Page 124 of Destined To Fall

Relief fills me. Poor Max. I can’t imagine how much he’s been suffering, wondering what was happening, what could happen…

“You told him…I was fine. Right?” He’s silent, and I know the answer.“Shit, Jeremy. I…fine. You’ll have…him worrying for…nothing.”

“Fine?You’re not fine. You’re struggling to talk, and wince constantly.”

“I am—”

“Vivienne, you’ve beenbasicallyunconscious for almost two days.”

“What?” That can’t be right.

“You showed up at my door just after seven a.m. on Sunday.”Sunday? What the fuck?“It’s a little after one a.m. on Tuesday, and it’s the first time you’ve been this lucid since.”

“Fu—ck.”

“What happened to you?” I flinch, just a little, and his hands tighten on me a fraction.“Vivienne?”

“I…I just…I realize I smell.” It’s probably the truth.

He’s silent for a beat before he offers,“only faintly of a hospital. Why is that, Viv? What happened?”

“Nothing…that matters. I’m…I’ll be fine.” Three days, withnext to nomemory. How long was I unconscious the first time? And how long had I been in that alley before I woke up?Shit…

“It matters, Vivienne. More than you know. Dad said…he says it’s his fault.”

“No!” I wince and lower my voice.“God, no. He didn’t do this.”

I taste blood, and my lip throbs anew.Great.

“I know that. I wouldn’t think him capable of…of…this, but he wouldn’t explain how it was his fault or how he was involved, let alone anything about what happened to you. Just kept mumbling to himself that he was to blame. Vivienne, please, I need to know. I’m going out of my mind.”

We’re both silent, me because I can’t say anything, and Jeremy because he’s waiting, willing me to explain. He has to know I won’t. It’s not mine to tell, and the parts that are, well, he doesn’t need to know them.

“Did he say anything else?”

He sighs, dejected.“Just that it’s your story to tell now.”

“I—what?”

“He said you saved him, in more ways than one, and took over the narrative. It’s all his fault, and it’s your story to tell, not his. He paid you to help him, and it all went terribly wrong, and you paid the ultimate price. And it’s all his fault.”

“Oh…”

“Oh?” he scoffs, frustration marring his tone and stiffening his body.

And the next thing I know, it’s all just coming out. Every single moment of the past five or so months. Slow and broken, my voice cracking here and there, the truth all spills out. How I met Max and came to be in that lobby. The deal we struck—the whole damn freaking story. Every single word of it. Exceptfora few important details toward the end…

“Wait.” Jeremy shifts, tilting me upward.“I need to see your face for this. You’re telling me you never…with my father?”

“Only as a charade, never anything more.”

“Hehired to help him win back all the money he lost? Because he has a gambling problem, and you’re some lucky charm who can read people?”

“Something like that.”

“Okay…”

I can see Jeremy processing, the wheels turning in his head, his eyes a mix of relief, confusion, and worry. I stay silent and wait.

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