Breaking Through (The Breaking Series Book 3) (35 page)

My stomach turned over.

I placed both hands on my belly, as if that would help. I wanted to be strong, I wanted to face this, but it was too much too fast. I wasn’t ready for this.

“I’m not sure I can stay here,” I whispered to Hannah.

She entwined her fingers with mine and squeezed. “It’s okay. I’ll help you with a white lie if you want to.”

I groaned, not happy with it. “Okay.”

I turned around, facing Bia and Lauren and Iris across the kitchen island, and behind them everyone else in the living and dining room. I opened my mouth to say something, anything that would maybe get me out of here, but Hannah’s actions were faster than my addled brain.

She reached behind us, grabbed a two liter bottle of coke, uncapped it, and, when turning back to us, she
tripped on her own foot and bumped into me, spilling coke all over the side of my dress.

I gasped, not believing she had done that. I glared at her, ready to kill her. My night had been terrible so far, and now she had just put the cherry on top of the sundae by ruining my dress.

“Oh my …” I hissed.

“I’m so sorry,” Hannah said, her tone loud and clear.

“
Meu Deus
!” Bia shrieked, jumping from her stool. Lauren and Iris weren’t far behind. With Hannah, they all found rags under the sink and dabbed them at me and at the floor.

The game was paused and the guys stood, looking in our direction with worried expressions, probably thinking we had cut ourselves with the knives or something. Gui was among them. Amanda had stayed at the table a few feet behind him.

“What happened?” Leo asked, looking from me to Hannah and to me again.

“I’m a klutz,” Hannah said, forcing her voice to sound too sweet and innocent. “I tripped and the bottle fell on Hilary.”

The liquid pooled around my feet, and my skin felt sticky wherever the liquid had dripped down—my right arm and the outside of my right leg.

I took a rag from Hannah and wiped my arm. The excess was gone, but I still could feel it as if the gooey thing had seeped into my bones. Gosh, I could kill my sister.

“That’s one big mess,” Lauren said.

“And that’s one ruined mess,” Iris stated.

Angry, frustrated, disappointed, and humiliated, my eyes filled with tears.

I’m a big girl. I won’t cry. Not here, at least.

I sucked in a deep breath. “Excuse me,” I said to Bia and Lauren, who were cleaning the floor around me. I leaned against the island while I took off my sandals and cleaned my feet with the rag, before stepping away from the mess. I just hoped I wasn’t dripping coke anymore.

“I’m so sorry,” Hannah said. This time she stared into my eyes, and I knew what she meant.

“It’s okay,” I said. I put the rag in the sink and turned to the crowd watching me, forcing a smile. “Well, I guess I’m gonna go home.”

“Yeah,” Bia said. “It shouldn’t take you more than what? Fifteen minutes to clean up and change?”

“We promise we won’t talk about anything interesting while you’re gone,” Lauren said with a sweet smile.

“But I might eat all of Bia’s
pão de queijo
by then,” Iris joked.

I forced a chuckle. “Be right back,” I lied.

As I walked from the kitchen, through the hallway between the living room and dining room to the front door, I felt everyone’s eyes one me. I wanted to shrink and disappear.

I walked by Gui and I couldn’t help it. I spied him from the corner of my eyes. He was watching me too. A knot adorned his forehead, and his mouth was pressed together as if he was holding back from saying something, from yelling something. A tear escaped and I was sure he saw it.

I hurried my steps and left the apartment as if it could bite my ass. At the elevator, I looked into the mirror and another tear escaped as I promised myself I would skip the next get-together. No matter the circumstances.

Gui

The tear broke me.

I had tried so hard to keep up this I-don’t-fucking-care facade, but in the end, as she left my apartment and glanced one last time at me, a tear rolling down her face, I felt broken. Stupid. Empty. A fucking jerk.

Because that was what I was. A fucking jerk.

The girls cleaned the kitchen while the guys settled down to continue playing, everyone a little quieter than before.

Amanda leaned into me, her hands closing around my arm. “How about you show me your room now?” she said, her voice holding a sensual note.

I stepped back, pulling my arm from her hold. I didn’t want anything to do with her. Even before I had seen the dull glint in Hilary’s face. And that was why I was an even bigger jerk. I had met Amanda a few months ago when I went clubbing with Malcolm, Justin, Reese, and Lucas. We almost hooked up that night, but I didn’t even remember what happened. She went dancing and I found some other girl? It was the most probable outcome. I hadn’t seen her since that night, until I arrived at the airport this afternoon. She was there dropping off her sister, and we started talking, and then before I realized I had invited her over for dinner. For a quick heartbeat, I was mad at myself, but it didn’t last. I was mad and hurt and wanted to make Hilary feel the same. I wanted to make her jealous. I wanted her to feel what it was like when I heard the stories about Reese and her.

I was proud of myself for moving on.

Then Hilary saw Amanda with me. I watched as she broke right before me. That much pain, that much sadness … I didn’t wish it on anyone. Until then, I didn’t really believe she liked me. She couldn’t have meant it. Otherwise, how could she let me go so easily? It hurt like hell to respect her wishes and stay away. How did she do it?

So I pushed it. I went to the dining room with Amanda and let the girl touch me and lean on me as if we were ready to hook up. Inside though, I was disgusted with myself. All the while, Amanda only had ten percent of my attention. The other ninety was on Hilary.

Because of that, I knew Hannah and Hilary had engineered a way for Hilary to get out of the party without questions. I wasn’t sure Hilary had agreed to Hannah’s plan, but it worked. She was out.

And I felt like a fucking jerk.

I sighed. And I was about to be a fucking jerk again.

I crossed my arms. “I think it’s time for you to go.”

Amanda gaped at me. “What?”

“I need you to go. Now.”

She clenched her hands. “You’re fucking kidding me?”

“Nope. Please, leave.” It killed me to say please to her, but I really wanted her to go.

“Jerk!” She tried to punch me, but I deflected.

That got the attention of everyone. The video game was paused again, and the girls had frozen.

Amanda tried hitting me one more time, but I stepped out of the way and pointed to the door. Hissing, she marched away and slammed the door on her way out.

“What was that?” Leo asked.

“Whoa, what did you do this time?” Ri asked.

I shook my head. “I don’t want to talk about it.” I ran a hand through my hair, but unfortunately, that didn’t help with my confusion, with my frustration. It was never that easy.

I wanted to go to my room and punch a wall, but I had asked my family to come celebrate with me. I couldn’t just leave them here. Pushing down the knot in my chest, I sighed and joined the guys in the living room.

“I want to play,” I said, extending my hand to Garrett and Pedro—they were the ones with the joysticks. I wanted to play this game, to spend my built-up energy by killing some villains.

“So moody,” Pedro teased, handing me the joystick.

“Just shut up and watch as I blow your score out of the water,” I said, my voice harsher than I intended. Still a fucking jerk.

The guys exchanged a look, but said nothing. Great, because I wasn’t in the mood to talk. If they tried, they might get my fists in their noses. And right now, I would enjoy it.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

I parked my car in the studio’s parking lot, checked the mirrors, and looked out for any sign of Mike, or anyone else who could rob me—a habit I had developed since Mike almost killed me in this same spot. When everything looked okay, I exited my car and walked to the studio’s door, my chin high, my eyes half-closed, enjoying the warmth of the sun on my skin. It was not even nine in the morning on a Monday, and the sun wasn’t already hot. It made me wish for a day on the beach. Or poolside.

I had just stepped inside and greeted Sonya when my phone rang.

I glanced at the screen and frowned. “Hi, Evie. How are you?” I asked, concerned. She rarely called me. I heard a gasp and a sob and stopped dead in my tracks. “Evie? Talk to me.” The hallway leading to the main studio floor and the offices and meeting rooms was empty, so I leaned against the wall and spoke up, “Evie!”

“I-I’m here,” she croaked.

My heart sped up. “What happened?” She let out a whimper. “Where are you?”

She inhaled. “At the c-center.” She took another deep breath. “The nurse here is taking care of me.”

Fear jolted through my chest. “I’ll be there in a few minutes, okay?”

“O-okay,” she whispered.

I turned off my phone and went straight to Fallon’s office. I would be sorry if I interrupted an important meeting, but this was important to me too. Fallon could fire me if she wanted. There was only two weeks left on this internship anyway. I soon would be back to L.A. and wouldn’t worry about another internship until next summer.

Thankfully, Fallon was alone.

“Hilary, so great to see you.” She smiled at me. “Only two more weeks, huh? I’ll be sad to see you go.”

As much as I wanted to bask in her compliment, I had more urgent matters. “I’ll be sad to go too,” I said. “But I just received a phone call … something urgent came up and I need to leave for the day.”

Her brows furrowed. “What happened? Is it your mother? Your sister?”

I shook my head. “No, they are fine. It’s a friend. She’s in trouble and I need to go see her.”

“All right, I understand.” She spread her hands over the planner on her desk. “Take the day off; it’s no problem. But, if you can, I would like you to come in tomorrow. The wedding clothes are all done, and I would like to take a look at them with you.”

I nodded. “Thank you. I’ll be here tomorrow, I promise.”

I left the studio in a hurry. To be honest, I didn’t even know how I drove to the women’s center without getting into an accident, because my mind was elsewhere. My hands shook and my heart beat faster.

At the center, I went to the nurse’s office. The door was closed, so I knocked and waited. Ten seconds later, a woman with a blue uniform opened the door.

“What can I do for you?” she asked, her voice sweet, calming.

“I believe Evangeline is here with you.”

“Hilary?” Evie’s voice came from inside the room.

“Yes,” I answered, loud enough so she would hear me.

“She can come in,” Evie said.

The nurse stepped to the side and let me in, then closed the door again.

My gaze landed on Evie and my heart skipped a beat.

It was as if she had been hit by a truck. Her right eye was swollen shut, a big purpling bruise around it that extended down to her cheek. Her lip was also swollen and split. Her neck had ugly scratch lines and … were those bites?

“What … How …?” I didn’t know what to say, what to ask.

The nurse spoke up. “I wanted to take her to the hospital, but she refuses.”

Evie shook her head. She stopped and closed her eyes, hissing, as if it hurt too much. “I-I won’t go to the hospital.”

She should not only go to the hospital, but also to the police and file a restraining order. This was ridiculous. Mike couldn’t do this to her and get away with it.

Rage boiled in me. I wanted to shake her shoulders and demand for her to see reason.

The nurse finished closing a bandage over Evie’s neck. “I’ll give you two a moment to talk.” Then she exited the office, closing the door behind her.

Silence filled the room as I thought over what to say. A tear rolled down Evie’s face, breaking a little more of my beat up heart.

I reached over, taking her hands in mine. Oh my gosh, even her wrists had bruises. I took a deep breath, trying to calm down. “Do you want to talk about it?”

She shook her head. One more tear fell. “The only thing I want to tell you is that I’m done. I’m done.”

Something like hope pushed against the rage. “You’re done?”

“With him. I’m done.” She stifled a sob. “I’m moving out. I don’t know how, I don’t know exactly when or where I’ll go, but I’m way past done. I’m moving out.”

I wanted to jump and take her into my arms and squeezed her tight, but I was afraid of scaring her and adding to her pain. So I settled for squeezing her hands. “You have no idea how much I love hearing you say that.” I offered her a supportive smile. “I’ll help you with the how, when, and where. Don’t you worry about a thing.”