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“I have the solution.”

I turn to see Orlando in the doorway. Next to him is Mabilia. He has a bottle of Jack Daniels in one hand and a bottle of champagne in the other.

Moving out of Dante’s hold, I walk over to Orlando and snatch the champagne out of his grip. Then I walk back over to the sink, smash the top of the bottle on the edge of the counter, and then pour the contents down the drain. I can’t look at champagne. It reminds me of him. In that hotel room. Licking it off me.

“Ahhh!” I scream as I throw the empty bottle at the mirror.

“Okay then. We’re angry. Good. Let’s go find something or someone to take it out on, preferably an Irish something,” Mabilia says. “I Googled it, you know.”

“You Googled what?” I ask her.

“The recipe for Irish stew. It says to use beef, but I’m sure human meat will cook up just fine. I mean, I wouldn’t eat it, but I’ll happily serve it to the fucker’s parents.” She smiles.

“That’s… Just no. No one touches him.” I point at each of my cousins. “I mean it.”

“You can’t expect us to do nothing, Aurora. He hurt you.”

“He had no choice! I gave him no choice!” I scream at them.

“There’s always a choice,” Orlando tells me.Why does everyone keep saying that?“Right now, the right choice is to get drunk.” He turns and walks out of the bathroom.

“Great idea, as long as it’s not champagne.” I follow him.

“That bottle was worth two grand, by the way,” Mabilia huffs.

I don’t care how much it was worth. It felt good smashing it.

Orlando pours four glasses of whiskey and hands us each one. I’m not a drinker, especially a whiskey drinker. But right now, I’ll take anything that promises to make the pain go away.

Downing the glass in one go, I hand it back to Orlando. “Another.”

Without question, he refills it. “So, revenge, what are we doing?” he asks. “I know you, Aurora. And if this happened to any of us, you wouldn’t just sit back and let it pass.”

“It didn’t happen to you, though. It happened to me, and I’m not doing anything. I don’t want to hurt him. I’ve already done that.” The second glass of whiskey finds its way into my throat, burning all the way down.

“It wasn’t your fault, Aurora. You were drugged, and when you tell him that, he will understand,” Mabilia says.

“We’re not telling him. He discarded me like yesterday’s trash. He has shown his lack of loyalty. I don’t even want him anymore,” I lie. I want nothing more than to have Connor wrap his arms around me and tell me everything is going to be okay. Tell me that he loves me.

“Okay, well, tonight, we get fucked up.” Orlando refills my whiskey for a third time. “Tomorrow, we regret our choices.”

“To getting fucked up.” I raise my glass before tipping it back.

Everyone left. I told them I was going to sleep. I lied then too. I just wanted to be alone. I need to call him. I need to hear his voice. Except, every time I dial his number, it goes to voicemail. He’s not answering.

Okay, well, if he’s not going to talk to me, he can at least read my message.

Me:

I know you hate me. I hate myself right now too, but I need you to know how sorry I am. I love you. I will always love you.

I see the read notification on the message and then nothing. He’s just going to ignore me.

Lying down, I let the tears fall freely. I don’t know if I can make it through this. How can you go on living when it feels likeyour heart is torn in two? When every breath feels like you’re drowning?

“Care to tell me why you’ve moved into my pool house, Aurora?” Zio Romeo walks in through the glass door. “And why you smell like a brewery and look like shit?”

“Well, gee, nice to see you too, Zio,” I groan as I sit up on the bed.