“What. The. Actual. Fuck. Is. This?”
I dash to the bed, roughly tug the sheet to make it look less like someone wrestled on it, and toss the pillows back. She grabs my wrist, spins me around, and tugs at the collar of my shirt.
“Thank God it was me who came to get you and not your mother.”
I look down. The shirt is on backward. The tag is kissing my throat.
She shoves her phone into the nightstand drawer and pulls me into the bathroom.
“He was here.” I start before she can. “We had a nice night.”
She grins, looking me over. “I can see how nice the night was.” Her grin vanishes. “Fuck the night. Do you know what the fuck he did?”
I frown. “What?”
“He burned the garden in a controlled fire. The whole place is ashes now. And he left a message: ‘Never do that again, King. She’s mine.’”
She stares at me, incredulous. “Now everyone’s hunting him like their lives depend on it. Is he insane? Why would he do that?”
I press my palms to my temples.Seriously? Why the hell would he do that? To make my family hate him more?
“I’m going to kill this man.”
Avi shakes her head slowly. “Sorry, babe. You’ll have to get in line.”
I smack her arm. “Don’t joke. Dad was already furious about the shooting last night. Now he’s got to be livid. That was Mom’s garden, for God’s sake. Even I’m angry.”
She leans against the door. “Don’t get mad. These are the basic consequences of loving a crazy man.”
I turn to the sink and splash cold water on my face. I stop mid-splash, turn off the tap, and look at Avi.
“Was Zo behind last night’s incident?”
The only possible candidates are Zo and Salvario. And I forgot to ask him.
She nods, then grins. “But everyone thinks it was your man.”
I groan and go back to washing my face.
“I’ll be outside.” Avi slips out.
I take my time cleaning up, showering, then finally head out. She’s on the couch, scrolling through her phone. The sheets are changed. Tucked in roughly, clearly Avi’s doing.
She looks up. “Where’s your phone? Your mom just called asking about you.”
“It’s in my closet.”
She raises a brow. I head to my closet and start checking drawers. Inside the third one sits a transparent box—all my gadgets inside. I open it and take out my phone.
Six missed calls from Avi. Three from Mom. Two from Dad. Two from Aunt Abi.
I look at Avi. “Am I going to get scolded for what he did?”
She shrugs. “Probably not. Why would they blame you? It’s not like you asked him to torch the garden.”
I sigh. “Yeah. And our family isn’t unreasonable.”
We head downstairs. Mom and Aunt’s voices are coming from the sitting room, so we head there.
