“You’re the one who went and got a conscious on me. You’re the one who went digging for their names. I never asked you to tell me their names… never. This is your fault. You should’ve left well enough alone. You should’ve—”

I cut her off. “How long have you known? Since the police station? When did you find out who she was? Was it before or after I fucked her?”

Her face went hard, nostrils flaring, making her pretty face look unappealing.

“I knew who she was the minute she walked in the club, before I even hired her. I figured it wouldn’t hurt if you spent some money on her—showed her a good time. We owed her that much.”

Her words were like a punch to the gut. I couldn’t believe the woman standing in front of me was someone I associated with—someone I’d taken under my wing. She was a figment of the girl I met in foster care. That little girl was gone, and in her stead was a monster. Someone I wasn’t sure I could be around anymore.

“Did you tell her the truth, Sebastian? Does she know?”

She was only worried about herself.

“No.”

Relief flooded her face, and she had the audacity to smile. “Good. You’ve always got my back.”

“Get out,” my words were quiet, but lethal.

“Sebastian, this is nothing. We’ll get past it, like we’ve always done before.”

“I said, get out.”

She walked backward to the door, as if she was waiting for me to tell her to stay, and then turned and left.

Twenty-Four

Rosslyn

“What the hell is wrong with you, Roz? You’re like Night of the Living Dead over there.” Trish said, licking banana frozen yogurt from her spoon.

I stared down at my cup and dug my spoon into it over and over again, turning my yogurt into mush, but never taking a bite. “I’m just tired.”

Tired was an understatement. Since the moment Sebastian asked me to leave his apartment, I’d been a nervous wreck. There was no telling when I’d be kicked to the curb, but more than anything, I missed him. If I could go back and change the moment when things shifted between us, I would have never left his bed.

I could have stayed Jessica forever. I was willing to do that for him. I didn’t care what that said about me. From the second I left the club, I knew I was in love with him.

After trying to have a semi-normal day at the mall with Trish, I called Mr. Martin and had him pick me up and take me back to my condo. Seeing as though he still answered my calls, things couldn’t have been that bad, right? If Sebastian was really done with me, would his driver still be driving me around?

I moped around the condo for the past week, eating way too much junk food, and waiting for the sound of my phone to buzz or the elevator doors to beep. And still, there was nothing.

I talked on the phone with Kyle a few times, and he made me feel better. I was glad to know he was having a blast and making friends at the program. At least he was happy. I just wasn’t sure his happiness would remain once Sebastian dropped me like a bad habit.

I was approved for financial aid and got signed up for some online classes, which was a good step in the right direction, but I needed to start job searching again.

I continued to put in applications to places within walking distance, as I waited to hear back from one them. If I had a job, maybe this whole situation wouldn’t be so bad.

No matter how many times I told myself this, I knew that was a lie. Job or no job, I would still miss Sebastian. It was going to hurt badly when things were officially done between the two of us.

I was coming out of a jewelry store around the corner from my condo, when I spotted Mr. Martin sitting in the car across the street, waiting. Looking both ways, I ran across the street and was a few feet away from the car, when I saw Sebastian coming from a large unmarked building.

He was wearing a black suit, fit to perfection, and a pair of dark aviator glasses. He looked so sexy I almost fell to my knees and begged him not to leave me. I closed my eyes and thought about the way he’d touched me—the things he did to my body.

When I opened my eyes again, he was standing frozen next to the car, with his shades off and his hand holding onto the handle. He was staring at me, an angry expression on his face.

I held up my hand and sent him an awkward smile. It was a stupid thing to do, but I was so happy to see him, I didn’t want to hide it. I was done hiding the way I felt.

He continued to stare for a while longer, until he slipped his shades back into place, and disappeared into the car.

I stood there in total shock as the car pulled away from the curb and disappeared into the traffic.