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“Winifred isn’t going to stop me from living my life. Clarissa and I will leave when we’re ready.”
Doberman scowls, but he doesn’t argue.
* * *
When I returnto the ballroom, Clarissa is gone. My eyes skate desperately through the crowd.
Lifting my phone, I call Doberman.
“Where is she?” I ask in a panic. “Who has eyes on her?”
Another team member speaks out. “I do, sir. She ran outside. On the left balcony, sir.”
My stomach sinks. “What happened?”
He pauses. “A group of women approached her. It didn’t seem to be a pleasant conversation.”
The world ripples around me.
For a second, I’m back in that college dorm, sneaking outside Clarissa’s room.
“Sometimes, I found myself thinking these dark thoughts. Like maybe I should head to the balcony and jump off. End it all.”
I hang up, grit my teeth and stalk toward the balcony.
That was ten years ago. We were kids. Fragile. Broken.
She wouldn’t do that now, would she?
A woman in a blue satin dress that looks like it’s hanging on to her by a thread slides in front of me.
“Cody Bolton!” She sets a hand on my arm. “It’s good to see you. It’s been so long since we caught up.”
“Who are you?” I ask. It’s not a question I want answered. It’s just the fastest way to tell her I don’t give a damn about her or her touchy hands.
She flinches in embarrassment, but I’m already brushing past her. I wonder if she was one of the women who harassed Clarissa and pushed her outside. If I had time, I would have found out and punished her accordingly.
As it stands, I can barely move fast enough.
I storm through the open balcony doors. We’re too many floors up. If she jumped…
A shadow moves in the corner.
My gaze falls on Clarissa. She’s standing on the opposite end of the door, tucked in the darkness where no one can see her.
My breath catches.
Memories from that night outside her dorm swarm back to me.
“Have you ever felt that way? Like you’re a waste of space? Like you’re dirt under someone’s boot? Like you don’t matter? That’s how I feel when I go to those events with him. I feel like nothing.”
I start moving.
She straightens her back. “Cody, how did you—”
I seize her arms and pull her body against my chest. Ducking my head in the crook of her neck, I hold her tight.
“Like no one would care if I was gone.”