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CHAPTERTWENTY-NINE
VANESSA
Icouldn't tell how many days had passed since his death. I stayed in my room, barely eating. My uncle was gone. Ethan had no leverage to keep me at the mansion, but I had nowhere to go. My life seemed to have stopped, and I had no idea what would happen next.
Everything around me, including the bed, felt heavy. I just wanted to disappear into it and stay there forever. I was a total mess, but there was nowhere for me to be anything but sad and angry.
Ethan had returned the next morning after I had yelled at him, but the passage of time had not made his presence any more bearable to me. I'd sent him away yet again.
We haven'tspoken since he came to my room to console me. I'd only caught a few glimpses of him as he walked out the door.
While a part of me was still worried about him, I suppressed it for good reason.
There were nights when I sobbed uncontrollably and my heart bled. Those nights, I craved the warmth of Ethan's arms. I wished he'd just make me forget about how sad my reality was, but that couldn'thappen. I didn't allow it to happen because I didn't want to lose my anger.
I knew he was bad for me from the start. I had this feeling from the moment I saw him at the restaurant, but I still fell hard for him, despite his title as don of a crime family and the danger that entailed.
What's wrong with me?
A knock on the door startled me, pulling me out of the depths of my own mind.
Ethan?I hoped before remembering that I had watched him leave the mansion earlier that morning.
The maid's familiarly bland face appeared at the door. I expected her to be holding a tray of food that I would not touch, but she didn't.
"There's someone here to see you," she explained.
The trip down the stairs was long, because I felt exhausted. I didn't notice my weakness until I was outside the room.
"I'm over here."
I recognized a male voice. Curious, my legs dragged me into the dining room, where I met Luke Levine.
You, I thought with malice as I looked at him. He was just as responsible for my uncle's death as Ethan was. His mess with my uncle started this, and it affected my life years later.
I was curious as to why he wanted to see me, to gloat in my face or to lie to me and pretend he cared. I couldn't tell which was which, but I was curious to see where this was going.
"My condolences," he began, removing his hat and bowing his head before me. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes, but I held them back.
"Thank you," I said.
"The years I spent with your uncle were wonderful," he said, though I questioned his words.
"You're young, and you don't know much about what happened between your uncle and me. It's the reason you're staring at me that way," he said.
The ease with which he carried himself irritated me, but I lacked the strength to even frown. He appeared to be a man who thought he was always right and made fun of others who he thought were more emotional or less intelligent.
"We were a great team back then. We were more like friends, going around together, and we often agreed on things, even more than I had with my own brother. He was composed and deliberate. He could have killed me numerous times, but he didn't. He shielded me and saved my life several times. Then one day he tried to killme," Luke said as he sank back in his seat. He unconsciously touched his paralyzed arm, as if reliving a memory.
It made me think about the possibility that he was telling the truth.
"It's unfortunate that our friendship ended in this manner." His face gradually softened into a sad smile. "Did he ever bring up the time we went to this Chinese restaurant together?"
"No," I replied curtly, taking my seat away from him. Even though he had a paralyzed arm, Luke frightened me. There was something about him that made you wary. I was aware of every word he said until I had had enough.
"What made my uncle want to kill you?" I asked him directly.
"You have asked me this question before, haven't you?"
