Page 11 of The Burnt Heart

“We just need to get through tonight.” Logan’s hand trembled by his side, clenching and unclenching. We were receiving strange looks now, the tension between us a palpable bubble.

“There is nowe.Go back to your date.” I whispered harshly, glaring at him. Logan stared at me, lips moving like he wanted to say something.

“She doesn’t matter,” he admitted with a rush. His fingers reached through the fringe on the dress, like he couldn’t help himself. All around us, happy couples moved to the music. My heart cracked. We should have been doing the same, but they’d ruined us. I still couldn’t understand why.

“So why bring her? Why Logan? What did I do to deserve this?”

I couldn’t help pressing to see if I could make his resolve crack. Six years we had known each other, loved each other almost as long. But they’d put it all on the line, for what? A business idea? It made little sense, even knowing that was exactly why they were doing this. My chest was like an open wound, and I wanted to sink into his embrace. The comfort I so sorely needed was in his arms. If only I just leaned in and let it. But he’d slashed me open. This was supposed to be a night to celebrate my hard work, and they’d ruined even that for me. Pain infested me, smearing over everything.

“You deserve much better, Adelaide. You always have.” Logan’s jaw clenched.

“Is that why you interrupted me the second you saw me with someone else? You don’t want me, but no-one else can have me either?” I halted, wanting his answer before I was done with this farce. He flinched under my steady gaze. I knew there was no answer he could give to fix this.

I strode away from him, not waiting for an answer. What could he say to make this right? With Harold watching and holding his money over their heads. I knew they wouldn’t even try, not until they achieved their ridiculous plan. I pressed my hand to my chest, hoping the pressure would cut off the sharp pain that was destroying me.

“Adelaide!” Logan called, following me. A sob rose in my throat, flailing lines of emotion threatening to escape their binds inside me. I couldn’t allow myself to break. I was Adelaide Orazio, born in a dark world and raised, fierce, intelligent and strong. The rising tide of anger propelled me to spin on my heel, fueling me. Anything was better than the black lick of despair that wanted to drag me down under, never to resurface.

“What do you want?” I hissed at him, laughing coldly as I saw Jesse and Briar following, Nicole hot on their heels. I stepped deeper into the darkened hallway, not wanting anyone to see how they were failing at ‘breaking up with me’.

“Adelaide, are you ok?” Jesse’s narrowed gaze cataloged me, searching for the source of my distress. Wasn’t it obvious? It was them. Those who had promised to keep my heart safe and were instead squeezing the life out of it.

“I’m just perfect, Jesse, though I hoped we could get through tonight without this.” I waved my hands at the crowd of them. A shadow cast over me and I saw Jonah block the hallway, his legs wide and imposing. The huge guard was the best deterrent I had. He would at least keep anyone from stumbling over this mess.

“Addy, we just want to make sure you—shit.” Briar lurched forward, words slurred. Nicole caught him, sliding her hand under his coat jacket and helping him find his balance. His bleary eyes blinked, disorientated, like he wasn’t seeing me at all.

“You lost the right to check in on me when you broke up with me. Isn’t this what you wanted? Tonight is mortifying enough without having to endure this push and pull. You say you’re done but keep chasing me around this room. What’s a girl to think?” I made a shooing motion, sagging with relief as they moved to the side. As I passed, Nicole piped up.

“This is for the best Adelaide. They were all miserable with you,” her smile was pitying.

I froze.

“Shut up. You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Jesse growled, whirling on her with a glare.

“So, you don’t regret the fact that Adelaide can’t have children? Even though you always wanted to be a father?” She widened her eyes with surprise. A sharp noise escaped Jesse like he’d been punched in the stomach. Just as a strangled sob hurtled out of me. My arm cradled my lower stomach. I swore I could feel the puckered scars that lay underneath.

“You told her?” I whispered, voice cracking from the pain. Jesse sent a scorching glare to Nicole, who cowered a little.

“I wouldnever.” He spat out, like the idea of it curdled on his tongue.

“Is that true, though? Is that the reason you...?” My voice wobbled and I could feel the bank of tears collecting on my lash line. Perhaps I had been wrong about their motives, but I couldn’t think clearly through the soul wrenching agony that destroyed my insides.

Jesse didn’t seem to know what to say, body coiled tight with anger. Logan gripped Jesse’s shoulder, holding him back as he lurched toward me.

“No, no, Adelaide, at the time I was upset. I talked with Logan and Briar about it just—” he stumbled.

“Logan wants to leave Greenich Bay, but he didn’t feel like he could with your history and legacy here. Now he has the freedom to be a photographer like he dreamed. Briar is sick of sharing you with two other men. He wants a woman he can have fully.” Nicole rubbed her hand over Briar’s chest. His head had drooped to rest on her shoulder, and she gave me a triumphant smile. Briar didn’t say anything, his eyes pressed tight in a grimace.

“That’s not true. I want to travel with all of us,” Logan interrupted, shooting Nicole a deadly look. “None of this is your business.” He added, voice shaking. But she only shrugged,her lips carving upwards. The motion was like a knife to my stomach. A sensation I knew well, but somehow this was worse. I’d suffered physical pain, but this was unbearable.

Darkness spun around me. How many more lies had they kept from me? Worse was to hear them from a woman I knew I couldn’t trust. The tears I’d held at bay crashed forth, streaming down my cheeks in silent misery. Threads of pain paralyzed my body, and I sunk inwards. Words choked in my throat, so I focused on methodically tucking the agony away. I don’t know how long I stood there, mute and blinking, while chaos erupted. Voices rose around me, a desperate cacophony. But I wasn’t present. Conscious only of a steady buzz in my ear as I willed myself to become numb. I saw Jesse carving our initials into the tree at Calder Place. I felt the heavy, precious weight of Logan’s hand in mine, how his face lit at the touch. Even after all these years, each touch was a gift, or it had been. I heard the rumbling hum of Briar’s voice as he danced his fingers along the spines in a secondhand bookstore. I tasted wine, sweet spring rain and salt from skin. I slept a thousand nights safe in heavy limbed embraces. The memories blurred as pain threatened to collapse my knees, but I locked them tight. Refusing.

A squeal from a microphone cut through the haze of anguish shrouding me. The announcement that followed sent a jolt of shock through me.

“Congratulations to our Charity Excellence Winner, Adelaide Orazio!”

Everything I had worked so hard on had culminated in this. My family’s darkened reputation made glossy and new. I had clawed my family’s future back from the brink. My legacy was safe. Could anyone in this room achieve what I had? I doubted it. My gaze cleared, pinned on the men I thought were my soul mates. And the woman who had exposed their duplicity. I knew my worth. Just as I knew what I had to do. Ensure these menknew they were dead to me. My heart shriveled in my chest, poisoned by deceit.

“Jonah,” my voice rose, sounding dead. My trusted guard lurked behind me, a stolid warmth I could trust. I looked at the men I had imagined my life with and gave them the first blow.

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