I can’t blame him for cowering. It’s fucking scary to have Nico looming over you at any given time, but when he’s royally pissed off, you need a bunker to survive. He looks like a death-row inmate—plenty of crazy shit under his belt and nothing to lose.
Kai clears his throat, rocking on the heels of his elegant shoes. “Listen, I hear you’re working on this really cool project. I want to help, you know? Can we grab a drink tomorrow and just talk? My company could help you get your game in front of the right people. It’d be just like the old times.”
“Are you serious?” I scoff, and my eyebrows hit my hairline. “You think you can pull the same stunt twice? Whatever you’re snorting, either quit using or take half.”
“We’ve changed our minds,” Kaya yells, sliding down the window. “Thalia wants to go for a walk down the beach. We can stop for wine on our way there.
“Theo, come on, man. Game on. Play,” he fires his shitty lines at me as he did in college. “Remember? We’ve been friends for years. At least hear me out. We were in college, I—”
“I don’t care. You know what they say. Fool me once. You did, and you won’t be doing it again.”
Nico walks away first, either confident in my ability to keep my shit intact or impenitent to get out of here as soon as humanly possible. I follow suit, deaf to Kai’s pleading.
The four of us end up at the arcade half an hour later, where we waste hard-earned pennies on the slot machines, then spend a couple hours at a deserted, dark beach. Kaya and Thalia drink wine straight from a bottle Kaya bought when Nico wasn’t paying attention.
We’re resting against two six-foot-tall teddies, watching a bunch of high school kids party on a boat a few hundred yards off the coastline. Lucky bastards...
Midnight comes and goes, the dark sky above speckled with bright stars, but the evening turns to shit yet again when Kaya, drunk off her ass, starts arguing with Nico. She wants to go clubbing even though she can’t hold herself upright without assistance.
“You!” she slurs, pausing to hiccup. “Youcan’ttell me what the fuck I can or—” she hiccups again, eyes bleary. “I can’t do!” She pokes Nico’s chest with her long, manicured nail, the other hand propped against her thin waist. “Fuck.You. I’m going.” She starts toward the pier barefoot. Althoughzigzaggingpaints a better picture.
Nico follows quickly and grabs her by her hips, hauling her up. He flings her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, his chest heaving. “The only place you’re going is straight to bed.”
“You’re an asshole!” She rains his back with little fists, kicking and screaming, but it’s like trying to put a dent in a tank with a nerf gun. “Put me down!”
I smirk when he obliges, letting go of her body and she slides down his front, landing ass first on the sand. “Shut up,” he seethes, crouching down to get eye-level with her. “You want to go dancing? Be my fucking guest, but don’t come crawling back to me tomorrow crying and begging.”
Her beautiful face twists in pure shock. Lips part, eyes widen for a second before filling with fresh tears. She gawks at him, chin quivering, and thensnap—she’s full-on choking and whimpering, tiny rivers flowing down her cheeks. She lunges herself into his arms, apologizing between pathetic sobs.
That’s the most bizarre scene I’ve ever witnessed. All the more when Nico’s mood does a one-eighty at the snap of fingers. His scowl slips, giving way to deep fuckingconcernlining his forehead.
“Should we get a cab?” Thalia whispers. She sits between my legs, her back to my chest and tilts her head to speak in my ear. “I’m tired. You’ll have to make me come so I’ll sleep better.”
I kiss the side of her head. “Sounds like a plan.”
TWENTY-FIVE
Thalia
USING MY DAY OFF, I crank up the music on the sound system in the living room and open all windows in the condo, then spend the day cleaning every room, organizing the hallway closet, and cooking Theo’s favorite meal.
Once done, I take a long bath, pampering myself with body scrubs and face masks, and even cover my eyes with two cucumber slices. The idea seems moronic, but I’m willing to be proven wrong. Who knows? Maybe they’ll make a difference? Maybe my skin will be more radiant. Music still plays, but this time it filters through the little speaker on my phone as I lay in the warm water, enjoying a little me-time.
Forty minutes later, I’m wrapped in a towel, I close the bathroom door and tiptoe across the hall and into the bedroom, the wooden floor cold under my warm, water-wrinkled feet. The windows are still open, and a cool breeze breaches the room, but that’s not what raises goosebumps across my skin. What the... I pull my eyebrows together for a brief moment while my brain catches up, processing what I’m seeing.
Fear squeezes my throat, moist and sticky.
My legs freeze, glued to the spot in the doorway.
The teddy bear Theo won for me last week at the arcade sits on the bed, propped by a few decorative pillows. His paws are wrapped around a big bouquet of red roses.
His head is missing...
It lays on the floor, the teddy’s eyes staring at the ceiling, and a rolled-up piece of paper tied with a red ribbon is stuffed in its mouth.
A shot of adrenaline jolts me into motion. I run back into the bathroom, slam the door and turn the lock. What the hell is happening?
I check the door, making sure it’s locked.