Page 48 of Let Me
Benji doesn’t say anything for a moment, but then he does, and I imagine him nodding. “I’ll see what I can find.”
That was easy.
I reach out a finger to end the call, but he says my name, stopping me.
I pause.
“Don’t get burned again, Caden,” he says quietly.
My finger hovers over theEnd Callbutton.
I try to think of something witty to say, but I’ve got nothing.
I disconnect the line.
Bury my head in my hands.
And wonder why the fuck I’m still thinking about this girl.
My brother’s murderer.
TWENTY-TWO
Present
TONIGHT, I’m meeting Morgan for dinner, and I have no idea what the hell I’m going to pay with. I’ve literally got nothing right now, no access to anything at all. The amount of money in my checking account is laughable, the savings non-existent, and the credit card more or less the same.
I hate Rolland all over again as I bury further in the crisp white sheets of The Villa’s king-sized bed. Morgan put me in a suite. Yeah, it’s a small town in Ontario, but it’s the best Haven has to offer, and I’m grateful for it.
Mom hasn’t messaged me this morning which means she probably forgot when my flight was, or else she believes I got tied up with Adam.
Fuck.
My life is a mess, and that thought will get me nowhere, so I sit up in bed, and contemplate robbing a bank.
For about two seconds.
I’ve dug myself in this mess. By being swayed by Rolland’s blackmail—blackmail that should have beenmine—I’ve put myself at his mercy and in another country without a way to get home. If it wasn’t so horrible, I might laugh. I consider myself a smart girl. I get good grades in school. I got a scholarship to university.
I’m not a fool.
And yet here I am, at the mercy of a long-ago friend’s charity in a country that’s no longer mine. For a split second, I think about Caden again. About that woman draped over his arm, and how he left without her. About his swollen nose. I think about telling him everything. About letting him hate me more if he’d like. About ending any chance of anything we might ever have in this life or any other.
But we have no chance as it is.
My phone buzzes, tangled in the sheets, and I fish it out and stare at the screen.
Adam.
He’s been curiously quiet since we broke up, aside from barging his way into the condo and having to be escorted out.
I answer it, because why stop making stupid decisions now?
“It’s Caden, isn’t it?” Adam seethes into the phone.
I glance out the balcony window, overlooking the pool. The curtains opened automatically as the sun rose. Rich tricks. I miss swimming in the Virani’s pool.
“What are you talking about?” I ask, trying to keep my tone disinterested.
