Page 78 of The Burdens We Share
I unfold the paper and read Ivory’s familiar scrawl:
Dallas,
I don’t know how to start this, because no matter what I say, it won’t be enough. It won’t make up for the fact that I didn’t get to say this to your face. It won’t make up for all the moments I let slip through my fingers, too scared to admit what was right in front of me.
I don’t know if I’ll ever get the chance to tell you in person, but I love you. I should’ve said it a hundred times over. I should’ve whispered it in the quiet moments when you stood guard outside my door when your hand brushed against mine and you pulled away too fast, when you looked at me like I was the most reckless, impossible thing you’d ever had to protect.
These past few years have been everything—the highs, the chaos, the music—but something was always missing. And then there was you. You, with your stubborn loyalty and steady hands, with the way you always knew when to push me and when to just be there. I never felt safe before you. Never felt like someone saw me for more than just the mess I’ve made. But you did. And it made all the difference.
I can’t tell you where I’m going or who I’m meeting, but I know Brody will fill you in when she gets back.
Until then, can you do something for me?
Tell Selene I loved her, that I always appreciated her killer fashion sense and the way she made every single one of my dreams come true.
Tell Brody I am so, so sorry for what happened on our last tour. She deserved better from me. She always has. And tell her I hope she knows how much she means to me. Oh, and she was right—I did throw out that damn top she got in Japan. It wouldn’t have matched anything else anyway.
Tell Aria I love her, and she better write a killersong about me. Something heartbreaking and legendary. Something that’ll make people feel.
And Dallas… check in on my mom and my brother from time to time, okay? I know I don’t deserve to ask that of you, but it would make me feel better knowing they have someone like you looking out for them.
But more than anything, I need you to know how amazing you are. How much you changed my life. How safe you made me feel, how cared for, how—loved. You made me feel loved in a way I didn’t think I’d ever deserve.
Before I came along, you were drowning in guilt over your mother’s death, carrying a weight that was never yours to bear, but you bore it anyway. I wish I could’ve stayed longer. I wish I could’ve shared it with you. I would’ve carried every ounce of it if it meant keeping you from breaking under it.
Maybe in another life, I get to stay.
Maybe in another life, I get to love you the way you deserve.
Ivory
My heart feels like it was ripped clean from my chest right before my eyes and doused in kerosene, flames swallowing the organ alive. Ivory left. She’s gone. And she left me a goodbye letter.
No. I reread her letter again to make sure I’m really seeing what I’m seeing and when I finish reading the second time, I feel panic swirl in my throat. She’s gone. And she said she isn’t coming back.
I refuse to accept this. I just got her, I’m not letting her go that easily. She told me in this letter that she loves me, but I want to hear the words from her lips. I want to touch her, hold her, kiss her, all while I tell her how much I loveher.This woman, this small woman with a witty and wild little mouth that’s impossibly stubborn, but unbelievably thoughtful and kind. Behind her visage of not giving a fuck about anything toeveryone else, I’ve seen her for who and what she is. She has a pure heart and I refuse to let its light fade out.
Someone is responsible for this because she wouldn’t have done this on her own. No. She would’ve come to me, I know she would have. She would have come to me and I would’ve protected her and kept her safe. I would’ve done everything to bring her friend back to her because I love her that much. I would sell my soul to that little devil if she so much as asked and I refuse to accept that she’s gone.
My pulse pounds in my ears, and my blood rushes fervently through my veins. I need to get my girl back.Now.
I grab her phone and unlock it as I make my way back downstairs to inform everyone of Ivory’s whereabouts. She left her phone behind intentionally. She knew I would track it and find her. I quickly open her messages app and find her most recent texts from a blocked contact. I open it and read, stopping in my tracks.Fuck.
This can’t be possible. I feel the color leech from my cheeks as I shout, “Harvey!” I rush down the stairs and back into the kitchen to find everyone’s eyes wide with shock and fear. They all look like they’ve seen ghosts. “What?” I ask, breathless. I can’t handle anything else right now. The only thing on my mind is Ivory and the fact that her stalker was free this whole time waiting for the right moment to go after her. I’m not an anxious person yet I find myself harping over every possibility, none of them positive. Is she scared? Is she hurt?
Slater’s face looks the way I feel. “Aria’s gone,” he says it in an almost neutral tone, robotic. As if he isn’t really believing the words coming out of his mouth. I know the feeling. And so does Harvey.
“What do you mean she’s gone?” I narrow my eyes at him. Ivory’s note sounded as though Aria wasn’t involved in this.
Slater’s eyes glaze over, “I mean she’s gone. She isn’t here andshe didn’t tell me she was going anywhere.”
Harvey studies me, his eyes assessing every line of my face, his brows rising in surprise. He isn’t the kind of man to get surprised by anything. Even if something does surprise him, he’d never show it. “What is it?” He asks, seeing all of my anxiety on my face.
I drop Ivory’s letter on the counter, “Ivory’s gone too.”
Chapter 24
Ivory
