Page 11 of Silver Tears

Seb jumps up from the bed and saunters towards me with a mischievous grin on his face. “I’ll make it worth your while, Mills.” He comes to a stop right in front of me. Our feet almost touching. He is so close. I inhale a sharp breath when he takes a strand of my pale pink hair and twirls it around his finger. “We’ll dance, drink, and have fun.” I forget to breathe when his other hand brushes up my right thigh, causing goosebumps as he moves higher. “I think you and I could have fun together.”

My heart is flipping out in my chest at his closeness and the heated look in his eyes. He’s a conceited arsehole, remember! I internally scold myself when my stupid libido swoons for him. I place a hand on his chest and push, but of course, the wall of muscle doesn’t budge. He claps his hand over mine and keeps it held to his chest. “Come on. Help a guy out. I rescued you last week, didn’t I?”

“You got me fired from my catering job,” I point out, and he winces and nods his head.

“Yeah, my bad.” He shrugs. “I’ll get you another one. Come with me tonight and I’ll hook you up with another job if its that’s important to you.”

I arch a brow. “Just like that.”

He scoffs and gestures at himself. “I’m an Ace, Mills. There’s nothing I can’t get.”

I chuckle, shaking my head at him. So confident! “Well, that is where you are wrong. One thing you can’t get is for me to go with you tonight. So kindly remove yourself from my bed and see yourself out.”

“It’s my eighteenth. You can’t let me down on my eighteenth birthday!” he protests, as he gets to his feet. With my hand on his lower back, I urge him towards my balcony doors.

“I don’t care if it’s your eighteenth or not. I’m afraid you are going to have to face big-bad Tamara all by yourself tonight.” Opening the door, I step aside for him to pass through.

“You’re a cold and heartless girl, Milly Silver,” Seb says, shaking his head in disappointment at me. “One day I’ll have you at my beck and call.”

“In your dreams,” I scoff, giving him a dramatic eye roll that Taylor Swift would be proud of. “Enjoy your night.”

He goes to reply but I slam the door in his face, grinning at him; I pull the curtain across, cutting him off. For a few seconds, I stand there smiling at myself. I believe I handled that pretty well and showed him he has no power or influence over a Silver.

I settle back down with my books. I must fall asleep at some point because the sound of the front door opening and slamming shut has me jolting awake. I rub at my eyes as I hear heavy footsteps bounding up the stairs. A second later, my bedroom door swings open.

“Do you ever answer your phone?” My older brother, Luca, asks me in exasperation. I’m about to make some snarky comment about answering it for people I like when I notice the pale and anxious expression on his face.

An icy shiver runs through me.

“What’s wrong?” I ask him.

He sighs and runs a hand through his hair before striding into my room and taking hold of my hands. “Day’s been in a car accident.”

My blood runs cold. “He’s alive though, right?” I grip tightly at my brother’s hands. “Please tell me he’s alive.”

“He’s alive, Squirt, but he’s in a bad way. Get changed quickly so we can get over there. Emma is already there and Dad’s on his way back from London.”

I nod my head and on shaky legs; I find my way to my wardrobe and silently pull on a pair of leggings and an oversized hoodie.

“Grab your charger,” he says as I pick up my phone and grab a jacket off the back of my bedroom door. “We could be there a while.”

* * *

The drive to the hospital feels like it takes forever. I chew on my fingernails and tap my foot, eager to see my brother and know that he is okay. We’re close as a family. We always have been. Since mum left, we rallied around each other, hesitant about letting anyone new into our lives. As my dad became successful and the money flowed in, we became even more cautious about who to trust.

We eventually pull up at the hospital car park and we hurry inside to A&E. I struggle to stand still as Luca gives our brother’s name and the nurse directs us to the ICU.

He’s in the ICU. That can’t be a good sign.

We find the lift to the second floor, and I release a sob I hadn’t been aware I’d been holding in when I spot my sister, Emma. She’s sitting on her own on one side of the corridor. I rush to her, and she holds me tightly me in her arms.

“Is he okay?”

“He will be. Our Day is tough. He’ll get through this.” Emma steps back and cups my face in her hands. “He’s in surgery, he has some internal bleeding and he’s pretty bashed up, but he’ll make it.” I nod my head, unsure who she’s trying to convince, me or her.

It’s at that moment, I realise there are other people here. Across the narrow corridor, the infamous Archer Savage sits with his heads in his hands, his feet dancing up and down. “I can’t take this,” he growls, standing to his feet and pacing the corridor.

“She’ll be okay, Arch. This is our Little Red. She’s difficult to break,” his friend tells him, gripping his shoulder. He’s the other infamous member of their trio, Rafe Ellsworth.

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