I nod and fill my mouth to stop myself from thanking her sister for leaving her alone in Manhattan. But suddenly, my own thoughts make me uncomfortable. Why do I care if Lauren is alone or not? I shouldn’t care about her personal life, just tormenting her and, why not, eventually fucking her.
“Eat faster; I need to be at the office by one-thirty,” I say in a bitter tone.
Lauren frowns and quickly checks my calendar on her phone. “But it doesn’t say anything about …”
“It’s something personal,” I lie.
One day of working together, and I’m already questioning whetherI made the right decision to have her so close again, breathing her in, absorbing her. It seemed like a good idea when I saw her again after so many years. But now? Damn it, now I find myself back in the same mental state I had at eighteen. Obsessive, angry, lustful, and confused. After all, I know perfectly well that the line between love and hate istoo thin for my taste.
Back Then- My house.
My so-called heroic brother took Lauren and her sister to the hospital, and while I was busy kicking everyone out of my house, we were texting.
Silas:
How’s she doing
I keep my text as flat as possible—can’t have Luca thinking I actually care about Bunny.
Matt, the dickhead, found the rabbit figurine I had hidden in my room. It’s this ceramic piece I picked up in London on one of our many family trips. I’ve got a whole damn collection of these things, and I’m not even sure why I started it, but I just had to have them. This one’s a small rabbit with massive ears sticking out, medium-sized, all white.
I curse the day I brought it home.
If it weren’t for my own stupidity, Lauren wouldn’t be in the hospital right now.
Luca:
Twelve stitches in the back of the head.
I grip my phone tightly, resisting the urge to storm over to Matt’s place and wake him up in the middle of the night with a pillow to his stupid face.
The phone vibrates again with another message from Luca.
Luca:
You should prepare Dad in case a lawsuit is on the way.
Luca, the cold and calculating one, doesn’t know that Bunny would be incapable of suing anyone over this. Her sister Emma, on the otherhand, would. That girl is an accident waiting to happen. I don’t understand what Luca sees in her.
Silas:
Worry about her sister, make sure she’s not planning anything. I’ll handle Lauren.
My parents are in Cancun for the week, which is why I was able to fill the house with people. My siblings and I throw parties all the time—we’ve got the space and the cash for it—but Bunny never shows up. She hates this kind of social scene. So, when I saw her moving cautiously through my room, I couldn’t help but watch her like a damn psychopath, completely silent, perfectly still in my bed, knowing she’d end up reading my notes, which, by the way, I always hide from everyone. I don’t even know why they were out on my desk, but I let her read them. Hell,I wanted herto read them, to meet “The Alchemist.”
When she stepped back, I knew she’d be startled. That’s why I didn’t move. It’s not like I enjoy seeing her freak out; it’s the opposite of what I’ve made her believe. I just wanted to see how she’d react to me being so close. Bunny intrigues me because she doesn’t act like everyone else. She thinks differently; you never know what she’s going to say. Every answer is unexpected, and I envy how rare she is. I almost hate her for it because she has everything extraordinary that I don’t. The only thing special about my life is that my parents have money. That’s it. She’s got it all, and if no one at this stupid school can see that, it’s because they’re all shallow and clueless.
So, I shouted at her the day I first saw her, making her my personal target, the one place I could vent all my rage.
Why am I so full of rage? I have no idea.
Lauren
Today is my first day working without Stella’s help.
The safety net is gone, but somehow, I’m more confident than I thought I’d be. It’s not something that usually comes easily to me, but this morning, I found my rhythm. I know I can handle this job—everything is under control. Professionally. Logically. I have a system in place, and for me, that’s everything. The office is finally mine. It’s not large, but it’s bright, with floor-to-ceiling windows showcasing the city that I love, the skyline stretching out in front of melike something from a movie. My desk is pristine—just a monitor, keyboard, and mouse, all perfectly aligned. The space is clean, structured, exactly the way I like it. My little haven of order amidst the chaos of working for Silas Walker.
Last night, I told my sister I got the job. When I casually mentioned who my boss is—Silas Walker—her reaction was, predictably, explosive. A string of curse words flew out of her mouth before I could even finish my sentence. Emma knows all too well what he did to me in school, how many years I spent on the receiving end of his torment.
