CHAPTER40
NOVA
I followDru around the apartment as she begins grabbing my things.
“We’re leaving today,” she says, and I bite my lip. “Mama told me about the baby. You had told me before that you were in trouble. I’m sorry I said to contain it, Nova. I didn’t realize you were living with trouble.”
I halt mid-step. “What?”
She nods to the door, and I understand what she means. She thinks that Zeke is trouble. That I was cryptically asking for help. I shake my head wildly.
“No,” I say. “Zeke has nothing to do with it. I’m being blackmailed, Dru. Someone is trying to ruin my life. They’ve followed me here. They’re tormenting me. Zeke protects me. He cares about me.”
Dru tosses my clothes in a bag, her eyes flickering around like she’s hiding something deep in her heart. Swooping in here and forcing me out while Zeke was at work was the plan, I guess, which would make sense if Zeke was the danger.
“Why would someone do that to you?” She pauses to visibly show her irritation at mychildishness.
“To us, Dru. Your arm. You were hit because of me,” I say, tears starting to blur my vision. Dru whips around to the closet, her back to me.
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“And your tires. The ultrasound image. All of it. Every time something happened, it was because I messed up. They told me not to contact you or Mama, but I couldn’t stay away. They started prank calling Dad to make him believe I was in trouble. Someone is hurting me by going after the people I love.”
Dru freezes in the closet, her shoulders tight to her ears, and then she drops them.
“We need to go home, then,” she says sternly, whipping around to face me. “If you keep messing up and getting us hurt, then you need to come home.”
“I have to talk to Zeke. I won’t leave without talking to him.” I cross my arms, standing up to my sister for maybe the first time. “You can’t just bust in here like this and bark orders at me.”
Her jaw clenches and her fists tighten, and I’ve never seen her like this before. “Fuck’s sake, Nova. We have to leave.”
My phone buzzes on my bedside table, and I pick it up with shaking fingers.
Time’s up, Princess. And you better leave your prince behind unless you want your world to go up in flames.
There’s a series of images, and I slap my hand over my mouth, horrified.
Zeke’s shop, the windows smashed, papers scattered all over the floor and blowing across the parking lot.
The last image is the only one not of the shop, and it takes me out at the knees. It’s of us, through the part in the bedroom curtains. I’m completely naked, on top of Zeke. My shoulders shake, and my hands tremble so hard I drop the phone.
Of all the ways I’ve been followed, photographed, imposed upon by the public or media, this hollows me out to my core. The violation of privacy and trust and being torn away from any semblance of safety I felt here. My tears dry up, and I shift to level my sister with a glare that makes her take a step back.
“We leave in the morning. Book our flights.”
Dru twists a cable knit sweater in her fists, then tosses it in the bag.
“We should leave now,” she argues.
I stand, my chest aching with this betrayal. Anger surges through me as I realize that I’m not safe anywhere. As long as I’m a Forrester, my life will always be on display. It’s my mom’s ambition and my sister’s control, and my dad’s resentment. My blackmailer’s revenge.
But what about me? My… my what? How am I nineteen and have no fucking clue what I am?
“We leave in the morning.” I set my tone harsher, and fear passes behind Dru’s eyes in a way that sets my suspicion on edge. “How long have you been in town?”
“Nova. Are you serious?”
“Zeke says he thinks he saw you on New Year’s. Were you here? In Raston?”