Page 22 of Wicked Promises (Fallen Royals 3)

Dad would… Dad would be heartbroken.

A hand wrapped around my mouth, dragging me backward. I kicked, then realized it was Caleb. He pushed me into the pantry, closing the door behind him.

“What are you doing?” I needed to scrub my eyes out with soap.

“You can’t tell,” Caleb said.

I blinked. It wasn’t what I expected.

“Please, Margo, you can’t tell them.” He was desperate. Reeked of it. He came at me and grabbed my wrists. His thumb caressed my bracelet. “That won’t be us. Okay? But it’s them, and doing whatever you’re about to do will just make everything worse.”

“Caleb, Mom is cheating on my dad—” I took a step back, shaking him loose. “You knew?”

Slowly, he nodded.

“Cheating is wrong,” I said. Decisive.

Dad always talked about morals. Morality. It was such a hard thing to wrap my brain around, but he made it easy. Right and wrong. Stick up for the truth.

This… this was a lie. Plain and simple.

I shoved past Caleb and into the hall, where Mom was standing. Her hands were on her hair, pulling it up, but they slowly dropped when she saw me.

I swallowed.

Her pants were still unbuttoned.

“Margo!”

I turned and fled. Up the stairs, down the hall to Caleb’s room. Caleb chased after me, and once we were inside he slammed the door, flipping the lock.

The doorknob rattled, then Mom pounded on the door. “Margo Wolfe, open up right now.”

Caleb stared at me. “You’re not going to tell, right?”

The door flew open. Caleb’s dad straightened, triumphant, but my mom shoved past him.

She grabbed my shoulders, shaking me slightly. “You don’t know what you saw, Margo. It was nothing.”

Her voice was angrier than I’d ever heard it.

I shook my head. “But, Mom—”

“No buts. Please, Margo.” She dipped her head toward me. “If he found out, it would ruin everything. And nothing even happened. It just looked bad.”

It looked like sex, but who was I to know?

Her fingers dug into my shoulders. Caleb’s dad stared at me. Caleb was breathing heavily behind me, the entire room waiting on my answer.

“I won’t tell,” I promised.

I promised.

Present

“All of your memories?” Caleb asks.

I shift. “I remember catching them. Running to your room. We were playing hide and seek.”

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