Page 79 of The Vengeance You Crave
"Peyton, I can't find him. None of the guys have heard from him. Mom was already losing her shit with him and now I've alerted her to the fact he's fucked off and—"
"You remember that place we all camped at once as kids?"
"Right at the end of the beach?"
"Yeah. That's the only place I can think he'd go. But that was years ago when—"
"I'll let you know." He's gone before I get to tell him that it's probably a long shot at best.
"Fucking hell," I breathe, dropping my head into my hands.
"Everything will be okay," Letty says softly after long painful minutes.
My eyes are full with unshed tears when I glance up at her and her expression softens even more at the sight of them.
"Why don't you hate me?" I ask, genuinely curious.
She chuckles, although it lacks any actual humor.
"Luca may never really have spoken about you, but others did. Leon did. I know how big a part of his life you were. It took me a while to realize why Luca shut down whenever he was going down memory lane, but as soon as Leon explained, it made total sense. Just talking about you hurt him. He—"
"I never meant to hurt him, Letty. What I told him. It was… it was the hardest thing I've ever done. But I knew I had to do it, I knew I had to confess the truth to him."
She nods, understanding shining in her dark eyes but unlike Leon, she doesn't even try to find out what I might have said.
"You're not a bad person, Peyton. I can see that. You were just kids. Crazy shit happens." I nod, knowing that she's right. "But we're not anymore. You're a junior in college about to embark on possibly the most important years of your life. Luca is…" She blows out a breath, glancing out of the window for a second. "He was drowning before you showed up, Peyton, and that's on me. I'm as much to blame here for his spiral. I did some stuff that… it's not important right now but you need to know that this… darkness, it's not solely your fault. Your arrival has only added weight to an already sinking ship."
"I never meant—"
"I know," she assures, taking me by surprise and reaching across the table to my hand. "I know, Peyton. You care about him, we can see that. I know that from living in your shadow."
She glances up again and I can't help but wonder if we're about to be joined by someone else.
"You were right to stand your ground. You deserve better than how he's treated you. But also, give him time. He's working through a lot of shit, and if he's seriously threatening to quit football, then I fear it could be worse than I thought. But you need to make a decision."
"Oh?"
"Be there for him, or don't. One way or the other." Her serious face morphs into something else entirely as she looks up once again as a shadow falls over me. "Hey."
She's swept out of her chair by a strong tattooed arm and is soon completely distracted from our conversation when he captures her lips.
She finally manages to push him away to let her up for air and the two of them sit opposite me.
"Peyton, Kane. Kane, Peyton," she says quickly, in case we needed the reminder.
I nod at him, forcing a small smile onto my lips.
"I was right,” Letty says. “She is Luca's Peyton."
"I'm not—" I start to argue again but her eyes come to mine, cutting me off. "I was… I was Luca's Peyton."
"Trouble in paradise?" Kane asks with a smirk and a little too much enjoyment sparkling in his blue eyes.
"I don't know what paradise is," I mutter. I can't remember the last time I was genuinely happy, although I know it was before Mom dragged me out of Rosewood, and I know it was because of him.
"Listen," Kane says, pulling Letty's chair closer and throwing his arm around her shoulder. "It's no secret that Dunn isn't my favorite person," Letty scoffs, making me wonder what the story is there but I don't get to pry. "But I will give you this advice. Don't go down without a fight. Make him work for it."
Letty turns to him and barks out a laugh.
