Page 97 of Lie With Me

Death certificate? If it was recorded yesterday, that must mean her mother just died. I rub at the hollow of my neck, my stomach heaving at the information.

“Keep going,” I snap.

He blows out a long breath. “She was hospitalized when she was seventeen. One of the guys tried to cut her up pretty badly during the act. Her mother killed him, and Valentina stayed in the hospital for a few days until she was released into the system. She left the home, though, and ended up back in the hospital with an infection a few days later.”

“Is that all of it?” Ignoring Weylan’s hushed whispers asking where I’m going, I walk quickly to our room to get dressed. If Valentina is in Pennsylvania, then that must mean Tripp is as well.

“Not even the worst of it, ma’am,” Dodger says.

“How much worse can it get?”

“A lot worse. It ain’t pretty.”

Walking into my closet, my eyes narrow as I pull the phone from my ear and put it on speaker, reaching for a pair of linen pants. “Tell me everything.”

Tripp

The smell of bourbon permeates the air around me as I wake to the sunlight streaming in on my face. Groaning, I roll onto my side, reaching for Valentina before remembering she’s not here. I drove back to the city yesterday in nearly half the time it took us to get out to Connecticut, going straight to her apartment only to find that she wasn’t home. The concierge of my building informed me she hadn’t been to my place either, and she wouldn’t pick up her phone.

Rolling to my other side, I grab my phone off my nightstand to see it’s mid-afternoon. Multiple missed calls from Jackson and my mother clutter the home screen, but I ignore them, searching for anything from Valentina.

Still nothing.

Her face lights up my screen as I hit her number, but it goes straight to voicemail, just like it’s been doing since last night. I want to throw my phoneacross the room angrily, but drop it back to the nightstand next to the half-empty tumbler of Wild Turkey instead.

I searched for her everywhere last night. I checked Bryant Park, the Rockefeller rink, and even stopped by Désirer to see if she was there. The only place I didn’t check was Jackson and Ginny’s because even though I’m ignoring my best friend, he still would have told me if she’d shown up there.

Her absence has taken a chunk from my chest. I feel completely hopeless, not knowing where she’s at—if she’s okay. The fact that she left her ring and isn’t answering me can only mean one thing: she’s done with us.

If I could go back in time and change everything about yesterday, I would. I’d make sure she knew that I trusted her and was never angry with her. I would have never left in such a hurry to tell Emily anything. We could have come up with a plan together if I’d justwaitedlike she asked me to.

I promised her I’d never hurt her, and I failed massively.

Grabbing my phone again, I hit her name and let her voicemail play through before leaving what has to be my twentieth-something message. “Viv, I’m so sorry. Please call me. I love you, baby. I love you so much it fucking hurts.” My voice breaks as my tone turns watery. “I need you, Valentina. I need to see you. I need to put your ring back on your finger where it belongs. You need to be back by my side whereyoubelong. Please don’t give up on me. Don’tgive up on us. I know you deserve better than what happened yesterday, and I will spend as long as it takes making it up to you. I love you. Please call me.”

Pressing my palms into my eyes, I try to quell the tears, but they won’t stop. Anxiety tightens my chest as adrenaline flows through my bloodstream. This feels worse than thinking she may have gone to the club last night to vent her frustrations. Even though I know she wouldn’t do that to me, I had to exhaust all my options while looking for her.

Vibrations flutter on my chest, and I see Jackson’s name pop up on my screen. “What?”

“Don’twhatme. You pull that shit yesterday and then disappear on me, and you think that’s the appropriate way to finally answer your phone?” he snaps.

“Fuck you.” I get out of bed and head to the bathroom to turn on the shower. As steam begins to roll throughout the room, I put the phone on speaker. “Is Valentina there?”

“No? Why would she be here? She’s not with you?” he asks.

I hear Ginny’s frantic voice. “Her phone has been going to voicemail all night. She’s not with Tripp?”

Nausea rolls through me. “No, she’s not with me. I haven’t heard from her since yesterday afternoon. She left her ring on my pillow at the inn and disappeared. I checked everywhere: her apartment, the skating rinks, the club, the restaurant.”

“Maybe Carmela would know?” Ginny voices.

“She’s doing the books at Decadence today. Shenever checks her phone when she’s working on them,” Jackson explains. “We’ll head there now.”

Turning the water off, I throw on the clothes I wore yesterday and am out my door in less than a minute. “I’ll meet you there.”

I’ve never been to Decadence, but there’s no time to admire the restaurant because all I want to know is if Carmela knows where Valentina is. The hostess tries to greet me, but I fly past her, heading toward the back hall where Jackson said the office is.

“Hey! You can’t go back there!” the hostess yells at me.

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