CHAPTER 32
BROCK
The whiskey burns my throat,and I grip the glass so tightly my knuckles turn white.
My insides are boiling as I stare at the young girl who ended her life, her picture replaying on the television screen.
I was wrong about everything.
I was so, so fucking wrong, and I don’t know how to fix it.
Has Olive seen this?
She knows I wanted to turn her in.
If she knew the truth—all of it—could she ever forgive me?
Could she forgive any of us?
Dylan and Killian took care of her in her time of need, at least.
I’m too numb to feel jealousy as there’s a knock at my bedroom door.
“Come in,” I mutter.
Killian walks in and looks around. “Jesus,” he mutters. “You know it’s like five o’clock, right? I thought you’d be doing better. You know, after…”
But his voice trails off as he glances at the television mounted on the wall.
“Oh, fuck,” he murmurs.
“Fuck.” I sip my whiskey as his eyes stayed glued on the screen. “She was a baby. Just turned eighteen.”
The television blares on, the new anchor speaking passionately.
“And how manymore of these deaths will we see? We’re waiting on a statement from the President…”
“Record high numbers in the stock market today…”
“Switzerland drafting plans for asylum…”
Killian dodgesout of the way as the remote flies through the air and cracks the television screen. The reporter’s face disappears as rainbow pixels flood the picture.
He turns around slowly, an eyebrow raised at my violent outburst. “Well, I was checking to see how you were doing. Guess I got my answer.”
I catch a whiff of Olive’s scent on him, and anger spikes in me.
“Stop pretending for her sake,” I snap. “You don’t give a shit how I’m doing.”
“No, I shouldn’t,” he shoots back. “You’re a prick. You’re conceited as fuck, and a fuckingnerdon top of that.”
I growl, and he rolls his eyes.
“Butasshole, you can’t blame yourself for all of it. We were there, too.Welet her go. Not just you.”
His words stun me. “You fought me on it, though,” I say. “Every step of the way.”
“Yeah, and I probably could have done more,” he adds. “I could have stabbed you or something. But part of me thought maybe it would be the right place for her, too.”