Page 157 of Challenge Me

“I was going to shoot him.” Silence fell over the room, and Remi lifted his chin without any remorse.

“Wait,” Avery said. “You were how old?”

“Fifteen.”

“And you had a gun?”

“You probably would too,” Oli muttered.

“You poor thing.”

There was something motherly on her face, and I wondered what she could see that I didn’t. Whatever it was, it had Remi’s composure cracking too.

“If you expect me to go on an apology tour,” he said, looking at Renshu, “I won’t. Not this time. Not for this.”

Renshu put a palm on his forehead. “This is a nightmare. You’ve given half a story, if that, and there’s not the slightest gap where I can try to squeeze in something that’ll work in our favor.”

“That’s because there is none.”

“Bullshit,” I spat. He rolled his head along the couch to look at me. “Tell me what we’re missing so that we can fix this.”

“Amir . . .”

“I know you had a reason.”

It was clear that he wasn’t going to give anything up, so I stood and marched to the bedroom. Let Renshu deal with the PR. I wasn’t sure I cared anymore. This entire thing was dragging not only me down, but also my family.

How much longer could I go on like this?

“Amir,” Remi said, shutting the door behind him.

“I don’t want to talk to you.”

“That’s not fair.”

“Not fair?” I let out a humorless laugh. “You know what’s not fair, Remi? Fighting tooth and nail for you every goddamn day, all for you to go and give up.”

“I’m not giving up.”

“You might as well be. You’re handing a win to Clara, and my fucking God, it’s a big one.”

“They’re allegations. She can’t prove them.”

“You weren’t charged?” I asked hopefully.

“I was, but there’s no record because it was cleared shortly after.”

“Why?”

“It just was.”

“Come on, Remi.”

“No, you come on, Amir. Why do I have to share every little detail of my life, huh? Why is it my past that gets aired as tomorrow’s news?”

“Because you’re the one with the past!” Sitting on the edge of the bed, I let out a breath. “It’s not fair. I know that. But I can’t change that you have it, and I can’t change that she’s going to broadcast it. So what do you want me to do?”

“I don’t know.”