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He rubs the back of his neck before burning his dark brown eyes into mine. “Elijah was right, wasn’t he? You really are going to destroy everything, aren’t you?”
Celeste gasps at his words while I’m stunned into silence.
“Taylor!” Celeste reprimands. “That’s enough. Stop being a fucking Knight right now. Go take a shower and calm the fuck down before you say any more stupid shit that you don’t mean.”
“No, please… let him continue, Cele. It’s obvious that I’ve been the topic of conversation for them. I’d love to know what my so-called friend really thinks about me.” My voice is devoid of care as I start adding new bricks to my internal walls.
This is why I don’t make friends.
“Evie, stop it. He didn’t mean it,” she pleads.
I look back over to Taylor, who refuses to look me in the eye. “I’m gonna take a shower,” he says and walks down the hallway to our bathroom.
Once he closes the door, I roll my eyes at Celeste. “He couldn’t go back to his own shower?”
She ignores my rhetorical question, tapping at her wristwatch. “Alright, bitch, you have twenty minutes on the clock. I’m gonna need all the words.”
I grunt profanities under my breath and take another sip of coffee. I release a deep breath and start talking.
“What do you want to know? It’d be faster if I just answer whatever questions are in your head.”
She nods in agreement. “You’re probably right. Okay, first question. Who is Alik Bianchi?”
My first thought is to just tell her that he’s the heir and prince of the Bianchi crime family, but something tells me not to. Alik always flaunts his connections, so if he didn’t with her, there must be a reason. Following my intuition, I give her as much truth as I can.
“He’s an acquaintance I met through a mutual friend. I used to do side jobs for him to make ends meet.”
She ponders on that for a minute. “But who is he?”
“His story isn’t mine to tell, Cele. I’m sorry. He’s a friend who helped me when I needed it, and I trust his word.” I don’t know why I feel the need to make him the good guy, but I don’t want her to fear him.Do I?
“Friend? Does he know about the things that happened to you when you were younger? I thought you didn’t have friends?”
“No. You’re the only person that knows about that, Celeste. I meant it when I said I don’t have friends. I just—there are people who I trust with my safety, but you’re the only one I trust with my secrets.”
She nods her head, accepting my answer, and continues. “Why is Taylor so mad about Alik being here?”
I tilt my head to the side, studying her. “Jealousy.”
“Jealous of what?” she snorts out, and I roll my eyes.
Our heads move in the direction of the hallway when we hear the shower turn off.
“Why does he call you Styx?” Her words come out in a rushed whisper.
“I got the name because of the work I did for him,” I whisper back as Taylor comes out of our bathroom. “Time’s up, Cele.”
Celeste eyes me but manages to make her way to the kitchen to start making dinner without any more questions. I sit at one of our stools as Taylor strolls in, toweling his hair.
“Hey… uh… Eves…” His words stumble out of his mouth. “I shouldn’t have said what I said. I’m sorry.”
My head nods automatically, but I don’t say anything back. I have no words to say. He may not understand the gravity of his words, but that knife has been bleeding me for years. I may not be the cause, but everything in my world gets destroyed—it has been that way since I was thirteen.
14
“Ican’t believe you’re forcing me out here. Isn’t one party this year enough?” I grumble, walking across campus to Kelly House for yet another Greek party; this one for the newest fraternity and sorority inductees.
“Because I’m your best friend and won’t let you sulk and whittle away in our dorm. Besides, I distinctly remember you having fun at the last party,” Celeste says with smug satisfaction.
