“Anything? You going to say anything? I trusted you. I trusted you with her. How long have you been luring in my daughter, you son of a bitch?”
“It’s not like that—”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” His laugh is cruel and cynical. “You’re talking to me here—your best friend since we were practically kids. I know you better than anyone. You expect me to believe you? When did it start? When did you start taking advantage of her trust? Her innocence—”
I shoot out of my chair, ready to match him blow for blow for insinuating I would ever dare take advantage of her. “Watch it,” I hiss.
He doesn’t back down. “I trusted you in my home. God, all the times I’ve trusted you with her. How fucking long?”
There’s no right answer here. Do I confess it was the day she turned of age when I finally allowed the inappropriate glances to slide off my wandering eye? Willingly accepted her flirtatious advances? Decided one day I would sell my soul for a taste of her forbidden beauty?
“WHEN!” Heath howls, cutting into my thoughts.
“Just before she left for school,” I reply.
Heath steps back. “You sick piece of shit. You stay the fuck away from her—”
“You didn’t need to come back here to remind me. Get the fuck out—”
Fuck!
That motherfucker takes a swing at me. My lips split back open, and I hiss.
“Why her? You can have anyone. Why…her?”
“Do you think I planned this? You think I chose to put my only friendship on the line?”
“You don’t give a shit about friendship. Why?”
“Same reason you had.”
“What the fuck does that mean?”
“Why Violet?” He rears back to hit me again, but this time, I prepare to fight back.
“This has nothing to do with me.” His chest heaves, ready to land another shot, but I’m not giving him a chance.
“But it does have to do with wanting something so bad, knowing you can’t have it, fighting the demons inside that taunt you with right and wrong.”
“Why fucking HER!” His voice booms throughout my kitchen, cracking with emotion. I’ve had enough. I may have destroyed the only friendship that has ever meant anything to me, but along with that, I’ve also lost the only person I’ve ever…fuck…I ever fucking loved.
“Because she was this entity creating light in my dark world. You should know just as well as anyone what happens when you find something so pure, so beautiful, inside and out…it’s a struggle to walk away. I didn’t lay a single hand on her without her consent.” I wipe the fresh blood off my lip. “I didn’t choose her. Life did. The cruel fucking universe we live in decided for us.” A firestorm of anger and betrayal light behind his eyes. My voice is suddenly hoarse. “I knew the impact of my decisions and how my empire would crumble around me the day you got wind. And I hated myself for that. Hated knowing I was going to cause this, going to hurt you. I hate my-fucking-self for it, but I can’t stand here and lie to you and tell you I regret it. Not a single fucking second of it.”
He stares at me, the hatred in his gaze like a knife slicing my chest wide open. He shakes his head. “I won’t accept this. I can’t. Where is she? I’m taking her home.”
I didn’t expect him to. I always knew the end of us would be me walking away. “And you have my word. I’m done. I’ll stay away from her.”
He spits at my feet. “Your word means shit to me. But hear mine.” He stabs his finger at me. “If I ever see you near her, I will fucking kill you.” A sharp pain radiates inside my chest, an emotion too heavy and dark to describe. Loss? Regret? I want to rage. Tell him to fuck off. That she’s mine. But I won’t betray him twice. I’ll stick to my word. I’ll never see her again. “Now, where is she? I want to get the fuck out of this house and get you out of my life.”
My emotions slip, and I snap at his insinuation. I wish she were here, in her cage, in my bed, in my life. I mask my undoing with annoyance. “You saw her walk out of my house just as well as I did.”
Heath takes a threatening step toward me. “I’m not playing games, asshole. Where the fuck is she? Hazel!” he shouts through the house.
Regardless of the pain, I’m ready for another round to get him to stop saying her name—get him out of my house so I can start to accept the soul-crushing truth of what just went down. “And like I told you, she’s not fucking here. I suggest calling your girl.”
You’re done with her.
Stay the fuck away from her.
You’ll never see her again.
Each word is like a grenade detonating inside my chest. I knew the consequences. I was never meant to make it out of this alive. Heath snaps me out of my sullen realization when he takes another luring step, preparing to swing.
“My girl told me you picked her up from a bar at school. I know you’re with her.”
My brows scrunch in confusion. “I haven’t left my house. She’s not with me.” Heath looks about ready to blow. We have a stare-off, my eyes becoming wide with uncertainty. Pulling his phone out, he dials Violet. “Don’t baby me. That shit isn’t going to get you out of this. Where is Hazel? I know you told me that, but I’m standing at the asshole’s house right now, and he’s not with her… What do you mean that’s what the bartender…? Where the fuck are you? Who? Who the fuck is Evan—”
I grab the phone from Heath. “Violet, was Evan there with you?”
“Yeah, he just showed up at the bar we were at. He was being kind of strange. I left them for a couple minutes to use the bathroom, and when I came back, they were gone. The bartender told me a guy who said his name was Gabriel left with her.”
“Did he say where they were going?”
“No, but he said Hazel seemed wasted, which was also strange. I was only gone for a couple minutes, and she was fine. It was like the last time…she came home and…oh shit…”
“Oh shit, what?” I growl.
“Last night, we did this study group. She texted me claiming she was sleeping there, but it was super weird considering she was upset about something. Now that I piece it all together, there was no way she would’ve slept there. When she came home, she was so out of it and confused. I didn’t think about it, but…holy shit, there’s no way he’s…I think maybe he drugged her.”
“Where are you right now?” I bark out.
Her sobs pierce my ears as she cries. “I’m in our room. I came back here thinking maybe this is where you would’ve taken her.”
“I didn’t take her anywhere!” I yell, my chest heavy with onset panic. “Listen, I need you to text me the address of where that asshole lives. Can you do that?”
“Okay, yeah, I can do that. I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking. Evan seemed harmless at first. I would never have thought he would do anything to hurt her. He liked her. Wouldn’t stop bugging me about getting her to go out… Oh my god…why didn’t I see the signs! How could I be so stupid after Jim…?”
Her sobs mingle with strangled breaths. I barely understand the rest of her babbling and hand the phone back to Heath, then dial Hazel’s number, but it goes to voicemail. “Dammit.” I send her a generic text message and wait to see if it’s read. It only takes a few seconds before the three little dots appear and disappear. That motherfucker has her phone.