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I just want Malik.
I let out a shuddering sigh as the signLeaving Castle Pointecomes into view. A left would take us to Canada, and a right would take us to Duluth, toward home.
My mom turns on her blinker, pressing on the brakes.
"You ready to go home? I'm sorry we have to rent a place for a little while. I couldn't coordinate a closing in time. But I've already found a few homes I think we'll like. I'll schedule a few showings for us next week."
"Anything is fine, Mom." I can barely get any words out as she starts pulling forward. This is the closest I've been to the border.
"Are you sad to go? Sad to leave your friends?" I nearly choke on air as she pulls forward, and I grip the leather seat beneath me as we cross over.
And we're gone.
Castle Pointe sits behind us, and suddenly, it's bright outside. Sun shines through the window, and I wince, feeling like I haven't seen daylight in ages.
"Vera?"
"What?" I snap, then wince. "Sorry." I feel sick and sad and happy and so fucking angry at the same time. More than anything, I'm mad at myself. Why am I sad to leave Castle Pointe behind? Why does a part of myself beg to go back to the mansion in the woods, return to the place I fought against for so long, but now where I feel the most at home?
Because it honestly feels like I've left my pretend heart behind, and there's nothing but an empty cage sitting beneath my skin.
"I asked you if you're sad to leave your friends behind. Maybe you can come back and visit sometime? Or they can come visit you in Fargo?"
I nearly laugh. Malik will never let me back in Castle Pointe, and I can't see any of my friends coming all the way to Fargo. Maybe they will, but I'm not holding out hope.
"Maybe." I settle into my seat, watching the sky continue to brighten with every mile we go. By the time we get to Duluth, the air is clear and free of fog and the sun shines. Birds and wildlife run about in the woods as we pass, and it's like everything that we came from was actually nothing at all.
Does Castle Pointe even exist? Did I dream it all up? Was it even real?
But even as I say those things, I know none of it is true. Castle Pointe is real.Heis real. My fingers brush to my neck, skimming the fading bite marks in my skin, and I squeeze my thighs together, feeling the ache that's never fully passed. I know who's been between my legs. I know that everything I've been through has been real.
So damn real.
Leaning back against the headrest, I close my eyes, letting the vibration of the car flying down the road lull me to sleep.
Whatever I've been through in Castle Pointe doesn't matter anymore. Malik doesn't want to be with me. He doesn't care. I'm as good as dead to him.
His feelings were a lie.
Our entireeverythingwas only a lie.
39
MALIK
One year later
"Yes, sounds good." A knock on my door has me looking up, seeing exactly the man I've been waiting for. "I have to go. I'll get back to you later." I hang up the phone, business so fucking busy I can barely see straight.
Inheriting a real estate empire at the age of eighteen was more than I anticipated. I knew how busy I'd be. Shit, I lived with my father my entire life. I barely saw the man, and I knew it wasn't because he was a complete piece of shit.
He had a business to run.
I guess I didn't realize what running a business meant in all aspects, not just selling, investing, and purchasing real estate. There's a lot more to it, and it's taken me months, nearly the entire year, to get my bearings.
And now that I know what the fuck I'm doing, I'm only that much busier.
"Is now a good time?"
