So does every other eye in the room.
For the first time since Lady’s video started playing, Shady looks hit.
Not angry.
Hit.
Cherry wipes at her cheeks, but the tears keep coming. “You told me I didn’t have to be alone. You told me you would always look out for me. Then you started looking at her.”
Her gaze cuts to Lady’s frozen face.
Small move.
Ugly move.
Human move.
That is what makes it dangerous.
I want Cherry to be pure evil so I can hate her cleanly. I want Shady innocent so Lady doesn’t have to wake up from being kidnapped and find another woman’s grief waiting in his bed. But life is never that generous. Men make messes and call them nothing. Women bleed on the edges of them and get called dramatic for noticing the stain.
Cherry looks back at Shady. “They knew about the baby. They knew where my sister lived. They knew you stopped answering me. They knew exactly what to say.”
“You gave them Lady’s garage code,” Vice says.
Cherry sobs harder.
Magic says, “Answer. How did you even get it? How did you know where she lived?”
“Yes,” she whispers. “I gave them the code. I followed her once. Learned the building. Knew who to ask. I have plenty of friends who clean pools, wash windows, and keep their mouths shut for cash.”
Shady closes his eyes.
For half a second.
When he opens them, something inside him has gone colder.
“You gave them the code to her fucking home.”
“I thought they were going to scare her. Leave a rose. Maybe take pictures. I swear, Shady, I didn’t know they were going to take her.”
“That lie’s getting old,” I say.
I cross the room before anyone stops me.
Cherry looks up just as I reach her.
I slap her.
Hard.
The sound cracks through Vice Ink like a shot.
My palm burns. My wrist screams under the bandage. Pain shoots all the way up my arm, but I don’t care.
Cherry stares at me, one hand pressed to her cheek.
“You gave them my best friend,” I say.
