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“She lost her sister.”
He nods. “I know, but I don’t think that’s all there is. I think there’s something else that’s dragging her down. Something bigger than that.”
“Like what?”
“Fuck. I don’t know, okay? That’s the whole problem.” He almost growls the words.
I lean against the wall and drop my head against it.
Holden blows out a breath, clearly frustrated by this mystery surrounding Evangeline. “Wouldn’t you be elated if she were innocent somehow?”
I pin him with a narrowed gaze but stay quiet.
He points at me. “I didn’t say anything earlier to the princess, but I saw you with her tonight. You might have entered that event with fake smiles, each of you playing your part, but don’t pretend that kiss was an act. I wouldn’t buy it for even a second.”
“Fuck.” I squeeze my hands so tightly my joints scream in protest. “I didn’t think it would be like this. You know how much I wanted to make her pay for what she did to me. That was the whole reason for this arrangement. And it was sosimple: hating her, making her pay, and finally feeling better after getting my revenge. I didn’t expect to have these moments where I don’t really hate her at all. She’s fucking with my head in a way I wasn’t prepared for.”
When I became friends with Holden in prison, he told me outright there’s only one rule I need to follow with him: no lying. I lie to him, and we’re done. I’ve stood by that rule in all the years I’ve known him, and it’s given me a friendship like I’ve never had before. Growing up in this world, in a society that thrives on pretense, gossiping, and lies, it’s hard to shift gears to pure honesty. But it was worth it. Holden is the only reason I didn’t turn into a mess in prison. It truly felt like my life was over, and he’s the reason I’m alive.
He tips his chin toward the room. “You two have history. More than maybe even you realized.”
“I thought the hate was stronger than the stupid crush I had on her when we were younger. There was a reason why I didn’t act on it back then. Everything should have been easy, Hold. Especially after what happened with Connie.”
Holden opens his mouth to say something just as his phone rings in his pocket. He pulls it out and holds it up to his ear, nodding and listening. “Thanks, Mike.”
“Doc is here.”
I push off the wall and roll my shoulders. “Good.”
He claps me on the upper arm. “We’ll continue this conversation later, okay? Go back to your girl. I’ll let the doc in and bring him upstairs.”
I stare after him. Two words repeat in my head over and over.
Your girl.
Your girl.
My girl.
But she isn’t my girl. How could she be?
Instead of returning to the bedroom, I listen to the quiet voices drifting up from the foyer and meet the two men at the top of the stairs, relaying to Dr. Harvey what happened with Evangeline.
He has a friendly smile and a full head of gray hair. He used to be my grandpa’s on-call doctor, only a few years younger than my grandpa would have been now. I thought about my grandpa a lot during my prison sentence, wondering if I would have ended up there if he was still alive. After a while and lots of thinking, as one does in prison, I concluded my life would have turned out very differently if he hadn’t died when I was a young teen. He would have prevented my father from digging his rotten claws into me. But I was young and impressionable, without any well-meant guidance besides the big bad wolf himself.
Doc pushes his glasses up his nose and squeezes my arm. “Let’s check her out, shall we?”
I nod and lead him into the bedroom where Evangeline has rolled to her side, thankfully still under the blanket and with the washcloth around her hand.
The doctor moves to the foot of the bed and places his black leather bag on it.
Evangeline stirs, and I walk to her side, watching her eyes flutter open.
The corner of her mouth draws up a little the moment she sees me, and a croaky “Hey” escapes her lips.
Fuck me.
I feel like I’ve entered a time machine.