Page 46 of Fractured Loyalties
Katie, the SAT martyr, blinks. “Oh my God… that’s… wow… I’m so sorry.”
I nod, my filter just dissipating into nothing as my mouth moves. “It was really sudden. Heart attack. I found him in the kitchen, just… gone.”
Georgia’s lips part, but she doesn’t say anything. Tess’s hand floats to my arm, then pulls away, as if touching me might transmit the tragedy.
“It was a Sunday,” I continue, unable to stop. “He was making breakfast. One minute he was there, the next he’d just…collapsed. I called an ambulance, but by the time they got there…”
The room is a vacuum. Even the girls who looked as if they wanted to check their phones before don’t dare now.
“I remember the EMTs, how calm they were. Like they’d done it a thousand times, and I was just on the outside—like a dream. They put a blanket on my shoulders and told me to breathe, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t do anything. After that, I just…” I shrug and then sigh. “I ended up here.”
“That’s so sad,” Katie says, and her voice is soft, but the sympathy in it is surface tension only. “I can’t even imagine, but this place is going to be so much better for you…”
Tess tries to touch my arm again, this time leaving her hand there for a second. Her palm is clammy.
“Yeah,” Georgia says, clearing her throat. “My parents are, like, super divorced? But that’s not even the same.” She laughs awkwardly and gulps her drink. “But Robert Woods is super rich, the richest, so it’ll be… better.”
“That’s definitely hard…” Blair adds, looking at me with more curiosity than anything else. “Though I’m not sure about Robert Woods…” Something in her voice feels like a tell. But I can’t read it.
There’s a moment of silence—like seriously, amoment—before the entire room shifts.
“Are you coming to my party next weekend?” Blair asks me, her voice suddenly bright. “It’s at my lake house and my parents are out of town.”
“Um… maybe,” is all I can mutter. Thankfully, after that, the other girls start chatting about the last lakehouse party. I sit there, invisible again, my nerves feeling raw.
Tess gives me a look, and I see the sympathy in her eyes. But instead of saying anything about it, she picks up her phone, scrolls for a second, and says, “Here, let’s take a selfie.”
She leans in, and I force myself to smile. Tess looks down at our picture and then looks up. “Are you okay with me posting it?”
“Sure, of course.” I keep my voice light and fade back into listening, but suddenly everything about being at this stupid party feels…wrong.
I want to scream. Or cry—or both.
I need air.
I down the rest of my drink, and then turn to Tess. “Where’s the bathroom?”
She gestures a couple of doors down. “It’ll bewaybetter than the one downstairs.”
I give her a quick “thanks,” and then I slip away.
The moment the bathroom door clicks behind me, I lock it, and I let my shoulders drop, all the tension leaking out like a slow puncture.
What is wrong with me? Is it about Kade’s still being missing? Did he run away because of Roman? And speaking of Roman…
My stomach flips, and my chest aches. The sick mixture of desire and disgust is almost enough to make me throw up. I turn on the faucet and splash water onto my face, not even caring if it ruins my makeup.
I look up at myself in the mirror. The dress fits, my makeup is flawless, even if with the sheen of water, my hair is technically perfect, but myeyesare wrong.
I look…wild.
The longer I stare at myself, the more I can seehimin the mirror, standing behind me, all cold confidence and predatory charm. The way he pressed me into the glass in the changing cubicle, the way his breath felt against my skin and the way he touched me as if he already owned every inch of me.
And how much Iwantedit.
It’s disgusting. He’s disgusting. I’m disgusting for wanting it.
I try to shake it off, but my skin remembers him, the way he bit my shoulder, the way he gripped my hips so hard I had to check for bruises after. I want to scrub myself raw. I want to pull off my own skin and start over.
