Page 107 of The Bitter Words

Ifollow Bren into their kitchen. “Does Livianna know I’m here?”

“No, bro, but I’m not sure this is a good idea.” He rummages through the refrigerator.

“I’ve been back for a month. Your parents are out of town and I think she’ll be open to talking to me. Guns, I need to get her back. We belong together.”

“You supposedly fucked Zara. In Livianna’s mind, there’s no reason to forgive you.” He stands with his arms full of various foods and kicks the door shut. “I still think something about the situation is suspect.”

He’s not wrong. The whole thing was staged.

I had to go along with Zara’s plan so Leon wouldn’t drug us and let Zara and Sebastian have their sick ways with us while we were out of our minds on Floating V.

Zara wanted Livianna to pay for getting her fired and Leon knew hanging Sebastian before me would have me cave into Zara’s demands. Nobody will ever hurt my Lily the way Sebastian wants to get to her.

I’ll fall on the sword every day for the rest of my life if it means I keep her safe and away from them. The only problem is I don’t know how I’m gonna get around the truth.

I straddle a stool and rest my arms over the top of it. “Livianna needs to hear me out.”

“Why? What good do you think it’s gonna do?”

“I want her to know how it happened.”

He places the items on the counter. “Something I’m curious about, too.”

“I already told you.”

“No, you said you were wasted and didn’t have a clue how Zara got into your bed.” He puts his hand on his hip and stares my way. “I was there and know for a fact you didn’t drink or do any drugs that night.”

“You didn’t see when I went to the bathroom and ran into someone who gave me some fucked-up shit.” I lower my head.

Bren can’t know the truth either. Leon agreed to Zara’s request to take Livianna out of the picture because he claims he owed her a favor.

It’s bullshit and I know it. He only made it happen because he likes having power over me and tormenting me in his spare time.

He threatened to release any and all videos he has on me, my family, and my friends if it comes out the situation with Zara was a setup. I’m stuck but can’t live without Livianna, so I’m gonna try to get her back.

Bren taps the space in front of me with his finger. “Hey, liar. One of the girls I was with was getting water and saw you let Zara into the suite.”

“See.” I raise my gaze. “That’s proof of how out of it I was. I didn’t even notice her standing in the room.”

“She was shutting my door when someone knocked. She waited out of curiosity to see who it was.” He shakes his head and huffs. “She told me Zara got there about ten minutes before Livianna. Your story doesn’t add up.”

“She must have noted the wrong time.”

“Let’s pretend it went down how she said it did. Why do that to Livianna? Why hurt her in the worst way possible? If you wanted out, you could’ve just said so.”

“That’s the point, dickhead. I wouldn’t purposely do something like that.”Not without having a good reason, anyway.

He rolls his eyes and proceeds to make a sandwich. “One of these days, I’ll get to the bottom of it and you’ll owe me a big apology for lying to me. The only reason I’ve forgiven you for that morning and remain your best friend is because I know it’s bullshit.”

“I’ll be sorry for the rest of my life.” Not able to wait any longer, I slide off the stool. “I’m gonna go wake her up.”

“Do what you will, but I heard her stumble in around three this morning. Don’t be surprised if she kills you when you wake her out of her coma.”

“She might, but I need her to listen to me.” I climb up the back staircase with my mind whirling and my heart thundering.

I don’t know what I’m gonna say. Every time I show up to speak with her, she escapes and stays away for as long as she can. She refuses my calls and avoids me at all costs.

My hands tingle as I push her bedroom door open. She’s on her back sleeping, looking like a pink-haired angel with her left arm resting above her head.