Page 103 of Rapunzel Is Losing It

“Did you just-” I couldn’t even bring myself to say it.

“Keep walking,” he repeated.

I blinked and blinked and tried to starve off the darkness at the edge of my vision, tried to push down the images of blood. Red stains on white shoes.

“You’re alright, zhizn’ moya,” Victor whispered. He snaked his whole arm around my waist, taking some of my weight.

As we got closer to the table, Luka jogged towards us, hands thrown up. “Seriously? Today of all days?” Exasperated. Not shocked.

Maybe the gray man wasn’t dead. But he hadn’t screamed. If he’d just been hurt, he would have made a sound, right?

“He threatened her.”

“A kneecap would have done just fine,” Luka groaned, staring past us. The rest of the guests were staring, too. At least most of them. Some were sipping champagne like nothing was wrong. How fucked-up did you have to be to ignore a man getting shot?

“I was making a point.”

“Yeah? You plan on making a point of scrubbing his brains off the lawn, too?”

I flinched. Victor kept pushing me forward, wordlessly walking me past Luka. He maneuvered me into my seat and crouched next to it, his eyes searching mine. “Panic attack?”

“No.”

“Want me to kiss you?”

I dragged my eyes away from his. My attention caught on the angry red welt across my chest, where the pin had scratched me the last time he’d kissed me. Minutes ago? Hours ago? Time suddenly felt kaleidoscopic, not linear.

“No kissing,” I mumbled, “just cake.”

“Cake?”

“Cake.”

“Okay, let’s get you cake.”

He shoveled a mountain of cake onto my plate. Every tier was supposed to be a different flavor, so I got a slice of each. They all tasted like sand in my mouth.

“Cordelia?”

“Hmm?”

My gaze swiveled to Victor. It was dark. How was it dark? Where was everyone? My spine snapped up straight.

Not again.

“Where’s Irina?” I asked.

I’d missed it. Victor had talked me through the whole process only for me to black out.

Irina cleared her throat behind him and awkwardly waved at me with both hands - both now bandaged. One missing a finger, the other visibly branded under all that gauze. No matter which hand she was doing business with, nobody would mistake her for being part of her father’s business anymore.

That was my fault. Both of those bandages were because of me. If I hadn’t left the house, Victor wouldn’t have felt guiltyabout leaving me alone, and he wouldn’t have asked her to look after me. If I’d stayed home, Irina would have been alright. I kept making these stupid, selfish decisions, and everyone else was getting hurt.

“Can we go home now? I’m craving some real food,” Irina said, pursing her lips at the remnants of cake and caviar on the table. “I need a burger and a beer.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

It only tookCordelia a shower and a night’s rest to get her bearings back. She didn’t want to talk about Irina’s excommunication, and I didn’t push her for it. After that, weeks passed in a blur. Irina moved into the bedroom across from Del’s. I went back to training. Cordelia handled one phone call after another for her foundation. Even when I came home at night, her voice carried through the closed office door more often than not.