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“I shouldn’t even give you this, but no.” Sara rubbed her chin on her shoulder and shook her head. “You just spaced out. Didn’t hear anything I said.”
“What did you say?”
“Oh, all my sins and secrets.” Sara tried to wipe her cheek on her shoulder as she offered me a ghost of a smirk. “Oops.”
Something like amusement flickered somewhere within me and I sighed. Without thinking, I reached out swept the back of my knuckles over her face, brushing away her tears. Her sharp intake of breath had me snatching my hands back and letting them fall limply to my sides as I stared at her.
Why did I do that?”
“Look at my phone,” Sara ordered, suddenly, her voice high and sharp.
“Huh?”
“Lookat myfucking phone, Daniel,” she snarled. “If I wasn’t so tired and tied up and dealing with your fucking interrogation—I would’ve realized that I could’ve proven to you hours ago that I’m not lying.”
I swallowed hard and then reached into my pocket, pulling it out. Sara stared at it, then slowly raised her eyes to me, and the hatred in her eyes made my gut clench.
“You fucking had it this whole time?” Her voice was a guttural rasp and I nodded. “599320,” she spat. “Go ahead. Look—check the Photo Archive app.”
In the back of my head, an urgent and paranoid voice, that sounded a lot like my father, only high-pitched, was ranting about how Michaelson men did not get deceived. That I’d better fucking use my head. And I reminded myself that photos could be faked, that all of this could still be a set up.
But as I scrolled around her phone, the minutes ticking down the end of the night, dawn fast approaching, my stomach sank lower and lower. I didn’t get that impression at all. This was a college kid’s phone—with some good tech savvy protections and apps. Then I went into the photos and the pictures of a golden-headed girl and a pretty brunette punched me in the gut.
There were so many. Going back years and years, all the way to girlhood.
Here’s a picture of them as toddlers. Sara and Lia.
“Shit,” I said out loud without meaning to.
“Yeah, Daniel,” Sara snarled, her voice brittle and rasping. “Does that look like the life of a fucking ingenue? What, I met Lia as a kid to ensure I arrived at this very moment?” When I looked up, she wasn’t bothering to fight back her sobs, and tears streamed down her face. “And you know what else, since I have nothing to fucking lose—part of why I agreed to come home with you wasn’t just for her—it was for me.”
I shook my head, not understanding, not believing, even as my heart seemed lighter, almost skipping a beat.
“Yes, it wasme.I was selfish. I wanted you, I wanted the distraction, and you’re the best kisser I’ve ever met, okay? I wanted to sleep with you, I wanted to lose myself in you.” Her chest heaved. “And I am still so fucking attracted to you, it makes me sick.” Sara swallowed. “Don’t worry, I know where we stand now. I won’t make that mistake again.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Daniel
“Why?” I heard myself ask.
Sara let out a gasping, strangled laugh, and her entire body went boneless. “Kill me.”
I went cold all over, as though a hand had grabbed my throat, and my stomach gave a savage twist. Hastily, I put down her phone before my shaking hand dropped it, and I willed the contents of my stomach to stay put. Every inch of me went cold.
Dad—just kill me. Just kill me and get it over with, then.
“No.”
“Oh, God, I can’t Daniel. I can’t—just kill me. Just get it over with.”
I stared at her, hiccupping and hysterical, and realized I’d fisted my hand in my shirt over my heart.What the fuck have I done?
“I can’t—I can’t anymore. You won’t tell me about Lia, and maybe you’re just fucking with me. Maybe she’s been dead this whole time and I was kidding myself that I could get her back, that I could help her, that this time she’d let me help, and she’d be okay.” Sara’s head lolled as she rambled. “First Marina dies, then Lou somehow gets in trouble with theSons of Celtand Lia has to pay off his debt. And she’s too good, she’s the only one who stuck by me, she got me through the darkest time of my life, and I can’t even help her. I can’t do fucking shit. All these brains, this tech money, and here I am, tied up by the gangster, useless.”
“You’re not useless,” I said without thinking.
“If Lia is gone, I don’t want to live on this planet, anyway. If you killed her, I…”
