Page 117 of Property of Chaos

“Come on, girl.” I ditch the phone and climb off the bed to investigate the snack bar.

The green light on the camera switches on.

Frozen like a rabbit in the predator’s sights, I peer at the device out of the corner of my eye, fingers poised on a tiny pack of potato chips.Why am I so excited?To be connected to him, if even by such a thin thread. What do I say? Do I do? I fuss with the snacks, reordering them in the decorative little box while I ponder my choices, only for the light to snuff out before I can come to any rational conclusion.

Fuck it.

I study the camera with a hand on my hip and realize why it was probably so short—he couldn’t see me where I stood. Likely thought I wasn’t here.Dumb, Vanessa.

“It’s only me!” Evelyn calls whilst knocking on my door.

I jolt, snapping myself out of the trance, and grab the closest thing to me to disguise the camera: my striped sweater.

“Hey.” I open the door to let her in. “Let me grab my stuff.”

She stays holding the door as I duck back to retrieve the phone and room card. “You doing okay?”

“I think so.” Impending sense of doom—check. Bone-deep urge to go home—check. “So far, anyway.”

“If it helps you feel any better,” she says with a slight chuckle. “I’m nervous, too.”

“Really?” I quickly check my hair in the mirror on my way to the door.

She nods, shifting to the hallway to let me out as well. “Just because Abraham and I share blood didn’t mean he took it any easier on me growing up.”

I study her as she punches the button for the elevator. “You never said much about your upbringing.”

“Never had the occasion to.” She offers a small smile before stepping into the waiting car. “Not that there’s a lot to say.” The car shifts down a few floors before she speaks again. “What do you fancy? For lunch?”

I watch the numbers change. “Something light, if that’s okay?”

“I saw a sushi shop on the ride here. Maybe we could check that out?” The door slides open on the foyer, and she steps out, partially obscuring my view of the people beyond.

“Sounds good to me.” I duck my head and concentrate on the contrast of my black boots against the pristine white marble floor, hands wringing before me.

I’m fucking over the waves of anxiety, but I also know that creating tension with something I can’t control once it’s in motion is pointless.

“Guess I was lucky to get us separate rooms,” Evelyn remarks as we reach the front doors. “Looks like they’re busy. Although I wouldn’t have picked this to be the type of group who’d stay here.”

“What do you me—“ I narrowly avoid tripping down the short steps to the pavement when I look up.

And find a row of motorcycles backed into the curb.

Blue and brown eyes watching me from the middle.

FORTY

CHAOS

“Isshe happy to see you or angry?” Highway murmurs, leaning in from my left. “I can’t tell.”

Neither can I.

“Why are you here?”

“Totally angry,” he whispers as Vanessa approaches.

“You know these people?” her aunt asks.

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