Page 15 of Uprising

I grit my teeth.

She needs to stop. She has to stop. She’s going to get Lara killed.

“You can’t print this. You can’t…” I say.

“Do your parents know?”

I let out a laugh then. “Why do you think I’m even in this situation?” I say before I can stop myself.

Her face reacts to that. We all know what my parents are. They’re not as good at hiding their true nature as the rest of us. “I can help.”

“No you can’t.” I snap back.

“Rose, I can do an exposé. Don’t you see, whatever he has on you, I can let everyone know that this relationship is not consensual.”

“I don’t want that.”

“Why ever not? He’s hurt other women you know. He’s sexually assaulted a lot of other women. You could put a stop to all of this.”

“I can’t.” I whisper feeling even more like a failure. I know there are other women out there, I’m not an idiot, Darius didn’t become who is over night, he didn’t turn into this monster just for me. No, I know he’s been this way for years and I know the way I’m acting, the way I’m doing nothing, is allowing this to continue, allowing him to continue hurting others as well as myself.

“Why not?” She snaps more forcefully, as if she thinks I’m simply making some excuse.

“Because he has my daughter.” I hiss before I can stop myself.

Her eyes widen. She stares at me. “What daughter?”

Fuck I’m an idiot. It feels like I’m losing control, like everything is spiralling.

“Please.” I say. “You can’t print that, you can’t print anything. He’ll hurt her, he’ll hurt me.”

She scans my face trying to figure out if this is some sort of rouse. “You’re going to marry him?” She says incredulously.

“I will do whatever it takes to protect my child.” I state.

She stares at me. “Okay, okay, I won’t print this, not yet, but…”

“But what?” I ask. Of course she wants something. Everyone wants something. Nobody in Verona ever does a good turn unless there’s something in it for them.

“Is there anything I can do?”

I screw my face up confused. “Excuse me?”

“To help?”

“Help with what?” Darius asks.

We both turn, my face draining of every ounce of blood as Darius looks between us. He wraps his arm around me in a way that could be both a loving gesture and one of control.

“What do you need help with sweetheart?” He asks me, all smiles, all charm and my heart rattles in my chest like a panicked bird that knows it’s about to be slaughtered.

I give my best smile back at him and he squeezes me tighter.

“I…” My voice is too caught up in my panic to even come up with anything. My heart is thumping so loudly I’m sure he can hear it.

“I’m from the Gazette. We were talking about doing a feature.” Katie says. “Once you’re married, we’d love to get an full page spread about what it’s like being the first lady of Verona.”

“So why would you need to help Rose?” Darius asks.