CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT #2
“It could be anyone, Dad. You know it’s easy to make enemies in this world. And you know many people would love to see us ruined.”
“That wouldn’t even be an issue if you weren’t so reckless!
” Mom snapped. “Snorting coke in public, acting like a slut.” She spewed that last word at me.
“And I knew your bullying would come back to bite us someday! You’re always acting so irresponsibly!
And now you’re going to involve the police as well.
We were already in the middle of a crisis, but this—this—can destroy us. ”
“It won’t destroy us if we act fast,” Dad said.
“Yes.” She took her tablet from him and headed for the door. “I’m going to talk with our PR team. We’ll see how we can salvage this.” She glared at me. “I don’t even want to imagine the reporters coming here. It’s going to be a nightmare.” She rushed out of Dad’s study.
The silence between Dad and me slashed deep, and I didn’t want to stick around any longer, but I had to ask, “What are you going to do to Zach?”
“You don’t have to worry about that. Just worry about yourself because if you do anything to mess things up at that masquerade ball, what I did to you just now will be a child’s play. You hear me?”
I pressed my hand to my throat, swallowing a gasp. He was heinous.
I started for the door, limping, hate for him brewing inside me.
He had to pay. Not only for this, but for everything so far.
“And Blair?”
I looked over my shoulder at him.
“You won’t have any contact with Zach Curtis. If you do, you won’t like the consequences.”
My hands curled into fists.
I didn’t even deign to answer that.
I dragged myself out of Dad’s study and stopped to take a deep breath, leaning back against the wall.
The air resonated with emptiness, and I glanced around me as I thought about Zach.
Although his stay had been relatively short, I already felt his absence, and I pushed past the pain that increased with each step as I headed to his room, needing to see it now.
As I entered the staff’s quarters, I saw Emily on her way to Zach’s room too, and I frowned at the item in her hand.
“Emily? What’s that trash bag for?”
An apologetic expression settled on her face. “Mrs. Everett told me just now to check if Tom left anything behind and throw it away if he did.”
My insides twisted. I shouldn’t care what happened to his belongings, but I did.
“Don’t.” I licked my lips. “I . . . I’ll check it.”
“But Mrs. Everett—”
“Don’t worry about her. Leave it to me.”
She sighed. “Okay.” She rubbed her hand over the back of the other, biting into her bottom lip. “Did Tom really work here under a false identity?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
My tattoo throbbed. “It’s a long story.” I glanced toward the staff’s quarters. “You can leave now. I’ll call you if I need you.”
“Sure. I’ll be in the kitchen.” She left, and I headed over to Zach’s room.
My heart clenched in my chest as I stepped over the threshold, his woodsy scent washing over me. Longing gripped me out of nowhere, and I caught myself against the doorjamb as I swayed. I’d wanted Zach out of here all this time, but even after what he’d done to me, it hurt. It hurt so much.
I took a long breath as I stepped forward, tears pooling in my eyes. He hadn’t left a single belonging behind, not in the closet, or on the desk, or in the bathroom. All that remained was his scent.
I placed my hand over the tattoo. The silence was too heavy on my ears.
“I was looking for you everywhere,” Melody’s panicked voice reached me from the threshold. “There’s something you should see. There’s a video—”
“I know.” I closed my eyes to put a stop to the tears and inhaled another deep breath before I turned to face her.
“You saw it?”
“Yeah.”
She stepped inside, her expression divided by mixed emotions. “Are they real? Was that really you in them?”
“If you want to ask if someone faked them, then the answer is no. That’s me in all of them.”
She pressed her hand to her mouth. “You . . . I didn’t know you . . .”
“I what? Did dirty things with guys? Used drugs? Bullied people? What?”
Her brows lowered. “How could you have bullied those students? That’s not you.”
“That’s not me? That’s exactly me. Or it was, back then. I’m not the saint you think I am, Melly. Not by a long shot.”
Her face contorted with disappointment, and an ache filled my chest. “But why?”
“It’s a long story, not that it matters. It doesn’t change the fact that I did some very bad things.”
“Did some of them target you? Is that why that video was posted?”
I made sure my expression didn’t reveal anything. “It could be.”
She pursed her lips together. “So what are we going to do now? People are already losing it over this. The comments . . . How are you holding up?”
“I’m fine. As for the comments, you shouldn’t worry too much about them.
This will die down in time.” My stomach clenched.
I talked like I had everything under control, like it wasn’t a big deal, but the truth was, it was starting to get to me.
I didn’t want to imagine what else the comments said, especially not about that first clip.
“Are you sure? There’s no way you can be fine. You can talk to me.”
“Don’t worry. I’m really fine.”
She sighed. “Do Mom and Dad know?”
“They found out just earlier.”
“I can imagine they’re furious.”
“Yeah, they’re not happy at all.”
Her frown deepened. “What happened with Dad earlier? You were talking about Tom, right? What did he talk to you about in his study?” Her eyes widened as if she’d realized something just now, and she took me in. “Did he do anything to you?”
“No, don’t worry. He didn’t do anything.” She didn’t need to know about the whipping. “As for Tom, as you know now, that’s not his real name.” I dropped my gaze. “We went to the same high school. He . . . he was one of the students I bullied.”
“What?”
“You heard Dad mention his burn scar earlier?” She nodded. “I’m responsible for it.”
She drew back. “How— What did you do?”
A lump formed in my throat. I sat down on Zach’s bed.
“Aurora, Lana, and I went too far with our bullying one day. I didn’t mean for him to get hurt, but he did.
” I told her all about that day in the locker room.
“The fire spread so fast. It turns out synthetics, a fabric softener, and fire are not a good combo.” I half smiled, but there was no humor, just eternal regret.
Another look of disappointment crossed her face. “I can’t believe you. I can’t even imagine you doing something like that to him.”
“I know.” I could see she wanted to ask more, but I shook my head.
She sighed. “I can’t believe he was here this whole time, and I didn’t even see it. I completely misjudged him.”
I didn’t like the judgment in her expression. I didn’t want her to think the worst about Zach even though she most definitely would if she knew even half of the things Zach had done to me.
“He just has some issues. Issues I’m responsible for.”
She frowned. “Why was he here? Why did he arrive under a false identity?”
“He wanted revenge.”
She gave me a wide gaze. “So he was here all this time to get back at you? What did he do to you?”
My gaze darted to the side, my cheeks staining pink. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“B,” she breathed out. “And you say he’s not that bad?”
“As I said, I wasn’t a saint either.”
“Don’t say that. Don’t make it as though what you did to him justifies him doing the same thing. It doesn’t.”
I ran my fingers across the sheets, feeling uncomfortable. “I know it doesn’t. We both did a lot of unforgivable things.”
“Why did you allow him to stay? Why didn’t you say anything?”
“It’s irrelevant.”
She released a sound in her throat and darted over to me. “Is he the one who released that video?”
“No,” I said quickly. Too quickly.
She angled her head. “How can you be so sure?”
Dammit. I didn’t think I’d be able to fool her this time. “Because it could be any one of the people I bullied. Or maybe some stranger who wants to damage my reputation. Who knows?”
“Still, the timing is very suspicious.”
“It’s just a coincidence.”
“I don’t think so, but have it your way.” She shook her head. “I just don’t get how you can like him.”
I raised my brows at her, and she shrugged.
“Don’t say you don’t because it’s obvious you do. I just don’t get why.”
Memories spread across my vision, making my chest throb. “It started way back, when I first met him in high school. He was different. He was the kindest boy I’d ever met. He treated everyone well and studied hard to make something out of himself.”
She wiggled her lips. “I kinda get you because he seemed so nice when we talked. I had no idea it was all an act.” She ran her fingers across her chin. “But now it makes sense.”
“What makes sense?”
“Why he’s afraid of fire.”
My stomach tightened. “What?”
“Yeah. He can’t handle watching it.”
My heart sank at another proof of how much I’d hurt him, but then I frowned. “How do you know that?”
Her gaze dropped, and she sat on the chair across from me. She inhaled a deep breath, then pulled a lighter and cigarettes out of her pocket.
My eyes widened.
“He caught me smoking once. He didn’t like me lighting the cigarette.”
“You’re smoking?” I glared at her. “How can you be so reckless? You can’t smoke, Melody.”
She chuckled, but her eyes conveyed sadness. “I know. That’s why I didn’t tell anyone.”
“You ‘know’? Then why did you start smoking? When?”
She returned the cigarettes and lighter to her pocket. “A couple of months ago. Oh, don’t look at me like that. You’re all limiting me in what I can or can’t do, as if anything could break me. I can’t even go to school, for God’s sake. I guess I just wanted a bit of freedom.”
My heart clenched for her, even as I shook my head. “I get that, but this”—I pointed at her pocket—“is not it. You know this can lead to serious health complications. Why didn’t you tell me? We could’ve done anything you wanted. Travel, do sports . . . anything. You didn’t have to do this.”