Page 100 of Without a Trace
I turned, slow and deliberate, the hem of my dress slipping through my fingers,
“I would’ve given you everything,” he said. “And you left me with nothing.”
The ache bloomed behind my ribs.
I fucking burned. “You say that like you didn’t lie too.” My voice was low, shaking with all the shit I never got to scream. “You all have been fucking lying to me, all these years, not saying a goddamn thing.” He looked wrecked, knowing this was coming.
“You talk about what you would’ve given me—where the hell has that been when I needed truth?”
“You think I left with nothing when I don’t even know what’s real or what the fuck is going on right now.” The fire cracked, echoing the fracture in my chest.
“I never stood a fucking chance,” I said. “Not with you. Not with Alden. Not withanyof you.”
I lowered my voice as I stepped closer to him “If you ever loved me like you say you did—or do, you wouldn’t be lying to me.” I walked away, pulse thudding in my ears, breath shallow in my throat. Hoping for once, he'd stay where he was.
***
Zeke
I heard every fucking word.Didn’t mean to. But maybe I was meant to.From where I stood on the upper deck, smoke trailing from my cigarette, the firelight below cast just enough glow to make out their silhouettes—Scarlett standing like she was ready to burn the whole world down, Trace looking like he already had.
She was right.And wrong.But mostly, she was dangerous now—because she’d started asking the right questions. Feeling the wrong things.
I exhaled slow, watching the ember flare then fade.We weren’t supposed to care. That was the deal.Trace was supposed to watch her. Alden was supposed to anchor her. I was supposed to keep them all in line. Kane was muscle—backup of things went sideways. And Rhett…Rhett was supposed to keep it light. Keep her laughing. Keep her distracted. Instead, they got too close. And I didn’t stop it.
I moved away from the railing, dragging a hand over my jaw as I descended the steps. Kane and Rhett were passed out somewhere, Alden probably doing that brooding loner routine. And Trace? He’d stay by the fire. Because he always fucking stayed too long when it came to her.
She’d think we were all liars now.Maybe we were.
But the worst lies weren’t the ones we told her.They were the ones we told ourselves.
Scarlett
The villa was too quiet.
I closed the door behind me and leaned against it, eyes shut, breath held. The ocean whispered outside, soft against the glass, like it knew something I didn’t.
I kicked off my sandals. Pulled the hair tie from my wrist and let the waves of my hair fall wild around my shoulders.
Trace’s voice echoed in my head.
I would’ve given you everything. And you left me with nothing.
I walked to the bathroom and turned on the tap, letting the water run. Stared at my reflection in the mirror—flushed cheeks, wind-tangled hair, the shimmer of firelight still clinging to my skin.
I peeled off my clothes like they were made of memory, tossing them into a pile. Stepped under the stream and let the water burn.
My hands braced against the tile. My head hung low.
No one understood. I didn’t pick between them. I picked the silence. The space between choices. The stillness that let me pretend none of it was real.
I chosenot to decide.
Because choosing Trace would’ve meant stepping into fire.
Choosing Alden would’ve meant settling in the shadow of something I couldn’t name.
And now?
