Page 75

I grit my teeth and realize my dad is speaking again. “How is Cortland Adler these days?” he asks me quietly, and even Crystal is speechless this time. “I heard he transferred. Have you seen him?”

He settles back in his seat, hands on his thighs as he regards me with disdain.

“He transferred?” Ah, so this is news to Crystal. I can feel her gaze on the side of my face, but I don’t look at her. “Silas, you should’ve put a stop to?—”

“Kind of hard to do, Crystal,” Silas says through clenched teeth, but he’s still staring at me, “especially when your daughter is seen hanging out with him on campus.”

A cold chill runs down my spine.

Crystal is speechless.

Shame washes over me, hot and cold all at once. I want to run out of here. I want to leave , but I don’t.

I can’t.

I’m rooted to the spot.

My stepdad’s pale pink lips curve into a satisfied smile. “Yes,” he says with a heavy sigh, “Cortland’s mother informed me you were seen on campus with her son. Why would you ever entertain your rapist, Remi?”

The room seems to spin.

“Was he harassing you?” Crystal immediately asks, angry on my behalf. “If he’s harassing you, we need to do something about?—”

“I don’t think he’s harassing her, Crystal.” Silas’s gaze doesn’t leave mine, and I see a waiter walk into our private dining room, but Silas holds up a hand, dismissing him with that single gesture. He drops his hand, still smirking at me. “Is he, Remi?”

I curl my hands into fists, stunned.

What do I say?

I wish someone was here to help me. Help me explain what I’m feeling. What really happened that night. How everything was so blurry, and then Silas… did what he did. The trip to the hospital. The way he knew I’d never tell them what he did to me.

How Chase and Brinklin and Storm and Cortland were still in the wrong.

“Have you slept with him, Remi?” Silas feigns disgust as Crystal sucks in a breath, saying my stepdad’s name.

And I hear something, coming from my purse slung over the back seat as they both talk over my head, as if I’m not even here.

Because once again, I don’t say anything .

Their voices fall quiet as the buzzing sound seems to grow louder.

My phone.

Silas glares at me. “You couldn’t even bother turning that off for a single night, Remi? Is he that important?”

I ignore the vibration, my hands shaking in my lap.

I don’t know what to say.

I glance at Crystal, and she’s staring at me with a mixture of pity and confusion, and then my phone starts to vibrate again.

“One second,” I whisper.

“Don’t answer your phone at the table, Remi, you know better.”

But I’m already doing it. I’m digging in my bag and Silas is reaching across the table to snatch it from me but my heart is racing and I see it’s Cortland calling, for the fourth time, and I answer it, standing to my feet, my chair tipping backward as I get out of Silas’s reach.

He’s snapping my name, standing, too, throwing his cloth napkin on the table.

“What’s wrong?” I rasp into the phone.

“Oh my God, Remi,” Cortland is saying, and there’s relief in his words that sends the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end. “You’re okay. You’re okay.” He exhales, and I can practically see him pacing on the other end of the line.

“What happened?” I ask, locking eyes with my stepdad.

He’s not moving toward me anymore, and Crystal is on her feet, too, staring at me with concern.

“Your dorm…” Cortland trails off. “Your dorm… it… caught on fire.”

I blink, dropping my gaze, my mind spinning. “What?” I whisper into the phone. “What do you mean?—”

“Where are you?”

“I’m in Raleigh?—”

“I’ll come get you.”

“No.”

“I’m leaving now, give me an address, I’ll?—”

“No.”

“Just give me your fucking address, Remi, I’m not leaving you alone tonight?—”

“I’ll be there soon.” I hang up the phone, hearing Cortland curse in the background as I fist my phone in my hand.

“My dorm is on fire.” I say it out loud, those words tumbling out of my mouth awkwardly as I turn and grab my purse, slinging it over my body.

“Remi, what do you mean?—”

“You’re not leaving yet. Sit down.” Silas’s voice, cold and immoveable, he doesn’t give a fuck about what I just said.

“Didn’t you hear me?” I snarl back, stepping toward him. “My dorm is on fire.”

“There was nothing but worthless shit in there anyway, Remi. The university will reimburse you.” His voice fades from my ears as I think about my assignment. My new computer from Sloane. Everything was in there, because I didn’t bring anything.

Because I was going to drive four hours back to get away from my stepdad.

So why am I here?

“I’ve got to go.” I cut him off.

He reaches for me, his fingers circling my arm much like they did the morning after everything.

Crystal hisses his name.

Yes, I think wryly, this is the man you’re dating. The real one.

Silas jerks me toward him. “When did you get your tongue pierced?” he snarls.

I actually laugh, sticking out my tongue in his face as I do. He lets go of me, recoiling as if I’m a snake. “Fuck you.” I turn to go, my heart racing, knowing there’s no coming back from this, but I don’t care.

“Don’t you dare walk out of here. I’ll get your car. I’ll turn off your phone. I will no longer pay for your housing and?—”

“You don’t pay for it,” I call back over my shoulder as I get to the threshold of the dining room.

“I did that.” I turn to face him, narrowing my eyes.

“My grades. My applications. I did that.” I smile at him as he looks stunned, his face turning a deeper shade of red with every second that passes.

“You put the car in my name, so I’d pay for the insurance, remember?

I did that, too. Go fuck yourself, Silas.

” I look to Crystal, hold up the arm he grabbed.

“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll get the hell out while you still can. ”

It doesn’t feel quite as good as lighting a match and watching him burn to ash as I toss it over my shoulder, but it’s a close second.