Page 58 of Snake

Nim

Ialready know who’ll be standing there when I turn to the doorway. Knox cocks his head and gives me a slow once-over. No wonder I didn’t work it out. There are some similarities—the oval face, the tall, lithe body, but I don’t see Vicky in his face like I can in Sissa and Mariella. Guess he took after his father, then.

Lorenzo Pellegrino.

“Sissa says red is my color,” I hear myself say.

“She’s right.” Knox steps deeper into the room, closing the door behind him.

“How’d you know I’d be here? Have you been following me?” It contravenes the rules, but I’m too flabbergasted to make a thing out of it right now. I’m still kicking myself for not having figured it out sooner. Maybe if Knox had had blue eyes like Vicky, then I might have. But I’ve only ever seen Lorenzo once, and at a distance.

“No. This is a…happy coincidence. My sisters needed help getting ready.” Knox points at the dress. “And I came to fetch that. In case we tracked you down before the dance.”

I stick my chin up at him as he walks closer. “I’m not sure if I’m even going. I’m just waiting for Vicky so I can speak to her.” I’m not sure if I’ve changed my mind or not, but I also haven’t had any time to process the fact that Vicky is Knox’s mom.

Oh my God…Knox’s family sponsored me.

Does that mean he already knows who the other two sponsors are? He should, but all this time he’s been acting like he’s none the wiser.

I can’t tell up from down anymore.

He shrugs like it doesn’t matter to him if I go to the dance or not. That shouldn’t piss me off, but it does. Fuck, how easy it is for these guys. So they bought a fuck-off expensive dress for me, but I’m not even going to the dance anymore. Who cares? So I watched them kill a man in cold blood? He was evil, so who gives a fuck? Not them. So they tore my heart open and jumped around in the puddles left behind after I bled out.

Zero. Fucks. Given.

“I’m leaving.” My voice is so tight it barely gets past my throat. I go around Knox, but all he has to do is stretch out an arm, grab my wrist, and pull me back.

“My mom’s waiting for you downstairs.”

“She can go to hell,” I spit out. “You can all go to hell. I don’t give a fuck about who sponsored me, or that stupid academy, or Cinderhart.” I thump a fist into his pec. “This place is screwed up. Everyone in it is a fucking sociopath, or worse.”

Knox searches my eyes. “I’m sorry about that, Nim.”

My ears buzz for a second. I can feel my anger melting, my muscles easing up.

“Your apologies mean nothing to me.”

He cocks his head. “Then I’ll stop apologizing. But I know you a little by now.” He slides his fingers between mine—a soft touch, a gentle grip. “It’ll drive you mad, not having all the answers.” He drops his head, and my heart bangs inside my chest.

Is he going to kiss me? His words mean nothing, but my God, I know his kiss will transform me into a puddle on the floor.

“How about we find out together?”he murmurs.

My stomach drops. I stare into his eyes, and I see only sincerity in those black tar pits. “You really don’t know?”

He shakes his head. “My mother has had to keep a lot of secrets in her life. I don’t know all of them.” His eyes are shadowed now, even darker. “I probably never will.”

He shakes his head again, eyes flickering like he’s coming back from somewhere far away.

Like the past.

“No.”

He blinks in surprise. “No?”

I shake my head, my voice stronger now. “This has nothing to do with you, Knox. If your mother wanted you to know, then she’d have told you.” Because obviously he’d have asked her, right? Especially after I told him I knew Vicky was one of my sponsors. Which means she’s decided to keep this secret to herself.

It stuns me when he doesn’t argue, but the darkness in his eyes makes it clear that he’s not happy about this decision.

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