Page 22 of My Sweetest Obsession
Because what happened with Roxy was part of that wake-up call.
She was my friend. One of the people closest to me. One of the few who knows I am Cush and who I could ever trust with that secret. Yet I used her as if she were nothing more than a warm body to keep me distracted from what I really wanted.
One of her brows rises. “And then you came back home?”
I nod, rubbing at the tension in my neck. “And then I came back home and did even worse things than I did when I was using.”
So much worse.
Those years I allowed myself to be sucked into that dark vortex, I made many mistakes and did countless things I regret. But it all pales in comparison to what my selfishness has done to Drew, Ivy, and Mom.
I finally got myself back on track, but that track led in only one direction—toward a woman I never should have wanted or tried to take.
Now we’re all suffering because of it.
Roxy winces, wrapping her manicured fingers around the edge of the bench we’re sitting on. “Oh. This have anything to do with the girl who was with you when you were here last?”
It has everything to do with her.
It always has.
I nod and blow out a long breath. “She was my brother’s fiancée.”
Roxy’s eyes widen, and she whistles, drawing the attention of a few patrons walking by and examining other pieces. Once they’ve reached a safe distance from us, she leans a bit closer, offering me a sympathetic smile. “All I heard was that he passed away…”
My eyes start to burn, and I clear my throat, trying to dislodge the boulder suddenly sitting there. “Yeah. A car accident.”
“Were you and he able to resolve your differences before that?”
This woman wasn’t only my confidant when it came to my secret artistic identity. She was there more times than I can count when I just needed to vent to someone. Though I never told her the whole story about the rift with Drew, she knew I had done something to drive that wedge between us that he thought was unforgivable.
Or at least, I thought he believed that…
Though, now I know how wrong I really was.
The image of the doll sitting in that box flashes before my eyes, and the room starts to blur as tears well.
I was so wrong about everything…
My gaze sweeps up to Prometheus’s plight again before moving over to Roxy, who genuinely cares even after I broke her heart by rejecting her after our one night together. I ruined our friendship because I wasn’t in control. Because I let my feelings for Ivy and frustration about the situation with Drew get the best of me and turn me into somebody I wasn’t before.
It’s what prevented me from reaching out to Drew, too.
“We weren’t, unfortunately.”
Her gaze softens, and she squeezes my hand. “I’m so sorry. I know you two were close for so long. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to have lost him when you weren’t on good terms. Is there anything I can do?”
I shake my head. “No, but I appreciate the offer. I’m just trying to make things right as much as I can, and it turns out there are far too many unintended consequences for me to do that.”
Not in ten thousand lifetimes.
I gaze up at the painting, and out of the corner of my eye, I see her head turn to it, too.
Her lips tilt slightly, but the smile isn’t warm. It’s hard. Contemplative as she examines it, even though she sees it every day. “Prometheus Bound. That’s what it’s about, isn’t it? Unintended consequences?”
I nod, and she tilts her head, cutting her gaze to me.
“Do you know why Zeus chose this punishment for him?”
