Page 222 of Waiting Game

“She dragged Liam into this.” Harrumphing, he gives my fingers a final squeeze before getting to his feet. “Coming,” he hollers, but the pounding continues.

“What I want to know is why the last person to hear about you and Mia Charles hooking up isme,” Gracie snarls as the click of the door sounds. “Because, apparently, the entire city knows.”

“Ah, shit. Really? I thought I got us away quick enough.”

“Which part are you feeling bad about?”

“Well, both. Or, huh. All three? No, there are four things you’re pissed about, right?”

“I’m pissed about a lot,” she agrees, her voice calming.

Danger signs flash in my peripheral vision as I burrow my head against my knees.

Gracie’s like a storm, after all. The calmer she is, the more dangerous the aftermath.

“What. The. Fuck. Were. You. Thinking?”

“I told you to stop seeing her, dude,” the guy, Liam, mutters.

“Don’t get me started on you! You should have told me!”

“I told him to stop seeing her! I watched him text her, dammit. I got him to cut ties. There wasn’t much else I could do!”

“Apart from fucking telling me. Instead, I had to get a call from your driver that you andMs. Charleswere safely in your apartment after a nasty blast at the ‘establishment’ she runs.”

Gracie says all that in such a way that I know she’s mimicking Burrows verbatim.

“Burrows tattled on me?” Cole grouses.

“I’m your contact in case of emergency! Of course he’s going to tell me that you defied death in a fucking fire! Look at the state of you. If that bitch had anything to do with?—”

“Gracie, you shut your damn mouth. I’m used to you being a little bit a lot but you need to chill out. Mia had nothing to dowith this. I’ve had enough of people accusing her of shit that she didn’t do.”

“You have no idea what she did to me.”

“Yes, I do. How do you think Liam got me to cut ties with her? He told me and I fuckingshunnedher. We’re talkingGame of Throneslevel shit here?—”

“I didn’t get a news highlight of somerandowalking down the street naked and getting cussed at!”

“And is that what it’d take for her to apologize and for you to accept it? Jesus Christ, Gracie, listen to yourself! What she did was fucking wrong, but did you ever ask why she did it? Did you ever let her try to earn your forgiveness?”

“No, and don’t you dare excuse her! She ruined my life and she didn’t even care?—”

I burrow my face deeper into my arms.

“If you knew how much she cared, you’d cry! Andruined your life? Could you be any more dramatic, Gracie?”

“You can’t?—”

“Shut—”

“YOU TWO,” Liam roars. “If you’re not going to listen to one another, Gracie, I’m dragging you back upstairs. At least let the other finish talking!”

Gracie sucks in a breath whereas Cole expels one.

“This could have been insurance fraud. The Charles are capable of anything.”

A sob shudders through me at her condemnation—I deserve it. I know I do, so I stay silent and don’t bother defending myself.

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