Page 192 of Take My Hand

I had to give it to her, she was a good actress.

“The picture on my Insta story.” Zak’s nostrils flared as his anger continued to build.

“Your Insta?’ she questioned, and I detected a quiver of nerves in her tone. “You never use your Insta. I’ve never known you once use your Insta.” Which was exactly what she’d been hoping for.

“I don’t, I haven’t, so I’m not sure how the picture ended up on there. It was one of us, I think it was one at your auntie’s party.”

“I don’t think I know which one you mean.”

I had to slap a hand over my mouth to disguise the gasp of air I took. Zak looked at me and shook his head, knowing that if she discovered I was there, she’d probably end the call.

“Lying bitch,” I mouthed, and he grinned back at me.

“The one your dad took. The one you said we could use as an engagement picture, if we ever got engaged.

I swivelled around in my seat, and my eyes nearly popped out of my head. If she’d been there, I might have changed my stance on violence, at least pulling out some of her hair extensions—because no one’s hair was that soft, thick, and beautiful naturally. Apart from Maya’s, but she was gorgeous inside as well as out. Zak patted my knee to calm me down, but my blood was red hot and surging in my veins, and not likely to cool down until Connie was totally out of our lives. I couldn’t believe that she’d talked about getting engaged to him. To think Zak could have ended up saddled with the conniving little…

“Oh, that one.” She giggled. “I remember it. What about it?” Now her acting skills were waning quickly.

“It was on my Insta story,” Zak gritted out with a forced smile. “Maddy saw it and dumped me.”

“What? Oh no, that’s terrible. Why would she do that?”

I could practically hear the laughter in her voice, and I hated her even more.

“Because of what it said.” He took a deep breath. “Because of what you wrote on it.”

“Me? What I wrote? I have no idea what you mean.”

Zak laughed, and even though I could hear how hollow it was, I hoped she didn’t. “Connie, I know you. I know it was you,babe.” The last word was practically spat out, so I waved my hand at him and silently told him to calm down. He nodded and continued, “It has to be you, because I didn’t do it. Not that I’m mad at you, I mean, Maddy and I weren’t going anywhere. I was ready to call it a day, so it did me a favour really.”

“Honestly?” the conniving witch asked.

“Yeah, honestly. I think after seeing you at the party, she realised that we probably weren’t as serious as you and I hadbeen.” Zak’s fingers curled tighter around mine, his wordless promise that it wasn’t true. “That and the picture, well, you know the rest.”

“Did you show it to her?” Connie’s tone was high and excited, like a child getting the treat that they’d been begging for. “Or did she see it herself.”

“She saw it herself. You know I never go on my Insta.” Zak gave a false chuckle. “Did you do it, Connie?”

“Zak, as if.”

Her giggle made my spine stiffen and every vein in my body pulse with hate and anger. I’d never experienced such nastiness and vindictiveness in my life. Maybe it was because I lived in a small town or maybe I chose my friends more wisely than Zak chose girlfriends. That thought made my chest clench, and as Ana’s face flashed before my eyes, I wished things that weren’t nice to think.

“Well,” Zak continued. “Like I said, whoever it was, did me a favour.”

There was a moment of silence, and his gaze met mine. The air crackled around us as we held our breath, because instinctively we both knew what was about to happen.

“If it was me would you be mad?” she asked, huskily, like she was trying to seduce him. “Or would I be your best friend, forever?”

“Maybe more than my best friend,” Zak replied.

“Well, it was me.” She said the words with confidence and pride. “I posted it. Remember at the party when I held your phone after it got covered with beer?”

“Yeah.” Zak swallowed, and I could see he was holding tightly on to his temper.

“I checked your Instagram login and password, and I posted it a couple of days later.” Another giggle set my teeth on edge. “Icould see you weren’t totally happy, so I thought, why not help you lose the baggage.”

That almost sent me through the roof, and as I moved to stand up, Zak placed a calming hand on my knee. He tipped his head on one side and widened his eyes, pleading with me to let him finish what he’d started. With my blood boiling, I practically threw myself against the back of the sofa, holding on precariously to the arm because what I really wanted to do was launch his phone and symbolically throw Connie against the wall.

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