Page 66 of Full Throttle

“Yes! He drugged Lila.” Colby was filled with rage. She wanted to kill the bastard with her own two hands. “Lila’s been messed up ever since.”

Brian paled. He looked like a ghost. “If that were true, why wouldn’t she tell me?!”

“Did you give her a chance?”

It was painful, but Brian thought back to that day. The answer was no. He hadn’t given Lila a chance. He was so blinded by rage and jealousy that he’d packed her stuff up and left it out in the hallway. “No,” he said softly.

“On the outside, Lila may seem like she has it all together, but she has always been a bit insecure. Being at that ridiculously exclusive private college didn’t help. She was the lone black girl attending on a scholarship, doing a work-study program, and having to pinch pennies while hanging out with all of you rich kids, rubbing your wealth in her face. It was hard for her. I know exactly how she felt because I was in her same shoes when I went away to college.”

Brian sat back in his seat in a state of shock. His head fell back as he squeezed his eyes shut. He seemed to be speaking mostly to himself because Colby could barely hear him. “Lila’s the only woman I’ve ever loved.”

It was hard, but she heard him. Colby could see the hurt all over him. As angry as she was with seemingly everyone, Colby wasn’t heartless. She felt sadness for Lila and Brian’s situation. Maybe in revealing the truth, some good could come out of this godforsaken situation.

Colby sighed as a little more anger left her body. “Brian, if I had to guess, I think she might still have some really strong feelings for you.”

Brian heard her but didn’t say a word. He couldn’t say anything because he was too overcome with emotions.

They sat parked in the private entrance of the garage; both lost in their own thoughts.

“I should go. The last thing I need is for the press to see me sitting in the car with you. They’ll thinkwe’resleeping together.” Colby moved to open her door, which spurred the driver and the concierge into action.

Brian raised his head and placed his hand over hers. “Wait.” He held her gaze. “I know this entire situation isn’t fair to you.”

“No, it’s not.” Colby didn’t hold her tongue.

“You should probably hate all of us.”

I think I do,she thought.

“But, please, don’t count Liam out.”

Liam and Colby’s nonexistent relationship was a completely different matter, unlike Lila and Brian. Colby smiled sadly. “How about you don’t count Lila out.”There. She’d done her one good deed for the day. Now, she could go back to hating the world. Colby got out of the car and walked into the hotel.

Brian sat alone for a few more minutes. He honestly didn’t know what to do with Colby’s bombshell revelation. What Brian did know was that Liam was in serious trouble. Brian had worked hard for years to get Lila out of his system and hadn’t succeeded yet. He had a feeling that if Liam didn’t fix things with Colby, he might suffer the same fate.

Brian murmured as he got out of the car, “Something about those James’ girls is magical.”

Chapter 23

Colby was just finishing unpacking her things when there was a knock at the door. Barefoot, she padded over and looked through the peephole. It was good to see a familiar face. She smiled as she opened the door. “Gonzo.”

He returned her smile with one of his own. “In the flesh.”

Colby stepped aside so that he could come in.

“Everybody’s meeting at the restaurant at six o’clock. Figured I’d walk down with you.”

Colby rolled her eyes. “I was thinking about skipping it.”

“Colby, what’s up? This time I want the truth.”

“What are you talking about?” She couldn’t maintain eye contact. She went over to the closet and turned her back to him. She made a big fuss as if trying to figure out what she was going to wear, which was silly if she didn’t plan on going to dinner.

Unfortunately, Gonzo wouldn’t let up. He continued to push for answers. “All of your dreams are about to come true. Yet, you don’t seem excited at all. I’ve known you my whole life. I know something’s not right.”

“I already told you the media attention is driving me nuts. How would you like it if people were digging into your private life and your face were plastered all across the blogs?”

“I would love every second of it if it meant everything that I’ve ever wanted was right there for the taking.” Gonzo shook his head. “No. That’s not it. You’ve prepared for this moment since before you could barely walk. You should be bursting with excitement, and you’re the exact opposite of that, but pretending to be. If I had to pinpoint a date and time you started acting strange, I would say it went all the way back to that first meeting after the video leaked. Now, what’s up? No bullshit.”

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