“Does Tessa know this?” Quinn asks.
I open my eyes and slowly lift my head off her lap. They all turn to look at me.
“No,” I whisper. “I didn’t know.”
Van and I lock eyes, and it’s obvious he knows more.
In fact, he may know everything.
My nose burns, and my throat tightens. “Where is he?”
He flicks his attention to the curve in the hall.
I stand on shaky legs, but Van does too. He follows me on my way, and I turn around and face him.
“Don’t tell them the rest,” I whisper. “Please.”
“Wait.” He tries to keep me from going after Rome, but I shake his grip away and head in the opposite direction on quiet feet.
My heart stutters to a complete stop when I spot him.
In black sweats and a backward hat, he sits on the floor with his back against the wall near the other set of elevators. His knees are bent with his head hanging low.
My shoe makes a noise on the floor, and he quickly glances at me.
“Tess…” he whispers.
A piece of my heart clinks to the floor. There’s too much space between us, but I don’t move closer. I nibble on the inside of my cheek and pull my eyes from his. The air in the empty hall is at a standstill until he speaks.
“How is Noah?”
I sniff. “Fractured skull. They’re keeping him in the ICU for at least twenty-four hours to watch for brain swelling.”
He swallows, the noise loud through the silence. “I’m so sorry,” he says.
I know he is.
That’s why this hurts so much more.
“Me too,” my voice cracks.
“Why are you apologizing?"
I erase some of the space separating us but leave enough to where our arms can’t brush. I press my back along the wall and slide down to sit like him. I look to the ceiling to keep my watery eyes under control while I let the next words flow from my mouth. “I’m sorry for not putting a stop to us before it turned into this.” A choked noise leaves me, and I bite down on my wobbly lip.
“Tess,” he rasps.
“Your father used me to control you. He threatened you throughme. And now Noah is in the hospital because I’m a weakness to you. To the entire team. I’m a liability.”
“That is not true.” His jaw tightens. “I could have told the FIA sooner, but I chose not to because of the NDA.”
I bite down on my lip again, this time harder. “I was still used as leverage, Rome. Our relationship has complicated everything.” I swallow past the lump in my throat. “There is no going back after this. Say this all blows over with the FIA…do you really think we can carry on like we are now? Our team needs trust and clarity, and I don’t see how that’s possible after all of this.”
He clenches his eyes shut and drops his head in between his knees.
It hurts to watch him, because I know him well enough now to know his chest is tight like mine.
Seconds stretch into minutes before he eventually shifts beside me. I peek over at him, and the blue in his eyes is so vibrant I lose my breath.
