Page 112 of Reveal

Nothing is safe right now.

Least of all me.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Vaughn

I wander the streets of New York.

My wig still on. My heels still high. My outfit still impeccable. But everything about me an absolute disaster.

Time passes in corners turned, in blocks counted, in neighborhoods walked through.

At some point I hear my phone ringing.

I don’t know how many times Ryker calls before I answer it, more than aware that my every word is being listened to. My every verb scrutinized. My every noun analyzed.

“Hey.” Fake it till you make it.

“Vaughn? Is everything okay?” Concern edges Ryker’s voice, and I shove away the hot tears the sound causes with the back of my hand.

“Fine. Yes. I’m fine.” I take a left on the corner of Eldridge and Grand. Another walk to nowhere.

His silence causes me to stop. “You’re walking.”

“No,” I lie. “I’m out front. I had to get something out of the mailbox.”

“You didn’t call me.”

“For what?” I’m having a hard time focusing on anything, let alone Ryker. Everything hurts—my head, my heart, my body—exhaustion and fear taking their toll.

“You were going to come over after work. I was going to send a car. We’d have a late dinner. Vaughn?”

“Yes. Sorry. I’m—uh, I’m just not feeling well. The new client bought oysters. I think I ate a bad one.”

“I’ll come over.”

“No.” I say it more forcefully than I should. “My head’s fuzzy, and my stomach is upset, and I just want to lie on the bathroom floor and sleep.”

“Vaughn, let me take care of you.”

“No. I don’t want you—I don’t want to get you sick,” I correct myself.

“You said it was an oyster. If it’s food poisoning, I won’t get sick.”

“It could be the stomach flu too. It’s going around the staff at the club.”

“Vaughn.” My name says he doesn’t believe a word I’m saying.

“I have to go. I’m going to throw up,” I lie and end the call.

And then I stand with my back against some building, my face lifted up to the moonless night, with tears coursing down my cheeks.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper into the night.

But I’m not sure what exactly for or who the apology is meant for.

Lucy.