stiffly, avoiding her eye. “I had to come to the rescue.”

“Motel room?” Mel repeated in surprise, her eyes burning into my head. “Please tell me you didn’t do what I think you did with Carter.”

“I’m right here, you know,” Carter cut in icily.

She pointed at him and angrily retorted, “Yeah, you’re right here, and that’s the problem. Three years she’s been trying to get over you, Carter! Why couldn’t you stay away like you promised you would?”

“Melanie,” I said on a sigh, “not now.”

“I should punch him, Leah!”

“Please,” I begged. “I’m too tired. Let’s not go there.”

She forced her mouth shut but glared at him while shaking her head. I didn’t want her to hate him—this was my fault.

“So, what should I do now?” I asked Rome in defeat. “If they’re going to smear my name all over the media, what should I do in the meantime?”

“Like I said, lay low,” Rome replied, avoiding Melanie. “Don’t go out.”

“I’ve got a job.”

“Not anymore.”

I looked at him in disbelief. “And how am I going to survive, Rome? I need a job—”

“We’ll give you some money to tide you over,” Carter interrupted, staring down at the floor with an empty expression. He looked just as exhausted as me, wearing the same wrinkled clothes, hair tousled messily over his forehead.

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