Page 113 of Best In Class
“And how did that feel?”
“Freeing.” I take a breath. “Andfinal. I’m done. I can’t continue this nonsense, even for Lev’s sake.”
I chuckle as a thought strikes me.
“What?”
“Because Dom is there.”
“Explain.”
I smile sadly. “Because I know that Dom will take care of Lev. He’ll be there with him whenever he has to face our dad. Dom will…take over, and I can stay away from their toxicity.”
She makes a note of something.
“You know what I don’t understand is…why Lev won’t cut them off. He still defends them. Still…. I just don’t get it.” I let my frustration show.
Dr. Ryan leans forward slightly. “Luna, not everyone heals by severing ties. It’s not better or worse—it’s just different.”
“But he’s hurting.”
“Yes. And you can’t fix that for him.” Her voice softens. “You can only be his sister. Support him. Love him. Let him know you see what it costs him.”
I nod again, slower this time. “I’ll always have his back. Even if I don’t understand him.”
“And Dominic? He seems to be in your life in an organic way.”
I close my eyes.
That’s the harder truth. “I wonder if I’m being an idiot, letting him back in.”
“Wonder or fear?”
I let out a short, humorless laugh. “Fear,” I concede.
“Now that you know he didn’t cheat on you,” she muses, “now you know the truth, how does it make you feel?”
I give her a soft, contemplative glance. “He was a kid when he left me. Terrified.”
She regards me thoughtfully. “But?”
I lift my shoulders in a helpless gesture. “But I get it. He thought he had to become more to be with me. For him, that meant a Cornell degree, a career, and proving he wouldn’t be some financial millstone around my neck. And my father, who you know is a narcissistic psychopath, knewexactly where to press. He poked every insecurity Dom had. I can’treallyblame Dom for reacting to it. I’ve fallen for my father’s manipulation more times than I care to admit—and I fell knowing better, when I was older.”
Dr. Ryan doesn’t say anything, just lets me keep unraveling.
“He never stopped loving me,” I murmur, almost as if to myself, then my voice rises, “that’s the part that guts me. He ran, yeah. But not away from me—away from who he was back then.”
“And who is he now?”
I look down at my hands. “He’s strong. He’s steady. He still makes dumb decisions like making me jealous by pretending he’s with Camy. God! That was dumb.”
Dr. Ryan’s expression lightens with amusement.
“And,” I continue, “he still hides behind charm, but he doesn’t run anymore. He’s comfortable in his own skin—more than I am. And I don’t think he’s hung up on our social statuses like he used to be. I don’t think he gives two fucks about that anymore.”
She leans back, thoughtful. “Do you still love him?”
I meet her eyes. “I never stopped.”
