Page 111 of Relapse

I prayed it would be enough.

Chapter twenty-eight

The Truth Will Set You Free

NOAH

Istopped by Alex’s house first to kill some time. I thought maybe he’d like to see the Mercedes and take a drive around with me. Maybe we could race someone. Honestly, I was kind of eager to rub the car in his face.

Very quickly, though, I realized that showing up there was a huge mistake.

I had been wailing on the doors, not the normal kind of knocking, but the kind reserved for best friends: the police style pounding, the incessant knocking in tune until they get so annoyed they open the door just to shut you up.

The door finally swung open.

But it wasn’t Alex that waited for me on the other side.

It was Serenity Thorne—Silas’s younger sister. Looking into her eyes was almost like looking into a reflection of Silas himself. They had the same hair color, same icy gray around the pupils. I was sure my own eyes grew wide at the sight of her standing there, in my best friend’s house.

“I— uh…”

I didn’t know what to say.

“Noah,” she said softly. “Hi. How are you?”

I kept expecting Alex to appear, to save me from this awkward encounter, but he didn’t show. So I was stuck having to make small talk with the girl whose brother I basically just dumped and whose mafia father I disrespected and whose whole family probably wanted me dead.

Simple.

“I am…good.” I answered, shifting my hands into my pockets nervously. “What are you…doing here?”

Her eyes narrowed some as she studied me. Not in a cruel way, just in a way that had me thinking she was trying to figure me out. “I can ask you the same question.”

Then it clicked in my head. Right. The fake break up, the mess with Alex. I peered over her shoulder anxiously. Where the hell was he anyway?

“I’m just here to see Alex.”

“Me too,” she said, quickly.

A long, awkward pause and my ass was still standing on the wrong side of my best friend’s house. How was this even fair?

I took my vape out of my pocket and took a hit to fill the space. “Alright, then. Cool.”

Silence.

“He’s in the bathroom right now,” she added, finally giving context to the situation.

My feet started a slow retreat before I responded. “Ah, well that’s okay, I’ll just text him.”

Serenity lifted her hand. “Wait. Noah, actually, I have something for you.”

That was enough to make my body freeze up. What could Serenity possibly have for me?

Unless it had something to do with her brother. With Silas.

I shifted uneasily on my toes. “Something for me?”

Leaving the door cracked, she eased back into Alex’s house. I could still hear her talking even though I couldn’t see her. “Don’t go yet, please, I need to give this to you.”