Zayden gently held a hand up towards Juliana’s direction. “Stop this,” he growled, but wasn’t asserting enough dominance to trigger Juliana’s omega side to submit. He was giving her a chance. “Sonnet has taken great care to tell us about her family. You come here now to undermine her is not just cruel but also embarrassing. Go to your plus one and leave us be. We don’t have to be hostile towards one another.”
“Don’t we though?”
“No.We don’t.”
Juliana paused for a moment, but the vibe of the room was intoxicating, and she was too far gone in her malice to stop now. “I’m here as a friend. After all, I know it is partially my fault your career is held by a thread, but when the truth about Sonnet comes out, none of you may have a career period.”
Jude frowned. “We already know about Sonnet. We’ve accepted it, so why can’t you? Why can’t everyone else?”
Juliana’s eyes landed on Sonnet. “Do they know, girlie? You know, about the part that your dad didn’t just have an affair with some chick but paid for her time. That’s right.” Julianna’s voice got louder. “Sonnet’s mother—”
“Don’t,” Sonnet choked.
“Was a prostitute!”
Everything stopped.
Time and her heartbeat. It was all frozen.
And then everything came crashing down.
All their eyes turned to her, even her alphas. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t meet their gazes, but she felt it. Felt Jude’s hands slipped from her waist. Felt Kai’s hand drop from hers. Heard the footsteps Felix and Zayden took backwards, like they had been struck.
She felt like she had been struck, too. Was she bleeding? Was there proof of this pain?
Juliana took a long sip from her glass of wine. “I was right. No one knew that crucial little part.”
“Sonnet,” one of her alphas choked, but she couldn’t distinguish who. She hardly even noticed the tears streaming down her face.
“Why,” she gasped. “Why would you tell them?”
Juliana shrugged her shoulders, her snarky expression shaking slightly. “They deserved to know.”
“Ideserved to be the one to tell them!” Sonnet’s voice was sharp and intense. She held her stomach.
Why couldn’t she breathe?
No, don’t look at me!
Sonnet,her omega whined.
“And would you have? I mean, come on. I wouldn’t want my alphas to know that my mother was a whore.”
“Donotcall her that! Don’t you dare call her that!”
“What would you call a woman who slept around foryearsonly to die from AIDS? These men deserve to know. What if you have the disease?”
“What did you just say?” Sonnet choked; her words slurred by heavy emotions ready to spill. “What did you fucking say?”
“Sonnet—”
She pushed away the hands trying to calm her down.
No.
No.
Please, no.
