Page 43 of Sinful Palace

I cleared my throat and shifted in my spot. “Because you were right last night.”

She gaped at me. “About what?”

“How I feel about you. You were right about all of it.” I looked away. “I want to hate you. I wish I did. But I don’t anymore. I can’t.”

“Why?” Willow’s eyes were like saucers now.

“I wish I fucking knew,” I said, shoulders stiffening. “Trust me, things would be a lot easier if it wasn’t like this.”

“Easier for you, you mean, because you could torment me without guilt.”

I shrugged. “Yeah, I guess so.”

Tears started streaming down her cheeks again, and her face crumpled. I couldn’t resist sliding my arms around her and letting her rest her head against my chest. “I’m sorry,” I murmured.

She sniffed and swallowed hard, face pressed against me. “You might not hate me, but I hate you,” she whispered. “At least… I should.”

“I know.” I stroked her hair, softly and slowly.

“I just hate the way you make me feel,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s not good for me.”

“I know.”

She dissolved into quaking sobs again. I kept patting her head, still hating myself for caring so much.

Willow finally pulled away from my arms and leaned back against the bedhead. She licked her cracked lips and looked down at the duvet, going completely silent for a long moment. Then she looked back up at me, face pale and eyes wide. “So what happens now?” she asked softly.

I twisted my fingers together. “I don’t know. But you were right about us needing to find a way to get along. We can’t keep going like this.”

“I know,” she said. “But how? We’ve tried, and it just gets worse and worse.”

“My mother suggested I try to find some way to forgive you for the past,” I said, brows furrowing. “But I can’t do that. I just can’t. And I know you’ll never forgive me for the things I’ve done to you, either.”

Her lips tightened, and she wiped her cheeks. “Probably not.” She went quiet again, a frown pulling her brows together, and then she looked up. “But… I might have an idea.”

“What?”

“What if we help each other with a few things we want or need? We might not forgive each other, but it’s still a start to getting along, right?”

I frowned. “What could you possibly help me with?”

She looked down at her lap again. “Chloe,” she murmured.

My body went rigid. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

Willow held her palms up. “Please, just hear me out before you get mad again,” she said. “You know how I don’t actually remember hitting Chloe? Or any of that night?”

“Yes.” My lips flattened into a tight line.

“Something’s happened to me a couple of times recently. The first time was a few weeks ago. I was thinking about the whole thing, and there was suddenly a flash in my mind.”

“A flash?”

“I don’t really know how else to explain it. It was like a memory fragment, I guess. As if I was suddenly there again. I saw the road and Chloe, clear as day in front of my eyes, but only for a split-second.”

“And?”

“I think that means the memories are still in here,” she said, tapping her head with one finger. “I just need to find a way to get them out.”

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