If I know Zach, he’ll be blaming himself already, replaying the night of the party, convinced he failed me somehow.
I look down at my phone.
At the recording.At the truth.I think about my mom, and about her being framed, and silenced, and banished.
I think about the abruptness of me leaving Zach on the night of his party, without giving him a good explanation.How he stood looking at me, all lost and confused, with no idea why I’d suddenly gone cold.
And now I think about how I need to break his heart.
Chapter 37
ZACH
“We need to talk,” Maya says.She steps into my office the moment I get to work.
Days have passed.The weekend, even.I didn’t reach out to her, because I was hoping she’d reach out when she was ready.
“Talk?”My heart lifts with hope.
“Not here, and not now,” she says.
“But if it’s important—”
“We can talk at lunchtime.I’ll meet you in Central Park if ...”
“I’ll meet you there,” she says.“There’s a spot in the park, shady and quiet, and we won’t be overheard.Meet me near the Ramble, at noon, and I’ll take you there.”
She looks sad and lost, like she’s preparing to break up with me.Giving up on us before we’ve had a chance to become anything.
***
In meetings, and during phone calls, and conversations, my mind drifts.I’m constantly clock-watching.I jump into a cab, and meet her at noon, at the spot she suggested.
She looks uncomfortable, like she’s preparing to say words that are hard.Her eyes are shadowed and her jaw tight.I follow her to a quiet shaded spot.
“I need you to listen,” she says, before I can speak.
“Okay.”I’m preparing myself for the worst.She pulls out her phone.Then hands me an earbud.She takes the other one.She’s scaring me.“What—”
“Please, just listen.It’s better this way.Only we can hear.”
She’s scaring me to death.My heart starts to pound, and my palms turn clammy as unease coils tight in my chest.I hear my father’s voice.My eyes widen.“My father came to your apartment?”I cry, louder than I intend.Maya puts her finger to her lips.
“Just listen.”
What was he doing?What was he thinking?Fury rises deep inside me, because nothing about this feels normal.I force myself to listen.My father is talking about me.About Maya being entertainment for me.
What the fuck?
I open my mouth, but Maya rests a calming hand on my arm.“Just listen, Zach,please.”
So I listen.I hear my father’s subtle threats.Hear Maya defending herself.
Fifty thousand dollars?
I rip the earbud out and start pacing, hands fisting at my sides, my head shaking like I can’t dislodge what I’ve just heard.“He offered you money to walk away?”
The son of a bitch.
