Total pages in book: 147
Estimated words: 140742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 704(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 704(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
“Why?” I whisper.
Tate inhales sharply as he adjusts in the seat beside me, and my heart stops for a moment when I glance over. He looks so uncomfortable.
“Can I have water?” he asks hoarsely. “Please?”
John shuts the magazine and leaves. He has two water bottles in his hands when he comes back and hands one to each of us. I thank him automatically. Tate grunts his disapproval, but uncaps it and starts drinking. I notice they’ve already been uncapped, and lower mine. I don’t trust them not to have drugged them. Maybe that’s why Tate looks that way. John takes a seat again and wordlessly goes back to his magazine.
“Is he making you do this?” I ask Mallory as John sits down and picks up the magazine.
She scoffs. “God, no. Let’s just say we have a mutually beneficial understanding.”
“Why would you do this?” I ask. “Do you know how difficult this has been on us?”
“Yes, I received all your lovely texts,” Mallory says. My stomach sinks. She smiles. “You were pretty upset to learn about me and Tate.”
“Tell her what you did,” Tate says between gritted teeth.
Mallory looks at him. “Which part?”
“About Gracie! About the drugs!”
She rolls her eyes. “Tate was drugged the night he made out with Gracie. She was an easy target. God, she hates you so much.”
“Gracie knew?!”
“No!” Mallory laughs. “John was there that night and got in her ear about how hurt you’d be if she went after Tate,” she says.
I look at John again, hoping my glare burns holes through his stupid face.
“I told you,” Tate says.
“Oh, shut up! Don’t act like you were a fucking saint,” Mallory says, eyes narrowed on him. “You let her kiss you before the drugs even kicked in. You always were an easy lay.”
Despite everything, her words make my stomach turn.
“You ruined everything!” he shouts.
“She never loved you!” she screams. “I gave you everything she wouldn’t and you still chose her!”
I inhale sharply. “Is that what this is about?”
“You used me!” Tate shouts. “You blackmailed me into hooking up with you!”
“I didn’t blackmail you into joining Onyx! I didn’t blackmail you into fucking those girls!” she shouts. “You loved every fucking second you spent with me!”
I press the bottle of water to my stomach and my other hand over my mouth, suddenly feeling very sick.
“I was going to marry her!” Tate shouts back, and I hold my breath now, thinking she might point that gun at him and shoot him.
Her jaw clenches. “She loves my brother, you fucking idiot!”
I gag and press my hand tighter over my mouth. Oh God. Finn. This is going to destroy Finn. He’s been living with so much guilt.
“How could you do this to us? To Finn?” I ask when I finally regain my composure. “He was trying to get justice for you. We both were!”
“And, what, you found justice in his dick?” she spits, eyes narrowed. The venom in her tone and the way her grip tightens on the gun make me freeze. “You felt guilty for leaving me there to die so you turned to him for comfort?”
“That’s not what happened.” I wipe my eyes.
“Maybe not.” She purses her lips. “My brother has only ever cared about four people. He never cares about women, but of course, he had to fall for you. It’s like you have us all under a fucking spell.”
“You act like I planned this!”
“That’s the thing, Josslyn. You don’t have to plan anything. Everything just works out perfectly for you. Always.”
Anger hits me with a force and I shudder. “You’re a fucking BARLOW, Mallory. YOU COULD HAVE HAD EVERYTHING! You HAD everything!”
“You know, my brother didn’t miss a game after I died,” she says, ignoring me. “He missed two practices when he flew home and went right back to Vegas like it was nothing.”
I wipe tears away again. “What do you want from me?”
“You got too close to the truth,” she says, glancing at John briefly. “We have a plan. I was going to disappear and John was going to file an insurance claim. Everything was fine until Leo started sniffing around and sending you footage of that night.”
“Mallory,” John warns. It’s the first thing he’s said since I got here.
“I don’t understand,” I say. “If this is about me getting too close, why not go to my apartment? Why not get rid of Leo?”
She laughs. “You do know my brother has had a private investigator following you around for almost two years now, right?”
I feel the color drain from my face. I don’t even ask how she knows that. She seems to know too much about everything.
“I knew you’d come running when Tate didn’t show up for work,” she says when no one speaks. “I mean, it was either that or the police, but I just knew you’d come here.” She laughs again. “Does my brother know where you are?”