“He isn’t protective of me.” If he was, he wouldn’t have broken my heart without a second thought.
“Are you going to tell me what happened between the two of you? Because I’ve heard bits and pieces but—”
“What bits and pieces?” I gawked at her.
“I know you had sex, and I know you drove to The Row Monday to check in on him and Grams. But Kye won’t give me any details.”
“This is so embarrassing.”
“What, why?”
“Because! I was a virgin, Clo. I was a virgin and I let him…”
“Was it good?”
“What?”
“The sex.” She rolled her eyes.
“I’m not sure that’s the thing we should be focusing on right now.” Because the second I thought about it my body grew hot all over.
“Did he at least make it good for you?”
“I feel very uncomfortable having this conversation with you. He’s practically your brother.”
“Okay, let’s talk about the fact you’ve been ignoring me all week then. Which is strange since Zane has been MIA a lot too.”
“If you’re hoping to learn all Zane’s secrets, you’re asking the wrong girl,” I said. “He isn’t talking to me at all.”
Chloe rolled her lips together, drumming her fingers on the counter.
“What?” I asked, noticing her obvious torment.
“If I tell you something, do you promise not to a) freak out and b) tell anyone else?”
“Okay,” I replied, feeling a sense of unease at her tone.
“You know how Zane’s grams needed that new treatment?”
“New treatment?”
“Yeah, she needs some infusion therapy, but I overheard my brother talking to Nix and I think Zaneborrowedmoneyfromaloansharkandnowtheyrereallyworriedabouthim.”
Chloe inhaled a ragged breath, rubbing her chest.
“He did what?” I asked, hardly able to believe what she’d said.
“If I’m right, and I’m pretty sure I am, then there’s only one person he could have gone to, and Leo D’Angelo is not a good person, Celeste.”
A loan shark. It didn’t make any—
“Miriam. He borrowed the money for Miriam.”
Chloe nodded slowly, sadness glittering in her eyes. “Apparently the insurance wouldn’t cover it, so he went and found an alternative way.”
“Oh my God.” My heart ached for them. Zane and his grandma. The boy who would do whatever it took to make sure the woman who raised him didn’t suffer.
“How much did he borrow?”