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Holding our breaths, we listen to the muttering on the other side of the wall.
“Shouldn’t you go and help her?” Gabby whispers softly.
My eyes dart to the door. I shake my head and mouthno.
My mother would be horrified if I went out there, with my friends visiting. It’s better to pretend I don’t hear anything, but God, the humiliation makes me itch to run away. Ever since Tatum left, she drinks herself into a stupor. Mama knows I have friends over, but that doesn’t stop her. I don’t know how much longer I can live under the same roof as her, but who will take care of her, if not me?
We wait her out as she struggles to her feet, stumbles, crashes into the wall, and then slowly drags herself across the long runner covering the parquet floor.
“Is she—” asks Crina, a deep frown marring her forehead as she’s trying to figure out what my mother is doing.
I cringe, knowing exactly what’s happening.
“Yes,” I reply grimly.
Yes, she’s crawling to her bedroom.
“Does your brother know?” Gabby asks in a loud whisper.
“My brother’sgone,” I answer, barely refraining from snapping.
Ugh, why does everyone automatically ask about him? I’m the only one here, holding down the fort.
We remain silent, listening to her slowly drag herself to the bedroom.
After what feels like an excruciating amount of time, her bedroom door finally closes.
Mortification burning my cheeks, I lift my chin high and say, “Things have changed since he left.”
Crina’s eyes turn soft. “I know it’s been hard on you.”
You have no idea.
Their pity triggers a surge of frustration. Quivering with rage, I declare, “Now that Tatum’s gone, I have no one to be good for but myself, and I promise you, from now on, I’m taking the road less traveled.”
The last interaction I had with Lucian flashes before my eyes. At Cat and Luca’s wedding, he caught me in an empty hallway near the women’s bathroom. I don’t know if he was drunk—he definitely tasted of alcohol when he pushed me against the wall and smothered me with a searing kiss. He cut it off as abruptly as he’d started it, ambling down the hall as if nothing had happened.
And that wasn’t even our first kiss.
But it was the aftermath that got me.
Standing off to the side of the dance floor, I overheard him being teased by some guys for the smears of lipstick on his mouth. At that moment, Anton happened to scan the room, stopping on me. His gaze dipped to the smudged lipstick on my own lips.
Lucian, facing Anton, followed his friend’s stare. Twisting around to find the focus on me, he said, “You’re dreaming. I haven’t kissed any bitch.”
The shame of that memory burns deep in my gut and I spit out, “As for the kings, I’m not going to let them step all over me ever again. This time, I’m fighting back.”
Gabby’s mouth pinches tight; she’s struggling to keep it shut.
To break the tension, she rolls onto her tummy, props her chin on her hands, and asks in a light teasing tone, “Oh, and how are you going to do that?”
“Not sure, but I’m not going to lie down and just take it anymore. I’m going to give back as good as I get.”
Tilting her head, she warns, “You’ll only make yourself more of a target, and you don’t have Tatum here to protect you.”
“I don’t need Tatum,” I bark back.
“Wouldn’t it be better to lay low and hope Lucian doesn’t notice you? Get through the year and escape?” Her eyes glaze over. “I don’t want a repeat of what happened in the fall.”
