Page 109 of Heir

She grabbed my arm, and panic set in.

“Let go of me or I’ll scream,” I said, trying hard to keep my voice from getting too loud.

She let go of me. “What the hell is wrong with you? You’ve been ignoring my calls, and now I find out you’ve been hanging out with thatboy.”

I blinked. There was only one boy she was referring to, and she could only know that if she saw Kai drop me off at work this morning.

“You’re stalking me at my job now?”

I tried to walk around her.

She held out her hand to stop me.

“Did you fuck him?” she asked.

My vision started to get hazy. I was trying really hard not to let her words get to me.

“Why would that matter to you?”

“You little slut. I raised you better than this, and now you’re going to ruin all my plans!”

“What plans?” I asked.

I glanced around, but no one seemed to be paying us any attention. I knew what plans she was talking about. I couldn’t help the tears that formed in my eyes.

I thought I could be stronger than this. That I wouldn’t break under her gaze if I ran into her again, but fuck. She was just so good at ripping me apart, and I—I was back to being eight years old, completely defenseless against her.

She didn’t answer me.

“I don’t want to have anything to do with you,” I croaked.

“Don’t be fucking ridiculous, Gemma. Do you have any idea about the people we’re dealing with?”

“You,” I said, wiping away a stray tear.

“Excuse me?”

“Thatyouhave to deal with. Not me. Please leave me out of your mess.”

With that, I turned and ran. I ignored her when she called my name. I didn’t look back to see if Kenton was following me. I couldn’t.

My vision blurred again, and suddenly, it was just too hard to deal with.

I didn’t know how.

I approached a small bench on the side and sat down. I texted Leslie first. There was no way I would be able to go back to work after this, and most of my assignments for the day were done.

I didn’t wait for her response before I called for a ride.

And I sat there and waited.

* * *

The car pulledup in front of the bar.

They had just opened, and already there were a few cars and a row of bikes in the parking lot.

The driver looked at me in the rearview mirror and looked away quickly when our eyes met.

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