Page 34 of The Destruction You Desire

"Wow, your loyalty astounds me," I deadpan.

"When you deserve it, you can have it back," she quips.

My chin drops, but I don't have anything to say in response, so instead, I just shut the hell up and stare at the doors, praying they'll open any second.

The tension in the small space is oppressive, even worse than the last time we were in here together.

"Go on then, hit me with it," I say, figuring that I may as well get this over with.

But before Letty gets to say anything, there's a loud bang and then the elevator bounces to a stop.

"What the hell was that?" Letty asks, her eyes wide as she looks around.

Reaching forward, I press the button again for the floor we want but nothing happens.

"Shit," I hiss, pressing it over and over in the hope it does something.

"Looks like there’s no escaping this now then, Luc."

"Did you plan this?" I bark, turning to look at her.

An incredulous laugh falls from her lips. "You think I planned for the elevator to break so you'd be forced to talk to me. Are you serious?"

Reaching up, I rub the back of my neck. When she puts it like that, the accusation does sound ridiculous.

"I had no idea you'd even be late to class," she says with a sigh. "Press the call button and tell someone we're stuck."

"Sure thing, boss," I deadpan, doing as I'm told and explaining what happened to the bored sounding guy at the other end.

"I guess we may as well get comfortable then." Letty takes her jacket off, folds it up and drops it to the floor before sitting on it. "You look like shit, by the way."

"Thanks," I mutter, sliding down the wall. "You look amazing," I confess, taking in her sparkling eyes and constant smile.

"Thanks."

"How come you're late? You sure don't look like you're fighting a hangover."

"Kane, he had this morning—"

"Enough said," I cut her off.

"Luca, at some point you need to accept that this is how it is now. Kane is part of my life, and he's also a part of yours."

"I've accepted it."

"Sure you have." She rolls her eyes at me. "I shouldn't have to tell you that relationships are way more complicated than they often look. Kane and I, we have a lot of history. Things have happened between us that no one knew for a long time."

I stare at her, wondering if she's talking about the same thing Leon alluded to the other day.

"Everything you know about our younger years is true. I thought moving to Rosewood would get me away from it all, give me a fresh start. And it did, for a while. But Harrow Creek is my home, it's where my dad is. I was—I am—always going to go back there." She holds my eyes and I sit forward a little, resting my elbows on my knees, ready to hear what she's got to say. "Almost two years ago, I went to a Creek party. It was my old best friend's birthday. I was told he wouldn't be there. But he was. One thing led to another and… well… he got me pregnant."

"Shit, Let."

"Yeah. Well, I went back to Columbia, found out, thought I could deal with it all myself. I didn't tell anyone, I even managed to hide it from my roommates. I stupidly thought it wouldn't change much." She shakes her head. "I was an idiot."

"What happened?" I ask, assuming that she's not hiding a baby somewhere.

"I lost it at twenty weeks."