Page 5 of Light Me Up

“Are you sure? I—”

“I really appreciate you stopping by, but like I said, I’m not feeling well.” I fake a cough for emphasis, and she slides her hand off my knee.

She eyes me dubiously, but what choice does she have other than to believe me?Look into your cousin if you want to find lies. Unless… does she know, too?“Sorry for waking you. I’ll go.”

She stands up and I rise with her, ready to lock the door the moment she steps out. As much as I love her, she’s a tie to Lorenzo, and this puppet is cutting her strings.

“No problem!” I say a little too emphatically. The moment she walks out the door, I slam it shut and fall back against the cold metal. I close my eyes for a moment, then rush to my room and yank my phone off the charger, dialing Char’s number.

“Kate?”

“I need to pack and get the fuck out of here!” I’ve become frantic, desperate to leave all of this behind.

“What’s going on?” Char’s worry forces me to take a deep breath and calm down for a moment. Butonlya moment.

“Larissa just showed up at my apartment.”

“Lari?” Char asks, clearly bewildered. We haven’t spoken in days, and I’m not making much sense right now. I fill her in on the brief interaction while I pull my suitcase out of my closet. I start ripping my clothes off their hangers and stuffing them inside.

“Okay, let’s think about this rationally. Is there any access to your personal information at work?” Char asks.

“I don’t know,” I say, not having considered that possibility in my frenzy. But open access to my personal information has to be a breach of privacy. “Wait…”

The memory of him finding out about my job search rings a bell, forcing me to think more about it. Did he really just happen upon that information? What if he pulled it?

What if he has access to more at that company? After all, they do live in a house owned by Rowan Valeri himself.

“Kate. Kate! What?”

“My mind is racing right now. I can’t think straight!” I drop the last articles of clothing into my luggage and rub the bridge of my nose. “Look, I can’t stay here. I know this may seem dramatic, but I don’t want him having any access to me.”

“What about your job?”

I tear my glasses off my nightstand and shove them on my face with newfound resolve. “I guess I’m quitting.”

Chapter Three

March 22nd - Lorenzo

“Ifshehasn’tgoneto the police and you haven’t heard from the victim, the chances of her saying anything are minimal,” Ted says calmly. I glance at Santi, who looks as unconvinced as I do.

“So, what, we’re supposed to ride this out? Hope for the best?” I snarl, my fists balling at my sides.

“You two fucked up. I’m not sure when this became my problem, but there’s nothing I can do. Onlyifshe brings this to light is there a possibility of my involvement.”

I grit my teeth with hatred at the fact that he’s right.We fucked up. It haunts me, knowing Brad was hurt and there was nothing I could do about it once it was done. We couldn’t stop. Taking the blame was a risk we couldn’t afford. Santi knows this. I know this. Ted knows this.

We’ve made our peace with it.

“May I remind you, Ted, that her friend also knows,” Santi says through clenched teeth.

“Yes, yes. But the fact remains. Unless they say something, there is nothing for us to do. Until then, keep your mouths shut, and stay away from them.” He looks between us, and when I open my mouth to speak, he cuts me short. “Don’t even think about asking for a tail. We can’t afford to follow around a loosely potential woman when we’re this close. All of our monies need to be reserved.”

My jaw clamps shut because goddamn it, I know he’s right, but I don’t want to accept that. Accept a life where I get to know nothing about what she’s doing? It’s a special kind of hell.

I don’t know if she replied to the messages I sent in my moment of desperationbeforemy phone was smashed to pieces. If it weren’t for the fact that I know the best thing to do is to stay away from her, I’d have shown up on her doorstep by now.

Sending Larissa was an impulsive move; I shouldn’t be pulling her information at work. While I’m highly aware of the fragility of her and Char knowing about the accident, the priority is making sure she’s safe. Facing the consequences is one thing, but knowing something’s happened to her… I would never survive it.

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