Page 88 of Queen of Nothing

Now that I’ve thought it, I’m almost certain she has done just that.

Maybe illusioned the phone away entirely.

Dray’s tone is cold, “Who does the child belong to, Serena?”

And the sound of it, his voice, steals me out of the car and hurls me back in time.

I blink, and I feel like I’m at Bluestone, at his mercy all over again, pushed up against a table, his hand running up my thigh, his mouth hot on my skin.

Serena’s whisper crackles through the speaker, “Mine.”

A tension loosens in my chest.

Her father gave her an out with that letter.

My father is giving her another out. Doors to walk through—and maybe finally be free.

Dray looks over his shoulder at James.

And for a beat, their gazes are locked.

Neither speaks. Just stares.

And I wonder…

It’s been three years.

How much has James’ power grown in that time? Can he just… speak into Dray’s mind? Tell him telepathically if Serena is lying or not?

Apparently something like that.

Because, satisfied, Dray returns his stare to Serena. “Who is the father?”

Her cheeks glisten. “Avi Kohen.”

Dray doesn’t react.

No change to his unreadable face.

He just looks at James again.

A moment passes, then Dray nods once, as if to confirm to my father, to Oliver, that it’s the truth.

Oliver’s voice comes from the edge of the camera, “Is the boy the reason you fled?”

Serena nods, and I hear the swallow of her tears.

Oliver presses, “Is that why Olivia fled?”

Her face twists.

She runs her hands down her cheeks, then loosens a harsh defeated breath.

She answers, “I knew what would happen if I stayed. But I didn’t tell Olivia about the baby. I convinced her to come with me another way. I told her it was her only escape from all of you.”

More truths.

And still, Dray just looks at her, listens to her, but says not a word.