AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I lean back in my seat and close my eyes. Just as I’m trying to clear my mind, a hand settles on my shoulder.
“Don’t worry,” Jaxon says cheerily. “Nobody died, and even if your friend hates you right now, at least she’s safe. She’ll thank you later.”
Tori scoffs but continues to give me the silent treatment.
I’m tempted to correct Jaxon and tell him someone did in fact die. It just didn’t happen inside the house. Though, something tells me that casually chatting about murder right now isn’t going to help my situation with Tori.
Jaxon leans back in his seat, and I go back to calming my racing heart. The danger should be mostly behind us. Still, something went wrong or happened that pissed off Luca. I knew we weren’t going to be done with Titan, but I have a feeling things may have only gotten worse, even if everything went as planned. Or close to.
When we’re back at the compound, Luca puts the SUV in park and reaches for my hand for the first time since we began driving. “I’ll head to my office. You and Tori can go to the apartment.”
Time to get yelled at. Great.
Jaxon is already out of the car, and when Luca exits, Tori still won’t look at me, so I get out, too, and head around to the other side to open her door. When I go to pull the handle, she hits the lock button.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” I sigh. “We’re not ten.”
I can’t see her face, thanks to the tinted windows, but I know she’s there and staring back. I don’t budge and I don’t dare walk away.
“Aren’t you ready to scream at me and tell me all the reasons I should have stayed with daddy dearest back there?” I taunt, even though it pains me a little to do so.
The last thing I want to do is hurt Tori, but I already know things need to get worse between the two of us before they get better. That might be for an hour or a week or even a month. However long it takes, those are consequences I’m going to take in stride, because at the end of the day, Tori is my best friend. I’m not giving up on her just because she’s rightfully angry with me.
Putting the final nail in my coffin, I roll my eyes and throw my hands in the air dramatically. “You know what? Screw you, Tori. You have no idea what I’ve been through, and for you to ignore me is an utter betrayal to our friendship. If you—”
She shoves the door open so hard that it nearly smacks into my face before I jump back. The fury in her eyes, the rapid rise and fall of her chest, and the red in her face tells me that my plan worked a little too well.
“Screw me?” she bellows. “Screwme? No,fuck you. You show up after abandoning me, either by choice or whatever is going on here, and then think we can just pick back up where we left off when you kidnap me? Not a chance in hell.”
She slams the door closed and stomps toward the elevator, muttering and huffing as she goes. When her finger stabs at the call button, she says, “You better be following me or so help me God, I will…”
Her sentence trails off, because she’s too kind to have a proper threat come to her. Naturally, I fight a smile as I walk toward her and step in behind her once the doors open.
I reach to press the fourth-floor button, and she stands as far away from me as she can. “Just because I’m coming in doesn’t mean I’m staying.”
“You’re welcome to leave whenever you’d like,” I say. “But only after you’ve heard me out.”
When she huffs out dramatically, I have to hide my grin. This is going to be…fun.
22
OLIVIA
We get into the apartment, and instead of going to the couch to sit, Tori heads for the table across the room. I opt for a stop at the bar first and make two drinks. I have a feeling we’re going to need them.
A bit of vodka, some cranberry juice along with pomegranate juice, then I stir both drinks before bringing them to the table.
When I set Tori’s in front of her, she pushes it away. “You’re not going to get me drunk in hopes that I’ll forgive you easier.”
“That wasn’t my intent, but now that you say something,” I joke, because that’s what we do. Or at least used to. I’m the only one smiling.
I sit down and take a long pull from my drink. She may not need something to take the edge off, but after nearly killing someone, watching an explosion, kidnapping my best friend, and having to make the choice to leave Luca behind… I allow myself a moment to enjoy the sugary cocktail before beginning this inevitable fight.
With my hands clasped in front of me, I stare at Tori, even though she’s still refusing to look at me. “Let’s start at the beginning. I went to that auction, grieving and nervous beyond all reason, but I won. I got the highest bid of the night. When it was time to get the hell out of there, I was over being around people, so I headed toward the back of the hotel.”
I watch Tori’s face. While she’s still not meeting my gaze, I at least feel confident that I have her full attention as she fiddles with her fingers over the table.
“When I went out a back exit, I was distracted with my phone. By the time I looked up, the door behind me was closed with no way back in, there was a dead body on the ground that just happened to be our senator, and people started to shoot at me.”
