Page 136 of Heart Strings & Hotlines
Thane: I promise I can explain.
(Message unread)
It’s getting hard to breathe, so I fall into the town car and remove my tie. “Home.”
The driver nods, and I return to my phone. Unread.
Thane: Tell me you’re going home so I don’t have to worry about where you are.
(Message unread)
The phone case cracks in my hand, and I focus on counting before I hyperventilate. One, two, three, and four.
Make her listen.
She’ll understand.
Find the best family court attorney in the country.
Warn Kara about our asshole father.
Show Charlotte the documents that put all those investment companies into a trust with her name on them.
Charlotte.
It always comes back to Charlotte.
“Siri, what should a boyfriend do when he’s really, really fucked up?”
CHAPTERTHIRTY-TWO
LOTTIE
The door opensbefore I have a chance to knock, and Rowan’s wild gaze immediately goes downright feral.
“What the hell happened to you?”
I flinch. Maybe I should have at least found a mirror before showing up on her doorstep in the middle of the night.
My chin wobbles, something it’s never done before, and she launches herself at me for a hug. The least affectionate person I know is comforting me, and that’s all it takes for the floodgates to open wide.
“Ah, hey, Lottie. Can I get your bags for you?” Sebastian asks from somewhere in the background.
Lifting my snotty face from Rowan’s shoulder, I can barely make out his worried expression through my tears.
I hold up the red dress that was slung across my arm. “This is all I have.”
I’d gone straight to the airport, so I’m currently dressed in an oversized I love the Empire State Building sweatpants and a Statue of Liberty sweatshirt. I’m sure my hair is falling out of the pretty updo, and if my seatmate on the plane is any indication, I have mascara marks streaking my face. The older woman had kept pointing to my face and offering a napkin, but she didn’t speak any English and when she licked the napkin, I was so sure she was about to spit-shine my cheeks that I buried my face in my arms and kept my head down the rest of the flight.
Sebastian takes the dress and hurries away. “I’ll hang this up in the guest room.”
“What’s going on?” Rowan leads me into the family room, and we fall into the sofa at the same time. She sits with her legs beneath her so she can face me fully, and I break down all over again as she tucks a soft blanket over my lap.
“Does this have something to do with Thane?”
I nod, and she reaches back, then hands me a wad of tissues.
She listens as I explain everything that’s gone down in the last twelve hours. Including the guilt I have over the lame explanation text I sent to Kara, and Thane texting me to say that he hacked into my phone and knows I’m in Sailport Bay, but that he only did it to make sure I was safe because I wasn’t at home where he expected me to be. And that he knows he messed up, so he’ll give me three days to be mad before he tries to explain himself.
