Did you do it for me, too, when he shoved his tongue inside your mouth?
“What the fuck?” she snaps. “We didn’t do shit.” She pushes me away again.
My fists clench at my sides.
“Judas,” she shouts, frustrated, pointing between us. “You can’t be like this. You don’t get to decide who I talk to or who I kiss or touch.”
My jaw locks. I still see Knox’s hand on her face. The way she didn’t pull away fast enough. The image burns behind my eyes.
I type slower this time.
I am not deciding anything. I am protecting you.
“From what? Having a life?” she laughs. “Judas, I was stuck in juvie for two years without a life. Before that, I was stuck withmy mom and an abusive stepdad. I finally have a chance to enjoy something, and you want to take it from me. How can you be this selfish?”
Knox fucks everything that walks. He will break your heart.
I type it and shove the phone toward her.
“And you do not?” she says, raising a brow. “You are fucking Ella and so many others. Why can’t I do the same?”
Good luck with that, little sister. Even if you try, anyone you get close to will disappear before they ever get the chance to choose you.
I clench the phone so tightly that I thought the screen might crack as I type.
Fine. Do whatever the fuck you want.
“Fine,” she shouts. “Go run to fuck your little bitch.”
I nod and let her walk away.
Fuck.
What is she doing to me?
I punch the garage door. Hard enough that my skin splits and blood beads across my knuckles.
Fine, little sister, I will fuck my little bitch, and you will be forced to watch her suck every inch of my nine-inch cock.
TEN
CARMEN
The house is empty today.
The judge is still on his trip. Catherine is locked in her bedroom, curled around her phone, crying into the pillow, checking the screen every few minutes like it might suddenly light up if she believes hard enough, but it never does.
Judas drives off somewhere. I didn’t ask where, and I don’t want to know. The thought of him with someone else just turns my stomach into an ugly twist that can’t settle under my ribs.
And me. I am lying on my bed, staring at the closet the maids rearranged earlier.
Pastels are gone, replaced with black.
For the first time, I actually have clothes that feel like they belong to me. And still, something feels off, like something was missing.
It’s cruel how life gives you your favorite people and then pulls them away, as if you were never enough to keep them.
My phone buzzes.
