Page 71 of The Deception You Weave
I signal to turn into the parking lot closest to Letty's building and release the breath I've been holding as I pull into a space.
"T-thank you," she stutters, releasing her belt and grabbing her purse ready to climb out.
She's got her fingers around the handle when I call her name.
"Yeah?"
"Do you want me to walk you up?" My fingers tighten once again around the wheel as I think about something happening to her in the short distance between her and her dorm room.
"I don't think that's a very good idea. No one up there likes you very much."
"I don't give a shit what they think."
"Well, yeah, but—"
"But nothing, Princess."
"Just leave it, yeah? Don't cause any more issues than you already have."
My jaw pops at her words.
"What are you going to tell them?" I manage to grit out.
"I haven’t totally decided yet. It won't be the truth, that's for sure."
"Because I'm that bad to spend time with, right." I hate the dejection that wraps around me with each word I speak.
"Kane," she sighs, turning back to me. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. Really, I am. But I know you understand why, and I hope you won't hold it against me. I did everything I could for our baby, but it wasn't meant to be and I have to forever live with the memory of what happened."
"If… if things went differently… would you have told me before he was born?"
"I don't have an answer for that, Kane. I can't predict what the future held. If I could, everything might have been a little easier to take."
"Princess," I growl, not getting the answer I wanted.
"I hope that I would have. But…"
I glance at her for the first time as she tries to find the right words.
"But?" I prompt.
A smile twitches at her lips. "You can be really fucking scary when you want to be."
I laugh, my own smile pulling at my lips as she immediately shatters the tension that had descended around us.
"Yeah, it kinda comes with the job."
"I can't believe you still work for that asshole."
"You gotta do what you gotta do," I mutter, not all that impressed myself with the fact I'm still Victor's puppet after all the years and all the promises I've fulfilled in order to make myself a better life.
She hesitates for a few seconds, making me dread what she's going to ask next. She's not usually one to hold back, so the fact she is makes my stomach knot.
"What do you do for him?"
My lips part to respond but I quickly swallow down the words. "Nothing I want anyone knowing about."
"That bad, huh?"
