AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You know I can pull out my phone and look it up myself, right?”
She was right. I knew it. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t protect her from the ugly reality of this.
Sighing, I read the article out loud and tell her about the photos.
“Based on the photos, it had to be somebody from here, a student, most likely.”
“But who’d do something like this? And why? It just doesn’t make any sense.” Penelope shakes her head. “You’ve been here for weeks, and it’s not like anybody knew you were here.”
God, this woman.
Only Penelope would be surprised by the fact that people would do something like this.
“Money? Maybe somebody doesn’t like me? Or hell, somebody thought it would be funny.” There were so many options, but in the end, did it even matter? The damage was already done.
“This isn’t funny at all.”
Her fingers dig into my shoulder, fury dancing in her irises on my behalf. My chest squeezes tightly, making it hard to breathe. The need to lean in and kiss her was so hard it was almost overwhelming. I’m just about to do exactly that when Seraphina clears her throat, reminding me we’re not alone.
“I was in New York when I heard about it, so I decided to stop for a visit.” Seraphina smiles brightly. “A happy coincidence, no?”
I glare at her. There is nothing happy about any of this happening. If it were up to me, I’d stay hidden here forever. “Don’t you have anything better to do?”
“You should be thanking me, not biting my head off. I came here to warn you before the paparazzi make their way here.”
“Well, you’re late to the game. They’re already here.”
Seraphina’s mouth falls open. “You’re joking.”
“Do I look like I’m joking to you?” I lift my brows pointedly, but there is no answer. “They cornered us in front of the building. We had to take the back exit so we could sneak out incognito.”
“Well, shit. That was fast.”
“Nobody could ever accuse them of wasting time.”
I half expected them to find us and follow after us. Paparazzi were like cockroaches. There was no way of getting rid of them.
“At least your mother didn’t come. I convinced her I’d come here instead and talk to you.”
The mention of my mother has my muscles going rigid. I’ve been religiously avoiding her calls for the past few weeks. I was actually surprised she let it go on as long as she did. Vivian Black was used to being in complete control. Then again, maybe she knew exactly where I was, but she didn’t want to deal with it currently, which sounded more like her style.
“Lucky me,” I say dryly. “What does she want?”
“For you to come back home?”
Penelope’s body tenses at the words.
“Not sure why she would waste her time with that, considering I’ve already told her I’m not planning to go back.”
My best friend silently watches me for a moment—a shocker in and of itself, really.
“I figured as much. She did too. She told me to remind you that you promised her you’d be at AMAs and told me to bring you kicking and screaming if necessary.”
Fuck, I forgot about that.
Then again, there wasn’t much I remembered from those first couple of weeks in the rehab center. Everything was a blur of pain and temptation as my body struggled to let go of the toxins coursing through my veins.
Penelope turns to me, eyes wide. “Your mother said that?”
