I closed the distance between us. I smelled the garlic on his breath, the expensive deodorant he wore. My voice went low and hard. “You didn’t even warn her.”
He ground his teeth, then spit, “I couldn’t.” The words came out through clenched teeth, tight as wire. “I really couldn’t, Linc.”
I leaned in, my chest grazing his sternum. “You’re twenty-six now.” I shoved my shoulder into his. “What about cosigning for her?”
He staggered on his feet. “I just couldn’t, all right?” His hands flew up, palms open, pleading.
“You think they’ll listen to the cops?” I said, flat and cold.
He flinched, a shudder running through him, and for a second, his face went white. Then he scrubbed a hand over his mouth and muttered, “Jesus, Lincoln. You want me to turn in my own parents?”
“Yes.” I didn’t hesitate. The word crashed against his solar plexus as if I’d thrown it. “Because they’re not just your parents. They’re why Nina’s scraping pennies together like she’s still stuck in their house.”
He slumped onto the arm of the couch, fingers knitting tight between his knees. The room felt smaller, the air thicker. “You don’t get it,” he said, voice gone thin. “I did try to help once. It backfired.”
“Make me get it,” I shot back, anger curling in my gut. “Because from where I’m standing, you’re either the guy who helps me put this right, or you’re the one letting bad shit happen to her. Again.”
His eyes flicked up, rimmed with shame, raw and hot. He swallowed, lip trembling. “This won’t give her anything back,” he said, almost a whisper. “My dad’s sick. My mom’s not all there. Turning them in… it’s cruel.”
I leaned forward. “I’ll show you cruel, Vin. You want me to tear your life apart? I will. I’ll make your life a living nightmare. But I’m not letting her carry this shit alone anymore.”
“You’re acting like you didn’t do anything wrong!” Vin exploded. “She was supposed to get that scholarship. If she’d gotten it, she would’ve been fine. And none of what my parents did would’ve mattered.”
Silence rolled in between us, pressing against my chest with the weight of my greatest wrong. I couldn’t argue with that. He was right. One hundred percent.Itook that box.Ilost her that opportunity.
Vinny’s shoulders sank as if he’d been carrying the weight of it all by sheer will and finally couldn’t anymore. He looked small,diminished. I probably did too, because stealing that box was another thing I’d never be able to undo, no matter how much I couldn’t remember doing it.
But that was my own cross to bear. Vinny’s was different.
Finally, I spat the line I’d come here to say. “Get on board or get out of my way. I’m doing this with or without you.”
He stared at me for a long time, throat working. Then he breathed, slow and ragged. “I’ll think about it,” he said, but it wasn’t a promise.
“Don’t think too long,” I said, heading for the door.
I stormed out, each step hammering against the stairs and thrumming against my temples. My blood was on fire, and every fiber of me was coiled around one truth: I wouldn’t stop until they’d paid every single penny in money or punishment.
21
Nina
The espresso machine hissed and sputtered, its sharp swishing cutting through my thoughts as I studied the projected conversion rates for BrightMark. Carmen was arranging something on the counter while humming the song that Diego kept singing last night over dinner. Lynnie was taking a few days off from Reality Bites. Now that I was off barista and cleaning duty, being there without her felt… off. Working there would bring attention to why I wasn’t at home. Have Lynnie and Carmen asking why I wasn’t comfortable in Lincoln’s apartment, and Iwas. Still, I didn’t want to admit to anybody that this house without Lincoln felt… empty. Because Lincoln’s absence left a hole no one’s incessant hummings could fill. Carmen’s presence demanded attention. But as she tucked herself intohiscorner of the couch, where the cushion had still held the ghost of him, another remnant of him frayed. The scent of vibrant leaves and rain-washed earth, the best oxygen you’d ever breathe, was fading.
Sometimes, I had the urge to go into his bedroom. There, his smoky, grassy hint of vetiver clung to the space, making my chest ache. The air healed me from the inside out. Of course I’dnever actually admit that. Lincoln was the obsessive one. Not me.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Carmen placed a cup of cappuccino in front of me with the correct amount of foam that I never got right. “You know, since denial doesn’t seem to be working out for you.”
I blew air out through my lips and arched my brow at Carmen. “I’m not in denial.”
Carmen placed both hands on the counter, one on each side of my computer. “I’d thought we’d hammered out all this brooding.”
I forced a shrug, aiming for casual, but my throat tightened. “I’m not brooding.”
“Really?” Carmen slid onto the stool across from me and shut my laptop with one finger as if I was working on something inconsequential. She propped her chin on her palm, eyebrows raised. “Because in case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been putting Lincoln through the wringer myself.” She wagged her finger at me.
I arched my brow. “Why wouldyoubother putting him through anything?”
She scoffed. “Well, you must have noticed he’s trying to get with you, and he’s been a total prick. So, I did what I do.” She waggled her eyebrows. “I put together a plan for revenge. True story.”
