AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"The celebrity was Declan Beauchamp…" She draws in a sharp breath. "I remember now. I was his PR manager’s assistant at that time. Declan was away on a film-shoot. I'm the one who found her at his place and called the cops."
"She tried to apologize, to tell you what she’d done was wrong, that she’d never stalk Declan again, that it had been a temporary loss of reasoning on her part. She begged you not to call the cops because it would kill any possibility of a career for her in that town. All she wanted was for you to read the script."
She reaches for my hand, but I shake her off.
"You didn’t listen to her. You turned your back on her."
"Rick, you have to understand. I was scared. I thought she was dangerous."
"My sister was harmless."
"Your sister broke into a well-known celebrity’s home."
"If you’d heard her out, she might be still alive."
The blood drains from her features, leaving her so pale, so vulnerable, I almost reach for her again, but stop myself. This is about Diana. All of this is for Diana. It’s the least I can do for her. I couldn’t be there for my sister when she needed me most. This is the minimum I can do for her. I can punish the woman who put an end to her career and to her life.
"I was scared, Rick. I came across an intruder, and I did what anyone else in my position would have. I ran out of there, shut the door on her and called the cops."
"Your position was that of Declan’s PR manager.”
“I was the PR manager’s assistant then. I became his manager later. You have to understand, I was young and inexperienced.”
I raise my hand. “She begged you to listen to her, she tried to hand over the script to you."
Gio hunches her shoulders. "I was freaking out. Even if she didn’t look dangerous, it’s not like stalkers wear signs on their foreheads announcing who they are."
The plea in her eyes strikes me to my core.She can’t be held responsible for what my sister did, can she? No one is responsible for another’s actions, and yet… If she had spared a few seconds to listen to her, if she’d accepted the script from Diana, if she’d been a little more sympathetic, wouldn’t my sister still be alive?I firm my jaw and thrust out my chest. "She tried to call you afterward. She tried for weeks on end."
She takes a step in my direction, and when I move back, her face falls. "I’m sorry for your loss, truly. But you have to know the impossible situation I was in. There are a lot of people who would try to reach my clients, and if they weren't known, they wouldn’t get through the checks in place."
I hold up my hand. "Thirty seconds of your time. That’s all that was needed to make a difference. If you’d listened to her, she’d still be alive."
"Rick, I can’t tell you how sorry I am that my actions inadvertently led to your sister dying. But if she hadn’t broken into his house, I wouldn’t have found her, and it wouldn’t have led to the string of events that happened."
A visceral sensation grips my body. The hair on the nape of my neck rises. Every logical thought in my head insists she's right.Have I been wrong blaming her all this time? Was I mistaken for harboring a need for revenge all this time?
"You can’t blame me for her death, Rick, you can’t."
I want to believe her, I do. Everything would be so much easier if I could. Everything would be… too easy. Too straightforward. And if anything seems too simple, it probably is. The line dividing right and wrong cuts through my heart, and who’s going to risk cutting out their own heart? I’m paraphrasing some philosopher, no doubt, but what-fucking-ever. I’ve come too far to walk away without the satisfaction of seeing her as crushed as I was when I found out about my sister.
"You may not have meant to, but your actions caused her to lose hope in the future. With a criminal record, there was no way she was going to get hired in Hollywood. I lost my sister and I hold you responsible."
“You're being unreasonable,” she cries.
“Am I?”
She scrutinizes my features, and whatever she sees there must bring home the depth of the anger I hold toward her. She draws in a sharp breath, and something shifts in her expression.
“Wait, did you know I was Declan’s PR manager when you took on the role of his bodyguard? Is that why you always seemed pissed off with me and barely spoke to me then?”
I don’t answer, but whatever she sees in my eyes makes her gasp. “It is, isn’t it? So why didn’t you confront me then? Why did you wait until I moved to London—hold on, did you manipulate things so I would move here and take on the PR for the Ice Kings so you could get me in a more vulnerable position?” She scans my features. “Did you arrange things so I’d have to share the room with you?”
When I stay silent, she rubs at her temples. Her features are pale, the hollows under her cheekbones pronounced. My chest hurts. A pressure builds between my eyeballs. If it weren’t impossible, I’d say I'm feeling her pain as my own. But that’s not possible. She means nothing to me, nothing. All of this was a plan to get my revenge. Right?
So why do I want to go to her and gather her close and apologize for the pain I’m causing her? Why am I this close to abandoning my scheme for retribution and falling to my knees in front of her and telling her I have feelings for her and—I curl my fingers into fists.
No, I can’t do that. Not now. Not when I’m this close to getting retribution for Diana. I owe that much to my sister. I raise my hand toward her, then stop.I can’t do this.I shouldn’t do this. Not if I want to be loyal to Diana’s memory.And if it means I get hurt in the process, so be it.
