Page 96 of The Doctor

Tears burned in my eyes when Stephano and my mother walked through the door. It took everything in me to keep from running toward them the way my brain insisted I should.

Follow the plan. Don’t mess this up.

I left the bedroom, placing one foot in front of the other until I made it to their sides.

“Clara!” My mother hugged me for the second time that day, making it two more times than the number she’d given me the past few years. “I’m so glad you’re safe!”

At Stephano’s harsh glare, I forced myself to hug her back. “You, too.”

Then Daphne Vinci did what Daphne Vinci did best: She turned away from me and acted like I wasn’t there. While she talked to Sarah and Eliza, I took a step backward, then one closer to my brother. He ignored me like he always did, right up until the crowd shifted toward the living room. Then he grabbed me by the back of the neck and dragged me toward the door.

He shut it quietly behind him after shoving me out. He raised a finger to his lips, telling me not to speak. Then he pushed me toward the elevator, refusing to talk to me even when we were locked inside.

We were in his car before he spoke, our seat belts buckled, and the engine turned on. “Hold on tight, this might get a bit wild.”

He wasn’t lying. Stephano sped through city streets, zipping in and out of traffic and putting space between us and Jet’s apartment. It wasn’t until we were at least a mile away that he finally slowed down. When he stopped at a traffic light, he turned his dark gaze my way.

“What?” I asked, suddenly worried I hadn’t gotten all the blood when I’d scrubbed my face and hands.

“You’ve caused quite the stir today.”

“We’ll, I’m not sorry about it.”

A smirk rode his lips. “Didn’t say you needed to be.” Stephano turned his attention to the street in front of him, quiet for a moment before he accelerated through the green light.

“Go ahead,” I told him, crossing my arms over my stomach. “Say it.”

“Say what?”

“Whatever it is you’re thinking. That I shouldn’t be with Zee. That he’s too old for me. That I’m a crazy fucking loon for falling in love with him.”

“Now, why would I say that?”

Biting my tongue, I looked away. I refused to get in a fight with him over this. My relationship with Zeno wasn’t the reason we were here.

But Stephano didn’t get the message.

“Besides the fact that thinking about my baby sister fucking a man twice her age is not something I care to dwell on, I don’t see why you care what I think.” He rubbed a hand across his jaw. “It’s not exactly like we’re close. Why does what I think about it matter if you love the guy? It’s not like Zeno’s going to hurt you.”

“What do you mean?”

Stephano rolled his eyes, then shook his head. “You’d think anyone with a working brain would have realized he’s had the hots for you for years. Jesus, Clara. You really know how to fuck shit up. Only you could get away with something like this.”

“Something like what? I didn’t do anything!”

“I didn’t do anything,” he muttered under his breath. “You’ve got it so our parents barely pay attention to a damn thing you do. You could commit murder underneath their noses, and they wouldn’t bat an eye.”

“You think I want that?” I hugged myself tighter. “You think I want to be ignored? You think I want all their attention on you? I didn’t ask for them to bring me into this world, but they did. The least they could do is pretend to care.”

“Oh, I know.” He pulled his car to the curb, but he didn’t move to turn it off. He stared out the front window, eyes on the dying sun. “Zee’s the best thing that could have happened to you. I’d hate to think about where you’d be if it weren’t for him. And you love each other. That much is fucking obvious. You’re lucky you have that.”

“Lucky?”

“Not everyone gets to be with the person they love.”

My chest clenched tight, and I squeezed my eyes closed. Paulo and Nadia didn’t get to be together. After thirty-some years, they finally get a second chance, only for Paulo to get shot.

I was lucky I had Zee.