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Screams. Shattering glass. Crunching steel. It becomes too much, and I lean forward and vomit.
My hands shake as I attempt to dial her number. It goes to voicemail.
I dial again.
And again.
“God, please no.” I throw myself out of bed and dash downstairs to my car. I call dad, but he doesn’t answer. “Fuck!” I cry. I dial Gabriel. When he answers, I recognize the familiar jazz music playing in the background.
“Are you with my dad?” I ask.
“I am. Where are—?”
I hang up.
I race to the club at an ungodly speed and burst through the doors. Clara is at her position and tries to stop me, but I barrel past and rush into the back of the club.
“Excuse me, miss, you can’t be back here!”
I keep going, passing a long bar until I spot my dad and Gabriel in a private section.
“Hazel? What the fuck!” he pops up, his mouth hanging open.
“Dad, I need to talk to you.”
“How the fuck did you get in here?” I quickly glance at Gabriel, debating selling his ass out too, but I don’t have time. My entire body is trembling.
“Listen, something’s happened. I didn’t answer… I should have, but I was so mad. I’m still so mad, so I wasn’t picking up her calls.”
“Whose calls?” His voice a mixture of confusion and concern. “Whose calls, Hazel?”
“Violet’s. She kept calling and calling, and I kept silencing her. But the last one…” I choke on my own words. “Shit, Daddy. If I had just answered!”
Panic begins to resonate in his tone, and his eyes become wild with fear. He grabs me, forcing the words out of me. “Fucking spit it out.”
“Her last message…she left a super long voicemail. I wasn’t going to listen to it, but…” I lose it all over again and start to cry. “It was her and Jim. They were arguing. She was in his car, and he was going on about some crazy shit. He wouldn’t stop. She kept yelling at him to slow down, then—” I stall, the horrific sounds replaying in my mind. Dad shakes me again. “Her screams…I think they…I think they got into an accident. The voicemail hit the max time limit, and I don’t know! I tried calling her back, but nothing.” I can’t continue. I fall apart in my dad’s arms and sob.
His body starts to shake, and he pulls me away from him. “Gabe, take Hazel. Get her the fuck out of here. Take her home.” Gabriel stands and wraps me into his arms. My dad gives me a quick kiss and tells me it will all be okay before he runs out of the club.
I turn into Gabriel’s shoulder and sob. A ripple of fear quakes through me.
“Your father will help her. Don’t worry. He’ll take care of it.” His words turn my blood hot with anger. I push out of his arms and slap him hard across the face. A few gasps sound around us, and he grips my arm, dragging me away. I fight his hold the whole way to the elevator until he tosses me inside.
“Calm down.”
My chest is heaving, and I can’t catch my breath, but I’m too out of control to care. “Fuck you! How dare you! You knew, and you didn’t tell me!”
The doors close, and I go at him, my arms thrashing out, only for him to restrain me. “You bastard! How could you!” I scream and kick, trying to fight him off me, but it’s no use. He’s a giant and I’m no match for his strength. He takes me by the nape and drags me out of the elevator. Fighting in his grip the whole way down the hall, he pushes open a door and throws me into a room.
“Calm the fuck down, Hazel.”
My hair whips in my face as I spin around. “No, fuck you! You knew. How could you!” My chest rises and falls in short, shallow pants.
He eats up the space between us, his grip back and strong around my neck. “How could I have what? Told you your father was doing the exact thing I was—falling in love with someone untouchable to him? That just like me, he found solace and comfort in someone he shouldn’t have? Do you think we planned this? Do you think they did? Life is fucking cruel, pet. And in this sick world, people fall for the ones they aren’t allowed to. Your father is just as much of a victim to your roommate as I am to you.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” I snap. I’m so sick of his read-between-the-lines bullshit.
“It means I want something I can’t have.”
My throat tightens with emotion. “But you can have me.”
“Can I, though? For how long? Until we get caught, and I lose everything? Until you destroy your relationship with your father? I’m not your hero. I’m not your destiny. I’m the villain. You’re just too naive to see that.”
