Page 172 of The Young & the Sinner

“I already know you’re strong, Olive. You don’t need to convince me of anything.”

“Okay, so maybe I wanted to convince myself. I don’t want to be broken anymore.” The last part was said in a whisper, and Max tightened his arms around me.

“Are you mad at me?” I asked.

“No, Olivia. I’m not mad at you.”

“Are you mad at Mason?”

“Furious,” he said without hesitation.

“Why?”

“Because he knows better.”

“Are you saying he shouldn’t be with me?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

I pulled away, a frown on my face. “Why not?”

“Olivia.”

I shook my head. “No, why are you against this? He treats me like a princess. I feel cherished by him. He has never once hurt me, and he’s always considerate of what I went through with Lorenzo. Sometimes, a little too considerate. I’m as safe with him as I am with you.”

Max’s jaw clenched, and he looked away from me.

“What are you hiding from me?” I asked quietly.

When Max met my eyes, I knew I’d guessed correctly. Max was hiding something from me. Mason was hiding something from me. And Max didn’t plan on telling me. At least, not today.

I turned and ran to my room, ignoring Max when he called my name.

I slammed the door shut and leaned against the door, a frown on my face. What secret could they possibly be keeping from me?

And it was bad. I knew it. They would only keep something from me if it had the power to hurt me.

I let out a shudder as I climbed into bed, even if it was still early.

There was no way I could face either man with the way I was feeling now.

* * *

The next threedays passed by in a blur.

I wasn’t talking to either Mason or Max.

I only saw Max in passing, and the last time he tried to talk to me, I told him I didn’t want to talk unless he wanted to tell me whatever it was that they were hiding from me.

As for Mason, he called and texted, but he never made any attempt to come see me. It wouldn’t have been hard for him to try. There were no more than thirty feet that separated his house from ours.

To think he had bought that house for me so I wouldn’t have to be away from Max. If he was planning on staying with me forever, why couldn’t he just tell me what I wanted to know?

So far, I had spent most of the day in my room, because it was Saturday and that meant Max was home. It seemed like he wasn’t planning on going anywhere in the hope of running into me, but I could outlast him.

My phone ringing brought me out of my musing. I grabbed it from the nightstand and looked at the screen, pausing when I saw who was calling me. Instead of ignoring his calls like I had been for weeks, I picked up and held the phone to my ear without saying anything.

He didn’t say anything for a long time, either, but it could probably be because he hadn’t realized I’d picked up.

Then, “Olivia?”

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