It’sthatkind of memory again, though this time Alex is tucking his dick away rather than pulling it out.
“Go take a shower,”he tells me, backing away.
Emotions flood my system. Humiliation, fear, regret, sorrow... I can’t tell which ones I feel in the present and which ones I felt in the past. The only emotion that’s definitely in the here and now is the anger scorching my veins.
I’ve seen so many similar memories and still don’t understand why I let him use me. Why did I follow every order? Why didn’t I fight back?
I push off the wall, my legs weak, knees aching, throat burning like I’ve been puking for an hour straight.
“What are you doing?”he asks when I enter the bathroom.“Take the necklace off.”
“Yesterday you said to keep it on me at all times,”I whisper, resignation coloring my voice.
“I didn’t mean in the shower,”he huffs, rolling his eyes, annoyance seeping from his every pore.“You can’t be this clueless. Water will ruin it. Take it off when you’re showering.”
I reach behind me, unhooking the small clasp, and leave the necklace on my desk.
Time shifts forward again, introducing a flurry of intense fear. My heart stutters in my chest, my face wet with tears.
We’re not in my room anymore. We’re in a car, and Alex... Alex looks like the weight of the world has fallen on his shoulders. His agonizing whimpers fill the confined space while he bangs his hand against the steering wheel, chewing his lips.
I don’t speak, shaking in the passenger seat, cold and empty inside. It’s dark outside. Streetlamps illuminate an empty street I don’t recognize. We’re parked by the curb, the engine idling quietly like a haunted soundtrack to Alex’s palpable despair that swirls in the air like fine dust.
He whirls toward me, leaping forward like he’s about to grab me by the throat. My back hits the passenger side door, eyes wide, panic threatening to choke me. I feel the door, desperately searching for the handle. Alex doesn’t hesitate. His hand flits to my nape and quickly unhooks my necklace.
“Watch,”he orders, his voice breaking.
His skin’s ashen, lips bitten sore, eyes bloodshot from the tears he’s fighting to keep at bay. He holds the pendant in both hands, using his thumbs to push apart the hooks where the delicate chain is threaded. They move outward, along the top edge of the heart then down and the pendant opens.
It doesn’t break clean in two halves like I thought it would. No, it opens like an accordion, held together at the bottom.
Inside, stuffed into a slit, is a small, black square.
“Memory card,”he tells me.“All the evidence I gathered is on this. If anything happens to me, give this to your father.”
My lips fall open to speak, but the memory slips away, throwing me back into reality.
Back into Dante’s house.
I’m on the floor, my back pinned against a firm, warm chest, two arms around me. The world’s muted for a beat, my heart ramming so hard I can’t hear anything else. I’m shaking as much in the present as I was in the memory.
“Hailey.” Carter’s voice breaches the whoosh of blood screaming in my ears. My eyes snap from the polished wooden floor to his face.
No... not his face. Broadway’s. He’s crouching before me.
“Deep breaths,” Carter orders. He’s behind me, my arms and legs trapped by his bulky frame.
His heart’s racing in time with mine, both fighting to leap from our chests and be joined together.
“Are you okay?” he asks, cradling me closer.
“I’m okay... you can let go.”
Slowly, he lifts his arms, then moves his legs aside, letting Broadway help me up.
“I know where the evidence is,” I whisper, running my clammy hands down my sides.
Carter spins me around, dark eyes boring into mine. “Where?”
