Page 61 of Fractured Loyalties
I nod, mute.
Robert nods back, then sits again, gesturing to me. “Go.Now.”
I don’t wait. I bolt from the room, the blood pounding in my ears, the shame burning in my bones. I want Roman to follow, but he doesn’t. He stays, rooted, just as he’s been instructed to.
I make it to my room and slam my door. I slide to the floor, curling up until the world shrinks to nothing but the ache in my chest.
I wish I had never come to this house. I try to wish Roman had never touched me, never looked at me, never existed. But allthere is beyond the shame is a sick, gnawing realization that I feel…somethingfor Roman.
And it’s not hate.
It’s the fucking opposite.
And that makes his betrayalsomuch worse.
I don't knowhow long I stay on the floor, twisted around myself, my head buried in the crook of my elbow. But at some point, I hear the heavy thump of footsteps in the hallway. The sound is unmistakable, and when the knock comes, it's soft.
I don't answer.
Edward pushes the door open anyway, bumping into my back. I blink up at him through strands of hair.
“If you want to say goodbye, you’ll need to get moving,” he says, his voice low. “You won’t have much time.”
“Why would I say goodbye to him? He fuckingruinedmy life,” I spat back at Edward.
His lips twitch. “I think… I think closure is good.”
Something about his words pulls me up. “Where is he going to go? Who’s Nico?” I keep my voice low.
Edward meets my eyes. “Your stepsister.”
I blink, wanting to ask questions, but he doesn’t give me time. Instead, he ushers me out of the room.
As soon as I get to the foyer, I see Roman standing there, a single duffel at his feet. He's wearing a black hoodie with a bleach stain across the chest. His expression is blank. All the wildness and arrogance have been wiped away and replaced by an absence so total it's as if he was never really a person at all.
He turns to me, as if sensing me there. For a second, he might smile, or say something cruel. But he just looks at me, his eyes flat and unreadable, the dark blue faded to a mossy gray.
Roman picks up his duffel and slings it over his shoulder. Edward gives him a nod, not quite respectful, not quite pitying. They walk toward the front door in silence, and I follow because I just can't…not.
We step through the door, out into the chill of evening air, where the sun is disappearing below the horizon. My heart is in my throat as we reach the car—the same one I rode in only hours ago.
Edward steps back, and something within me draws me toward Roman as he opens the back hatch and turns to face me fully.
Suddenly, all the ugly, twisted things we've done to each other are right there in his face. But so is something else, like a desperate, stupid kind of hope.
“You can come, too.” His words rock my chest.
I swallow hard, mouth dry. “Roman?—”
“I didn’t do this to you,” he cuts me off. “And whoever did, you’re not safe here. I can tell you that much.”
“Ivy!” Robert’s voice booms from behind me. “Inside.Now.”
I start to back away, tears filling my eyes as the image of the video comes back to my mind.
I hate him, I love him, and I'm never going to get over it.
But most of all… I can’t trust him.
