Chapter 34
Chapter Thirty-Four
S he looked like me. An angry version of me.
"I'm sorry?" My fingers curled around the strap of my bag. The woman's words made no sense—I didn't even have a boyfriend.
"You heard me." She stepped closer, her perfume sharp and cloying. "It's because of you and your rich boyfriend that he's dying."
She meant Nick.
"I'm sorry, who are you?"
"I'm his girlfriend." She lifted her chin.
My gaze scanned over her—knee-length trench coat, opened at the front, skin-tight sequined dress underneath, and stripper heels. She wasn't Emmett's usual type, but I hadn't talked to him in a while.
"Okay." I shifted my weight, creating distance between us. "I think you're confused, though. Nick and I were in New York. We didn't do this."
Red lips curved upward, shark-like. "No, sweetheart." She tilted her head, studying me like a curious predator. Each word that followed landed like a blow. "It's you that's confused."
She stepped closer. Another step. Too close.
"Your rich boyfriend could have stopped this." Her perfume wrapped around me, sweet and suffocating. "He didn't just let it happen. He ordered it. Your precious boyfriend signed Emmett's death sentence."
The floor seemed to tilt beneath me. "What are you?—"
"You didn't know?" A soft laugh, almost pitying. "Of course you didn't. Emmett owed money. The kind of money that gets collected one way or another." She paused, letting the implications sink in. "Nick knew. He knew exactly what would happen if he didn't help."
The monitor beside Emmett's bed beeped steadily, counting out the seconds of silence between us.
"Nick wouldn't..." The denial died in my throat. Nick had money and lots of it. I knew if he could help Emmett, he would. He wouldn't let this happen. She was wrong.
"Ask him." Her laugh sliced through the antiseptic air, making the fluorescent lights seem suddenly harsher. "But why stop there? Ask your bodyguard, too."
"Bodyguard?" The word echoed strangely in my head as I gripped the cold metal railing of Emmett's bed, the plastic monitoring cables brushing against my wrist.
"Nick wouldn't do that." The words felt hollow even as they left my mouth. I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to stop the sudden chill that ran through me.
"You really are clueless, aren't you." She scowled, her lips twisting as though tasting something bitter. "The big guy with your boyfriend."
I planted my feet wider, steadying myself. "Anthony isn't a bodyguard." The words came out sharper than I intended, my voice rising. "He was my parent's driver."
A puzzle piece I hadn't known was missing clicked into place—all those times Anthony had appeared just when things got dangerous. His constant presence at the edge of every frame.
How many lies had I built my life around?
"Ask him." Her fist clenched at her sides. "Your brother's death is on you." She twisted around and disappeared out the door.
"What the hell is going on?" I muttered. My gaze flicked back to Emmett. There was no way Nick would let this happen to Emmett. Emmett was like a brother to him, right? "I'll be back." I wasn't sure if he could hear me, but it made me feel better to tell him.
I burst into the hallway, slamming into a nurse. "Oh my." I managed to catch myself, steadying against the wall. "I'm so sorry."
"It's okay." The nurse straightened her scrubs and offered a reassuring smile. "Did you need something?"
"Where is the cafeteria?"
"It's on the first floor." She pointed toward the elevators and nodded. "Then take a right, and you'll see it."
"Thanks." I bolted for the elevators, shoulder blades tight with tension. I didn't want to wait for Anthony and Nick to come back. I needed to know now.
I rode the elevator down, tapping my foot against the floor with each passing second until the doors chimed open. I spotted Anthony and Nick standing in the corner, coffee cups steaming in their hands.
I stormed toward them, each step deliberate and hard. Nick spotted me first.
His coffee cup clattered against the counter, brown liquid sloshing over the rim. "Olivia." His face drained of color as he took in my expression, his usual confident posture faltering. "What's wrong?"
"A girl—" The lights swam above me as everything crashed in at once.
His hands found my shoulders, fingers digging into my flesh. "Olivia." Each syllable trembled with barely contained panic.
"She came in and said you were the reason he was dead." My gaze met his, and his eyes softened. "It's not true, right? You didn't know he was in danger, right, Nick?"
Anthony's hand hovered near my elbow, never quite touching. "Olivia." His voice dropped to that placating tone he used when I was a child throwing tantrums. "There's a lot..."
"No." I snapped, shoving him back, my palms connecting with his solid chest. "Is it true?"
His jaw flexed, a muscle twitching beneath his stubble, and I knew it was true before he could form the words.
I stumbled backward, my spine hitting the cold wall. "How?" The word ripped from my throat. "How could you abandon him like that? How could you lie to me?"
Nick's hand hovered in the space between us, shaking. "Olivia, please. Let me explain."
I slapped his reaching fingers away, each word a bullet between us. "Do. Not. Touch. Me." Tears burned paths down my cheeks. "Emmett was the reason you didn't have to go home to the abuse. He was the reason my parents took you in and loved you like one of their own. How could you let him die?"
"I know." Nick's voice cracked, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed hard. He reached for me again, fingers trembling. "Please just..."
My palm sliced through the air between us, cutting off his words. "No." The cafeteria chairs scraped against the linoleum as I backed away, my hip bumping against a table. An abandoned tray rattled with the impact. "I want you to leave."
Anthony stepped forward, his massive frame casting a shadow over me. "Olivia?—"
A hysterical laugh bubbled up from my chest. "Who are you?" My gaze darted between them like a trapped animal. "Are you our bodyguard? Or our driver?"
He pressed his lips into a thin line.
The lights blurred through my tears. "Was everything a lie?" My voice echoed off the walls, drawing stares from a nearby family picking at their hospital cafeteria food. "Did you know about Emmett too?"
Anthony's mouth tightened into a familiar line.
My palm slammed against the wall, sending a jolt up my arm. "Was everyone—" A sob caught in my throat. "Was everyone lying to me?" I swiped at my cheeks, smearing mascara across my sleeve. "You know what, forget it." The words came faster now, tumbling over each other. "Please leave. I can't—" My chest heaved. "I don't want you here right now."
I couldn't deal with all of this right now. I had to go and say goodbye to my brother.