Page 120 of Out of the Gold

“No, I don’t.” I tip my chin.

His arm drops to his side and his cheek clenches. “You promised me you would stop jumping to conclusions when you apologized about Lindsay.”

He scores a direct hit by throwing my own words at my face, and my breathing hitches. A split second later, all the blood in my body rushes through my limbs, my fingers forming a fist. “There are no conclusions being jumped here. You auditioned for the role. You never told me.”

His eyes widen and he looks from side to side. “I love you.”

Those three words. The damn words I’ve been dying to hear from his lips land like final stitches in the silk material around my heart. I shake my head and take several steps backward. “You love what I can do for your career. You love I’m the daughter of the man you want to portray. You love how easy I was to manipulate.”

“Stop it.” His voice is now as frigid as mine.

My body goes rigid. My voice lowers to ice. “Christ, I gave you my virginity. You must’ve loved that, too.”

His hands land on my shoulders. “What is it going to take for you to understand? You have this all wrong! I love you, for fuck’s sake.” He shakes me.

I jump away from his touch. “You used my body, you used my status as Braxton Hunte’s daughter, you used my desire to keep our relationship secret to hide your scheming.” I clap. “Bravo! You truly are a much better actor than even I thought you were.”

He takes a deep breath. “How many times do I have to tell you this? I never was my real self until I met you. I always was acting. But you made me drop the mask. You saw me for who I really am.”

“A lying manipulator.”

“No, arealman withrealfeelings. And they’re all for you. Yes, I should’ve told you about the audition, but you were so decisive about not having anything to do with your father’s movie that I figured I would tell you if there was something to tell.”

“Whatever.”

His jaw flexes. “Be reasonable about this, Melody.”

An icy calm surrounds me. “I am calm. So calm, in fact, I think I should ensure you receive an Academy Award for this performance. Best Manipulator of All Time.”

The color drains from his face.

“Get your shit out of my room and go home with your parents. Or fly back to LA. Enjoy your red carpet walk with Cherie.” I face the back wall. “Enjoy your life.”

I wrap my arms around my middle as his footsteps recede. How dare he exploit me like that. He took all my confessions and used them against me. I gave him myvirginity, dammit. But tears don’t flow.

I’m not sure how much time passes. I don’t move an inch, but rather focus on bringing air through the silk material covering my heart. My mother walks back into the dining room and places something on the table. “Melody, sweetie, they’re gone.”

“Good.”

“We all, ah, heard your fight. Want to talk about it?”

I flinch. “No.”

“All right.” She pulls out a chair. “How about we have a hot chocolate? I made you one. With the marshmallows you like.”

Growing up, Mom always made hot chocolate whenever I was down about something at school, usually brought on by Lindsay. I force myself to take a seat at the table, next to her. My fingers clutch the mug’s handle.

“I’m sorry things ended like that.”

I flick the rubber band around my wrist. All I feel is utter betrayal by the man I thought I loved.

Wisely, she changes the subject. “Have you thought about what you’re going to do now that you’re the lead costume designer?”

Her words bring me back to what’s important in my life. I can control my job, which isn’t using me for my family connections. I blow on my drink. “I have a few changes in mind.”

Nodding, she asks, “When are you going back to New York?”

I had planned on staying here for a couple of weeks. Now the idea of remaining in the same hometown as Chase makes my skin crawl. “I think I’m going to head back tomorrow.”

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