Page 95 of Wicked Games

In Brooke’s and my bedroom, I strip out of my suit, find a pair of sweats and a t-shirt, and downstairs, I head straight to the bar.

I drink until I pass out, but even then that doesn’t stop the hurt. All it does is make me remember Doritos and sub sandwiches, and I think Avery’s right.

I wish I could drown and make all of it go away.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Avery

Icry like I’m never going to stop. Deep, wracking sobs shake my body, and my throat hurts.

Violet kneels next to me. “What happened? Avery, please, tell me what happened.” Her voice is full of tears, and I can only imagine what Seth said to her when she tried to stop him. Because of course she would.

“Seth dumped me,” I say, lifting my face from my hands. I glance quickly across the cemetery. Rowan’s watching us.

She sucks in a breath. “Why?”

“We can’t talk here. Meet me at my apartment,” I murmur. I shove her away, and she lands on her ass. Louder, hoping my voice carries, I say, “He broke my heart! Do you think we’re still friends? Get away from me.” I grab my shoes and stagger to my feet. “Hurry, but be careful. Rowan’s watching us.”

I run across the grass, his eyes on me the whole time. The black pavement is sizzling in the sun, and I put my heels back on and hobble half a mile to the street. Seth left me here, and I have to order a car on the transportation app that I keep on my phone in case of emergencies.

It doesn’t take long for someone to pick me up, and when I reach the parking lot of my apartment building, everything looks normal. Seth wouldn’t call off the security guarding me, so I know they’re still out there somewhere. I don’t see Violet, either, but she’s smart and won’t come barreling into the parking lot honking her horn.

In case Rowan’s already having me watched, I try to look like an upset, ditched girlfriend and frantically jam my key into the lock and wrench the security door open. I run down the carpeted hallway to my apartment, and Violet comes at me from the other direction, somehow getting through a side entrance without a key. Silently, I unlock my door and push her inside. I close the blinds in the living room and kick off my heels. Violet does the same, goes into my kitchen like she lives here, and pours two glasses of wine. She must have had booze delivered with the food yesterday. God, was that only yesterday?

Gratefully, I gulp what’s in the glass and she pours me more. I sip, thankful for the buzz the rosé is giving me. I blow out a breath and try to calm down. Calm down.

“Tell me what’s going on,” Violet says, her wineglass shaking in her hand. When Theo disappeared and was killed, and then when Brooke left, Violet must have gone through hell, hoping Seth would live through it.

“Seth broke up with me and told me to go back to Darren,” I say, the words sticky. I don’t know how they’d feel if they were true. Like shards of glass in my mouth. “I saw him talking to Rowan before that, and I’m sure Rowan threatened me. He told Seth that if he stayed away from me, he wouldn’t hurt me. Or you, or his parents, or anyone else he’s close to. He’s using me as leverage to keep his secrets.”

She licks her lips. “How do you know?”

“Because I believe in him, Violet. I believe that he loves me. He wouldn’t dump me, and not like how he did it. He said he was better than me. That I was only a broke writer and he didn’t want to support me. We already did that once, and he apologized for being an asshole. He wouldn’t do it again.”

Searching my face, she says, “You think he was lying.”

“I know he was lying.”

“Fuck.” She closes her eyes and rubs her forehead. “What are we going to do?”

“He did it to protect me. To protect us. We can’t be around him until this gets straightened out. Detective LaSalle didn’t go to Brooke’s funeral like he said he would. Maybe he thought me being there would be enough and decided not to. Seth can tell him what Rowan said, the threats, but I doubt it will do much good. No, we need more than that.”

“We need him to arrest Rowan.”

“Yeah. That’s the only way Seth will let us be together.”

Violet meets my eyes. “He’s lucky to have you. You believe he loves you instead of his lies.”

“He doesn’t think so. I knew Rowan was watching us. I just hope I pulled it off.” I gulp another mouthful of wine.

“You did. I thought something terrible happened.”

I try to smile. “It did.”

She sighs. “Yeah, it did. Now what?”

“We pressure Detective LaSalle. Rowan messed up somewhere. A paper trail, or a traffic camera catching him going to the bar where Cynthia was squatting. Something. He can’t get away with this or Seth will hide for the rest of his life hoping it will keep us safe.”