Page 100 of Absolution

I regard her, my best friend, and realize that I don’t quite recognize her anymore. There’s a harder streak in her, she seems taller somehow, mature. My happy-go-lucky girl has a new darkness in her.

“What happened to you?” I ask. “Where have you been?”

“Here. And away,” she says, avoiding my gaze, glancing over my shoulder again. I follow her gaze and find Salvatore right behind me, towering over me, locking me between him and Chloe. Tension crackles, surrounding us, and then it dawns on me. He knew where she was, all this time. Salvatore knew where my friend was, and he didn’t tell me. A black cloud of rage rises in me.

“You fucking bastard,” I yell and slam my fist right in his face. “How—” I scream as I’m pushed face first into the wall, and then he snatches me with him into the next room. My face hurts and my hand throbs with pain.

All hell breaks loose, Chloe pleads, Christian tears Salvatore off me, and the two men face off, their fists tightened. Everyone comes rushing, yelling. People step in between Salvatore and Christian. I cry as I cradle my hand.

“You’re quite the little troublemaker, aren’t you?” says a cold voice behind me. I spin around and stare right into Bianca’s hard gaze.

Anna steps in between us. “She didn’t choose this, ma’am.” Her voice is just as stern as the older woman’s. “I’ll take it from here.” She lays her arm around my shoulder and pulls me with her.

“Cecilia,” I gasp and look around me.

“The kids are on the upper floor, watching a movie.”

“Oh God,” I whimper. “What have I done?”

“That man needs a good punch. Too few dare. Good on you.”

“He’s gonna kill me!”

Anna pulls me down on a leather couch in the next room, away from the ruckus. “Christian won’t allow that to happen.”

“But without him?”

“You’d be pretty fucked.”

“Everyone hates me!”

“No, they don’t, Kerry. Stop it. You’ve had shit luck. I kinda recognize myself in you.”

I look up at her. “Yeah?”

She smiles warmly, her large, brown doe-eyes twinkling. “Yeah, but it turned out really well in the end.”

“It’s really fucked up… Between Christian and me.”

“Kerry. I don’t know enough about it. What I do know is that you have one hell of a man who wants nothing but to take care of you and your beautiful child.”

I swallow and glance toward the other room, where things seem to have calmed down. Everyone keeps telling me that. It’s what my heart has told me for a long time, while my brain keeps telling me to run.

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