Even though I was twenty-one, and I had no need for a fake ID, it was still illegal to possess one.
Max had hidden that little gem inside my crossbody, too.
It didn’t matter how many times I told the perfectly pleasant officers that I’d never seen that fake driver’s license. It didn’t matter that the photo used in it matched my application photo for The Quest exactly, and it certainly didn’t matter that I could prove it because Max had conveniently dropped my phone somewhere between taking it from me and getting pulled over.
Wherever he’d hidden it, it couldn’t be found.
He handed the officers the keys without complaint, and save for one compartment that they couldn’t unlock, their search came up completely empty. My phone had disappeared into thin air.
Suspicious, of course.
And I didn’t appreciate the side-eyesIgot from the officers over it.
Despite the curses and threats I’d made to Max Dread’s person, he’d remained unaffected. He waggled his fingers asthey carted me away and made some bullshit comment about being out of napkins for me to dry my tears.
Then he left me there.
I tried to push the fury aside.Triedto tell myself it was a sick joke. That at any second he’d come waltzing through the precinct doors and clear my name.
He never showed.
As soon as Gia’s parents signed my paperwork, and the friendly officer escorted me around the counter, Gia lunged.
Our arms locked around each other—mine around her waist, and hers around my shoulders. Her hands came up to my head and pulled my face into her. And just as she’d expected, a sob wrenched out of me.
I shuddered from the release.
Holding my breath to contain the rest, I choked back each sob. Squeezed my eyes shut, as if that might stop the tears.
Pressure built inside my head. It cracked my chest. Pierced through the illusion of safety I’d felt with Max since our time at the cabin.
And shattered it.
Gia whispered soothing words into my ear. She ran her hands over my hair, letting her fingers pull just slightly, but not enough to tear it out.
Not how I wanted to tear it out.
But it helped keep the breakdown at bay.
“It’s alright. Mom and Dad are going to help you figure everything out, okay?” When I shook my head, she squeezed back. “Non-negotiable, babe. Dad’s already called the law firm.”
“Yes. Of course, we did.” Grace came up beside us, and I sniffled into Gia’s shirt before pulling back. “You don’t have to worry, sweetheart. We’ll get this mess sorted out.”
“Damn straight, we will,” Mr. V growled, fiercer than usual. “And we’ll go after those assholes at Camelot Court for all thehell they’ve put you through. It’s discrimination, at best. I’ll throw everything I can at them.”
I forced a watery smile, fighting back a fresh wave of tears, and then I shook my head. “Thank you, Mr. V. But I…” I met Gia’s concerned gaze and almost cracked. “I just want to go home right now. Can we go home?”
She nodded, then grimaced as she remembered something. “I forgot…we have company. They’re waiting for you outside.”
Relief filled my chest, even though I should’ve expected they’d come. Should’ve known.
“Dad threatened to have them arrested on sight.” She gauged my reaction and smiled. “I told him that wouldn’t be necessary. That they’d probably help him sue Max if that was the route you wanted to take, but he made them wait outside until we could see for ourselves what you wanted to do.”
I laughed despite myself, warmed by her dad’s protectiveness over me. Grateful that what he’d said—about showing up for me when my dad couldn’t be there—held true. I hadn’t doubted it, but there was something about witnessing it that felt different.
“Okay, let’s go let them off the hook.”
She swiped her thumbs under my eyes and cleared away traces of mascara before taking my hand. We walked out the front doors. The setting sun glared in my eyes, too bright after the fluorescent lighting inside the police station. Before I cleared the black spots from my vision, two sets of hands found me, and when the darkness faded, blue-gray and dark amber eyes met mine, shining with relief.
