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Damn, that stung.
“No, none of us were holding onto that information to use against you.”
She nodded and pinched her lips, telling me without words she didn’t believe me.
“But you thought I knew even though Charlie told you I didn’t.”
In that moment I wished Nebraska wasn’t as smart as she was.
“I wasn’t sure,” I admitted.
“Right,” she grumbled.
“Can you at least understand this is complicated? There’re layers and we’re all treading cautious? I wasn’t going to keep the truth from you for long, but I need to understand the scope of what we’re dealing with. Which I’ll point out, I still don’t understand. But if I’d known Maddon was going to blindside you with that information, I would’ve told you.”
“Right,” she grumbled again.
That pissed me off.
“You really think I’m that much of a motherfucker I’d let that piece of shit gut you like that? Jesus, Nebraska, I don’t expect you to trust me, but fuck, woman, that’s some lowdown shit right there.”
She said nothing.
Not that she needed to, the scathing look said it all.
So did her departure.
She thought I was a motherfucker who’d purposely allow Maddon to harm her.
Good to know.
TWELVE
I was on my back in a strange bed and my world was spiraling out of control.
I felt like I’d been on a week-long bender—not that I’d ever actually been on one but I suspected this was what it would feel like. The room was spinning, my stomach was queasy, my muscles hurt, and I was hot all over. In some faraway place in my mind I wondered if this was my body’s way of protecting me. If the physical pain I felt was masking the soul-crushing emotional agony I wasn’t ready to deal with.
Physical was easier.
Physical I could get over.
But the other stuff, the way I knew my heart was shattering and my soul was crying I wasn’t so sure.
Everything had been a lie.
Every. Thing.
Since I was twelve every single day had been a betrayal.
And the one person I trusted and loved had perpetrated the worst of it.
Charlie wasn’t my hero.
He was the devil.
A chill slithered down my spine, cooling my overheated skin. Making me simultaneously hot and cold while at the same time making me vibrate with overwhelming rage.
I’d given up everything to be who Charlie encouraged me to be.
