Page 169 of Swallow Your Sorries

Aria gives me an almost sad look. Not for Elle, for me.

Wasn’t, isn’t Bart an abusive husband and father too? But this isn’t about me.

“She puts Jarett above Elle every single time.”

My mother hadn’t done that. She shielded me at every turn and my father hated it. What had Jaime done?Nothing.

“Did you know Ginhart is Jamie’s maiden name? Jarett refused to give it to Elle. He said she wasn’t his at the hospital. He said she was ginger.”

“Isn’t her Mum ginger?” Aria asks, puzzled. “I saw a picture on Elle’s phone.”

“Jarett isn’t exactly a scholar, is he?”

“I didn’t think you needed to be one to understand the possibilities of genetics recessive or otherwise. But it’s his lack of…well,anythingthat triggers you, isn’t it? Because it makes you even more confused as to why your mother chose him.”

I freeze, watching my white knuckles again. “I thought I hated Jarett based on that point alone. But the more I track Jaime’s movements. The more I despise her. She’s almost worse.”

“How?”

“Jarett’s direct. Jaime plays little games. She uses Elle as a token. A reminder of Jarett, but she’ll toss her into the fountain if she can just have Jarett himself. That’s what she’s doing with that makeover. With the elaborate spending and the posts on her brand-new social media profiles. She’s trying to reel him in. Instead of her own daughter.”

“Isn’t that exactly why you did it? To lure Jarett out of hiding? Has he taken the bait yet?”

“No. But it’s only been a few days since the publication. It needs more time for the grapevine to catch up. If he’s around, he’ll find her soon enough. That money’s like blood to a leech.”

“And once he has? Will you alert Bart?”

I don’t answer. Instead, I hit her with another question. “Why hasn’t Bart already found him on his own?”

Aria says nothing because it’s a mystery that still doesn’t make sense.

“What about Rin?” I ask, wanting to keep the conversation going so I stay distracted from the humming engine.

“She was at the restaurant eating lunch with her father, like you said.”

“I never said she ate lunch with her father.”

“The old Korean man, right? If it’s not her father, who is he? Her uncle?”

“Why would her father or uncle travel all the way into town only to invite her to lunch and not her sisters?”

Aria pauses, her eyes growing wide. “If she’s dating sugar daddies, what the hell does she want with Étienne?”

“I can’t know everything.”

“But you know why you set up Elle to see Rin. Why? Obviously, it was to give Elle some sort of leverage against her. What did Rin do to tick you off?”

“She burnt my dove. I want to tear her down, but I can’t because she’s called for.”

Which is to say she’s completely off limits for me to destroy. But my dove can do whatever the hell she wants.

Aria’s brows knit, curiosity, hatred and confusion all contorting her features. “Called for? By who? Only an untouchable can call her.”

I say nothing.

“Étienne? Étienne called her?” her voice wavers.

“You know I’m not allowed to say until the caller makes it public.”

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