Page 154 of Saint Céline
For a moment, he was silent.
Then he said, “Agreed.”
“You burn the file on my father.”
“No.”
The answer came immediately, and my anger flared again.
“Vincent.”
“No. You may hate me for it, but no. Information keeps you alive.”
“You used that information to hurt me.”
“Yes.” The word carried a flicker of regret, the first real crack I had seen in him all day. “And I regret how it unfolded. I did not intend for him to come here. The arrangement was only for the call. I wanted you to feel the threat so you would choose safety. I see now that was a mistake.”
His honesty unsettled me. He was dangerous. He was cruel. He had orchestrated this. But Daniel was out there, and Vincent was here, offering locks and silence and a man far more dangerous than the one I feared. With my father circling, Vincent had become the safest option I had left. I needed to keep Sophia, Anya, and my mom safe. I could not let Daniel get to Miss Astoria either.
I turned away before the look could do something unforgivable to me.
Wendy stood near the steps, still pale.
“I’m fine,” I told her.
She looked like she might cry.
“No, you’re not,” she whispered.
I had no answer for that. So I walked past her, away from Westgrave Hall, away from the courtyard, away from the version of myself Daniel had dragged into public and Vincent had offered to hide.
Vincent followed several steps behind me.
My phone buzzed in my pocket as I crossed campus.
Sophia. Then Anya. Then Sophia again. They had already heard.
I answered Sophia’s call with wet fingers and a voice I barely recognized.
“I’m safe.”
“What happened?”
I looked back once. Vincent stood under the archway, watching me with the stillness of a man who had set fire to my house and was now waiting to see if I would choose his.
“My father came to campus,” I said.
Sophia inhaled sharply.
“I’m moving out for a while.”
I heard Anya’s voice in the background, sharp and panicked.
“Absolutely the hell not.”
Sophia ignored her.
“Where?”
