I had to drag my ass down the steps.
My mother was in the kitchen. The sound of her voice made me cringe.
I wanted to blame her for everything happening, but I knew that was wrong.
Me wanting revenge and acting like a bitch was the only time she’d ever shown me love.
“There she is,” Gia said as I entered the kitchen.
“You look like hell,” my mother said.
“Good morning to you too,” I said.
“She was up late,” Gia said. “Painting.”
I looked at Gia and shook my head.
“Painting?” my mother asked. “What does… you know what? Never mind. I don’t want to know what that is. It has to be something with drugs, sex or whatever.”
“And that doesn’t bother you?” I asked.
“I’m not your caretaker, Winter,” my mother said. “Do you not know how time and age works? Those days are bye-bye.”
Those days you weren’t there for. Did you know the first time I got my period, I had to have one of the maids at the castle help me? I didn’t know what was happening or what to do. That poor woman was so calm and sweet to me as I freaked out, thinking I was going to die…
“Right,” I said. “We’re all adults here. I forgot.”
“Do good,” my mother said. “Or else you’ll end up in jail!”
She cackled and walked out of the kitchen.
“Where are you off to?” I asked.
She looked back at me. “I’m going to take a long, hot bath. Last night got a little crazy. Want to hear the details?”
“Yes,” Gia said.
“No!” I yelled. “Please. No.”
My mother kissed the air and disappeared for good.
Gia looked at me with a devilish grin.
“Don’t egg her on,” I said. “Or I’ll do the same with your mother.”
“Go ahead,” Gia said. “Let my mother talk to you for five minutes and you’ll be so red faced, you won’t know what to do.”
“What does that mean?”
“Do you really want to know what my mother is into?”
“You know what she’s into?”
“I found out by mistake,” Gia said. “I accidentally opened her overnight bag one time. Leather. Chains. Restraints…”
“Stop,” I said.
“See? Your face is turning red already.”
I hurried to the island where Gia sat. “What is this place, Gia? Our mothers act like that. They have these dirty secrets about men and money. You’re running to literally save your life. I’m thinking I can take on Noah, Easton, and Xavier and win. I have that stupid fucking Troc up my ass for money all the time. I should…”
I lowered my head.
“Should, what?” Gia asked.
I took a breath. “My father called and offered me to fly out to be with him. He said he talked to some doctors about my condition.”
“Your fake condition,” Gia said.
“I know. But maybe I can… I don’t know. I can say that on the flight I fell asleep and woke up and remembered everything.”
“Looks like you’ve got it figured out,” Gia said. She pushed from the counter. “Let me get out of your hair then, Winter. Last thing you need is my craziness holding you back.”
“Gia…”
She lunged for the door and went outside.
The coffee needed my attention. And my body needed the coffee.
I skipped the coffee and went after Gia.
I made it down two steps on the deck and then stopped.
She was down near the water, running.
I cupped my hand to my mouth. “I’m not chasing you!”
Gia stopped and spun around.
She planted her feet and stood in place.
She stayed there as I walked toward her.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I called out to her. “I was just talking to you.”
“You sure about that?” Gia asked.
“Are you mad at me for that?” I asked.
“I don’t know.”
“I told you everything,” I said. “You see what I’m up against.”
“Then maybe you should go.”
“I don’t want you pissed at me.”
“Why does it matter?”
“Gia… I keep telling you, I consider you my best friend now.”
Gia looked down at her feet for a second. “Yeah. Look, I’m just… I’m just thinking about last night still. That was a lot to get into. Sorry. I just hate that everyone comes and goes.”
“I get that,” I said. “I’m sorry if I gave you that impression. It’s crazy. Right? We’re all crazy.”
“I’ll be crazy if you’ll be crazy,” Gia said. “But we have to do it here.”
“Okay.”
“I should get going,” Gia said. “I have a running thing this morning. I don’t want to be late.”
“I have a revenge thing myself,” I said with a smile.
“You’ll get them,” she said. “You don’t need Talon.”
“I know,” I said. “But he wants money or else he’ll say something. I fucking hate him. All the Trocs.”
Gia pursed her lips and nodded.
She turned to walk away and I touched her arm. “Hey…”
I opened my arms.
She laughed.
We hugged and then she walked away.
I stood facing the ocean.
It was quite the view. I just needed some coffee.
As I stood there thinking about everything, my eyes gravitated to the left, thinking about Easton’s house.
Then I got an overwhelming feeling that someone was watching me.
The hair on the back of my neck stood up and I felt cold.
I slowly turned my head and looked behind me.
There was nobody there.
Nobody watching.
The feeling refused to go away.
I shivered and hugged myself.
Then I ran back to the beach house.
I still didn’t feel safe.
I had to dart up to BFH to drop some stuff off and pick up more work. Besides trying to take down Noah, Easton, and Xavier, my only other goal was to make sure I could get out of BFH on time and in one piece.
I was this close to saying goodbye to it all.
Everything was lenient, considering my accident and all, but I refused to rest on that as an excuse. Other than what I had already done.
The second I parked Tank Two and got out, I saw Noah.
He had his car back.
The one I had wanted to mess up.
The one that Talon had smashed the back tail light out with the tire thingy that was in the back of Tank Two.
My heart sank for a second but I kept my face straight as I waved to him.
He nodded and motioned for me to come over to him.
I approached like normal but told myself to be careful.
“Morning, Winter,” he said.
“Noah,” I said.
“How are you feeling?”
“I’m here, right?”
“I see that,” he said. “It’s good to see you.” He reached out and stroked my cheek with the back of his hand. “I missed you around here.”
“I read that in your note,” I said.