Chapter 38 Chloe
The bell over the bookstore door chimed when I pushed it open. It shouldn’t have sounded that loud. The space smelled of old paper and overpriced coffee.
Every head didn’t turn—just a few at first. The right few.
People who knew how to look without making it obvious.
The store was packed, bodies pressed against bookshelves and people standing on tiptoes.
Elara had done her job well; there were more press badges in the room than fans.
She had texted me from Florida just before I walked in, wishing me luck.
I felt Killian behind me, a silent, looming presence.
He was still in his feelings after our talk on the jet.
I wanted to push him, to tell him again that he was the choice, but I left him alone for now.
I couldn't force him to be with me, and I understood his hesitation.
I looked back, and he was scanning the crowd.
Cartier had said Ava and my father were still in Florida, but it seemed Olivia hadn't heeded the warning to stay away.
On the small wooden stage, Olivia sat in a velvet chair, looking radiant in a cream silk suit. She held a copy of her new book, Life, like it was a holy relic. It had only been a week longer than a month since she’d been trying to pull the hair from my scalp in that attic. It felt like a lifetime.
She was just finishing a poem. "...and so, we find that the silence isn't an ending, but a beginning."
The actual readers erupted in polite, reverent applause.
"Thank you," Olivia beamed, the stage lights catching her fake smile. "Now, before we move to the Q three of his men stood flanking him, their eyes fixed on the bookstore guards. Those guards stayed exactly where they were.
"I have the original notebooks and a blog filled with my words that will go live the second I walk off this stage," I said over her frantic protests. "Imprisonment, drugging, abuse, fraud. My sister and father will deny it all, but the facts don't lie."
I leaned in close to Olivia. The scent of her expensive perfume made me gag. She was shaking so hard I could hear her jewelry rattling.
"Tell your father that as of three hours ago, he is no longer my guardian."
I straightened up, looked into the camera, and spoke one last time.
"You three leeches will end up in jail or hell. Just you wait."
I dropped the mic. I wanted to throw it, to hit her with it, but I wouldn't give her the satisfaction of looking unhinged. I turned my back on her. She lunged, grabbing my wrist—hard.
"You can’t make these claims without evidence, Chloe!"
I looked down at her fingers, then back at her face. My voice was a whisper, but it was the sharpest thing in the room. "Remove your hand, or I'll remove it for you. Please, try me."
She let go.
I stepped off the stage into total chaos.
"Ms. Landry! Is it true—" "Did your father really—"
I didn't stop. Killian fell into step beside me, his hand at the small of my back. Behind us, Olivia started to scream.