Page 18 of Before Broken Vows

"Then uncomplicate it."

I take a deep breath, straightening my shoulders.

"I went to Los Angeles. I got a job as a waitress with a girl who referred to herself as a 'minor celebrity' because she was in one toothpaste commercial and played a dead hooker on one of those cop shows. I lived in a shitty one-bedroom apartment and wondered if my life was really meant to end up this way," I say and cross my arms. "Did I try to make the best of it every day? Yes. But did I regret things? Of course I did."

Theo looks at me for a moment. "I did track you to Los Angeles, but you went cold, and after a few months, I gave up because clearly, you didn't want to be found."

"I went by a different name. I couldn't be me in that life, because it felt like I was living someone else's. But none of that matters now. What does is the fact that I need you now, Theo. You're the most powerful man I know. From the most powerful family I know."

Theo narrows his eyes at me. "Flattery won't help you. Who is after you?"

"Someone. Someone who..." I stop, considering my words without too much detail for now.

"Someone who what?" he pushes me.

I rub the back of my head. "Someone who wants what I have."

"Which is?"

God, how could a moment feel like both the best time and the absolute worst time simultaneously?

I pause for a moment, not sure what to say.

"Is it illegal?" he asks. "Money, information, evidence?"

"No, Theo. It's not illegal," I say firmly.

"Then what?"

I shake my head. "Please. Just give me some time. What I want to tell you…I need…I just have to figure things out."

He scoffs. "You mean like if you can trust me?" He throws up his arms.

“No, of course not. If I couldn’t trust you, I wouldn’t be here. I just moved so fast once I got —” I stop myself.

He turns away from me. “You’ve changed.”

"I haven't changed that much," I say, as my fight-or-flight instincts make me deflect. "You're the one who's harder now. Colder. I can see it in how you move, how you speak. Something happened to you, Theo. Something beyond me leaving."

He cocks his head like he's fighting to unleash a slew of words at me.

"You don't know anything about me anymore."

"Maybe not," I concede. "But I know enough to be here, asking for your help. Not anyone else. You."

The words hang between us.

"Yeah, well. I'm going to bed," Theo says and walks past me.

"What about your dinner?" I ask him as he passes.

"You eat it," he says without looking back. "And if you get the desire to slip out in the middle of the night again, don't hesitate."

8

THEO

Ienter my room and shut the door. I sit on the edge of the bed, Stassi's voice still echoing in my head.