Page 222 of Darling Venom
“I don’t know.”
She tugged me along the block, craning her neck in search of my Lexus. “I don’t see it.”
“Me neither.”
“Where are your keys?”
Then I remembered.
“I took a cab.”
“Tate.”
“Hey, you’re here. That means things have been going not-so-well tonight.”
She sank to a nearby step, panting, hand raised. “Give me a second.”
I sat beside her.
“Who’s the other person?” she finally asked.
“Huh?”
“On your phone. Luke the Bartender said there are two.”
“Walter Bernard.”
“You don’t have Terry’s number?”
“Why would I have my sperm donor’s number?”
“Ugh.” Charlie groaned, resting her head on my shoulder. “He’s your father, and he’s getting old. He won’t be around forever. If he apologizes and tries to make amends, I hope you take him up on his offer.”
“Hard pass,” I slurred.
“Why?”
The words I’d overheard last week bounced around in my head.
The least I can do is be alive for him to hate. To remind him the real person to blame for Kellan’s death isn’t him. It’s me.
I scoffed.
Terrence Marchetti: The Martyr.
As. Fucking. If.
“I’ll never forgive him.” I shook my head, stopping as soon as waves of dizziness crashed into me. “There’s no point in talking to him, let alone giving him yet another chance.”
“There’s so much hate inside you.”
“It’s the only thing Terry is capable of inspiring.” I popped a brow up, facing her. “You’re the word expert. Does that make him inspirational?”
“It says more about you than it does about him.” Her hand wrapped around my fist, bringing it onto her lap. She uncurled my fingers one by one and pressed my palm to my heart. “Hatred comes from here. When you hate someone, a piece of them is lodged in your heart. If you don’t let the hate go, you live with that person inside you forever.”
“Are you telling me there’s a piece of Terrence Marchetti inside me?”
“Yes.”
