Page 113 of Not How I Saw That Going

She takes a deep breath. “I never should have pushed you into dating Sophie or anyone else for that matter.” She wrings her hands together. “After you got back from the war, I could see the damage it had done to you.” Her voice cracks. “I thought if I did everything right, I could return all that the war had stolen from you.”

My shoulders sag. “Mom, that’s—”

“No,” she cuts me off. “I thought what you needed was a stable job, a stable future, then everything would go back to the way it was. That’s my fault. All I’d been doing was telling you that you were broken, that you weren’t good enough. I knew what you needed was some time and space to heal, but I couldn’t help interfering, because mothers are supposed to know best.” Her voice cracks, unveiling an emotion I’ve rarely witnessed. “But seeing you tonight,” she sniffs, and a tear slips down her cheek. “Dancing and smiling, like you used to. You neededher.”

She hunches over with a sob, and I gather her in a hug. The first hug I’ve given her in years. She holds me tight, but only for a moment before she pushes me away.

“Now what is this about Lyndi?”

I scratch my neck. “I don’t know. She was supposed to bid on me, but now she’s not responding to my messages.”

“Ugh.” Sophie rolls her eyes. “She’s with her long-lost brother. She’s fine.”

My head turns slowly in her direction. “What?”

“Yeah, he found me online. Said he’d been trying to get in contact with her for years, but she wouldn’t talk to him. He just wants to see Crew.” She rolls her eyes. “So I told him where she’d be tonight and texted him when the auction started.”

My thoughts scramble, trying to understand the things she’s telling me. “She doesn’t have a brother,” I say. She’s only ever mentioned a stepbrother.

Sophie flips her hair off her shoulder. “Maybe it was a cousin or something. I don’t know.”

“How did he find you?”

Her eyes dart to the opposite side of the room. “I may have left a fairly detailed comment on one of her videos. But it’s fine. She’s probably just talking to him in the hall or something,” she tries to plead her case.

I growl. “What was his name, Sophie?”

She plays with one of her long dangling earrings. “I don’t know. Ronnie maybe?”

My stomach sinks. “Rodney?”

She shrugs. “Maybe?”

Cold fingers clamp around my heart. Sophie is wrong. It’s not fine.

Nothing is.

Thirty Nine

Lyndi

Igrabtherailingto keep from falling over. Rodney has thinned out and has a strange tattoo crawling up the side of his neck, but it’s him all right. “W-what are you doing here?”

His face morphs into a grin. I used to love his smile. I thought that gleam in his eyes was fun and exciting. It’s just creepy now.

“What am I doing here?” He places a tattoo-covered hand on his chest. “What are you doing here? You don’t belong in this fancy place, with all these rich people. What do you think you are? Some princess?”

For a moment, yeah. I’d been exactly that.

He pushes himself off the half wall he’s leaning against and takes a step toward me. I want to run, but I can’t move. I’m frozen; stuck in the past. This isn’t happening. He shouldn’t be here. Hecan’tbe here.

“I thought you were still in prison.” My hands shake on the railing, the only thing holding me up right now.

“Got out on good behavior.” He shrugs and swipes his tongue over his bottom lip. “I’ve counted every day, waiting to be reunited with you.” He frowns. “Why didn’t you write me back, doll?”

I back up a step, dropping my shoes at the base of the stairs. I just need to make it to Ward. Or anyone else in the building, for that matter. And then we can talk through whatever this is.

“Where are you going, Princess?” He slurs the last word, then lets out a raucous laugh. “I can’t believe anyone is buying that act of yours. I have to admit, when I first saw the video you almost had me convinced.” He saunters down the steps. Each inch he closes between us is more terrifying than the last.