Emily pushed to her feet.
“No. The evenin’ was over, anyway. We stayed until everyone left.”
“And weren’t you supposed to be staying at the hotel tonight?”
I hiked a brow.
Royce chuckled. “Don’t worry…we’re heading back. Doubt very much your parents want to hear what I have planned for Emily tonight.”
Emily huffed at him, but it was in pure affection. “Royce.”
He shrugged. “What?”
“Do you have to be so crass all the time?”
“Uh…yes?”
A light chuckle fell from my tongue. Two of them this perfect contradiction.
She turned back to focus on me. Even through the lapping darkness, I could see the concern on her face. “I don’t understand, Richard. What did I see back there? Why would you treat her that way? She was my guest.”
My teeth clamped down on my bottom lip to keep from shouting a thousand curses. To stop myself from giving her information she couldn’t have. “What happens between Violet and me is between Violet and me. I told you that before.”
“Yeah, and what happens between she and I should be my own business, too, shouldn’t it? I invited her—one of my best friends—someone I care about deeply.” She touched her chest in a plea. “And you made her feel like an outcast. Like some kind of reject.”
My own frustration burned through my blood. “I asked you not to invite her, Emily. That was my one request, coming here and staying here, and you did it, anyway. Imagine my surprise when I saw her standing across the room. Can you not give me that one ounce of respect?”
“It was my engagement party.” She looked at me in disbelief.
Yeah, and this was our lives.
My head shook in frustration.
“I know that, Emily. But I asked you not to invite one person. One fucking person, and you couldn’t give me that.”
“I’ve been asking you to let me in for years. Beggin’ you to make me understand why you would do this. What you’re going through. I know there’s something there, and after everything? After Cory getting arrested and us being signed with Stone Industries instead? After you know what happened to me? And you still keep me in the dark?”
“Fuck,” I muttered, looking toward the ground like it would afford me patience. Or maybe I could find a hole and bury myself to escape the guilt that was going to eat me alive.
No atonement for what had been done.
Emily and I had gone round and round for the last few years.
Fighting.
Me coming off like a prick at every turn.
But she didn’t understand what was at stake.
That I had always been on her side.
That I wanted nothing more than to make this better.
I hadn’t known the brutality she’d been subjected to because of me.
What that bastard Cory Douglas had held over her, used as twisted manipulation.
I couldn’t wait to see that fucker burn. She wanted answers for those pictures I was in. Problem was, those were answers I still couldn’t give her.
That was what happened when your life was made up of lies. When you’d been cut off at the knees, bartered through blackmail and intimidation.
I took a step toward her, my head angled low in a bid to reach her. “You think I keep you in the dark to protect myself, Emily? Because I’m some twisted fuck keepin’ deranged secrets? I keep you in the dark because it’s the only chance I have of making this right.”
“I know that. I just don’t understand what it has to do with Violet,” she begged. “Why you would treat her that way. She was…”
She trailed off, but I knew.
She was amazing.
Kind and good and genuine.
Every-fucking-thing I’d wanted and had proved I didn’t deserve.
Fuck. I wanted to yank every last hair from my head.
Royce moved to stand behind Emily. He set his hands on her shoulders, and his voice turned soothing, “Emily…come on, baby, take a deep breath. You don’t know what he might be going through. We talked about this, yeah? About everything needing to run its course before it’s revealed. Besides, that’s his ex we’re talking about.”
Emily stared over at me with hurt on her face.
“But this is different. This is Violet we’re talking about.” Her head shook while Royce continued to support her from behind. “I…I just don’t understand you, Richard. She loved you like crazy. Would have done anything for you. You should have offered her the same.”
I surged forward. “Please. Just don’t, Emily. Don’t. She’s in the past. I need her to stay there.”
She had to.
“I love her like a sister. I want the best for her. She needs us, Rich. Her mama and Daisy…” She trailed off with the implication.
She might as well have finished with the way her declaration smashed through my being.
Grief constricting airflow. Throat closing off. Chest squeezing like a bitch.
The words were haggard when I stumbled forward and urged from two feet away, “If you care about either of us, then let her go.”