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The second I step into the room though and spot Dad searching for me, it sinks faster than I thought possible.
Just get through dessert and then the show can commence…
14
RAINE
“Is everything okay?” Abi asks me with a small, knowing smile as I take my seat back at our table.
“Fine.” I give her a curt nod, aware that I’m still flushed and a little breathless.
“Is Theo—”
“He’s fine,” I snap, harsher than I intend. But I’m on edge.
Something is about to go down and my gut tells me it isn’t anything good.
I search out Millie seated at her father’s table, and my heart aches when I spot her crestfallen expression. She isn’t the feisty, funny girl I know. She’s a timid little mouse sitting there.
And I know exactly why.
Fear.
She’s scared of her father, a man who is supposed to protect her, not hurt her.
Anger bubbles beneath my skin as I curl a fist against my thigh.
“Hey.” I startle at Abi laying her hand on my arm. “Are you sure everything is okay?”
“Sorry, I’m just a little on edge.”
“Theo didn’t help with that?” Her lips twist with amusement.
“Not really,” I murmur.
“Your neck would suggest otherwise.”
I try to pull a few strands of hair free to cover the love bite Theo took pleasure in branding on my skin.
I wish I could say I hate it—I don’t.
I don’t hate anything about the boy with the weight of the world on his shoulders.
My phone vibrates in my clutch bag, and I dig it out, an icy trickle of fear sliding down my spine as I read the message.
“Raine?” Abi asks.
“It’s just my social worker, checking in,” I lie, grateful when the waiters start bringing our dessert.
Tally and Abi discuss the strange looking concoction on the plate, both of them groaning and giggling when they take a bite.
“Seriously, watching you eat dessert is like foreplay,” Oak says, his hungry gaze fixed on Tally as she devours her pudding.
“Want mine?” I ask them, my stomach too unsettled to eat anything else.
“Are you sure?” Tally asks, a slight blush to her cheeks.
“Go for it. I couldn’t eat another thing.”
