So long as it’s not here.
But I can’t stay on this rooftop forever. Sooner or later I’m going to have to go downstairs and face the others. If I can manage that without another breakdown. What will I say to them when they ask why I’ve missed my speech?
I have no answer. No real excuse for disappearing.
People expect me to be the Delphine Adams they know.
Theydon’texpect this.
The pressure of it squeezes my chest tight, making it harder to breathe. Dread fills my heart thinking about what my stupid mistakes could do to the Adams’ reputation. Our family name stands for justice in Northam’s eyes.
I’m a public figure. I can’t afford to breakdown. I’m a reflection of my father, of our legacy.
The city depends on us. On me.
I swallow past the lump in my throat and inch forward. The building’s so high up, I could let go of everything and just tip over the edge right now. Free fall to my escape.
A couple more inches. The tip of my shoe reaches the ledge and the wind gives me another gentle push, making me sway.
Just a little bit more. Just one step away from falling to freedom. Just—
“Phi, what the fuck are you doing!?”
A powerful hand clenches around my arm and jerks me backward. I stumble and fall, my body pressed against a larger, stronger figure. I’m dragged far away from the rooftop ledge and then spun around.
What is Salvatore doing here tonight?
8. salvatore
“Phi,are you out of your fucking mind?” I growl, snatching her away from the ledge of the Northam City Bank building. “You could’ve fallen over! What are you doing up here?”
I don’t stop until we’re several paces away from the ledge, carrying her over with my arms wrapped around her front. When I release her, she stumbles a few steps. Eyes wide and glassy, she has a dazed look about her. I grab her by the shoulders and give her a light shake.
“Phi, did you hear me? What’s the matter with you?”
“I’m giving a speech. I have to get back downstairs.”
She tries to squirm out of my hold, but I only grip her shoulders tighter.
“Jon,” she says, using her old nickname for me for the first time in twelve years, “let me go.”
“Not until you tell me what’s up. Something’s off about you.”
“The only thing off is that you’re here.” She pushes at my chest, though I still don’t budge. “You’re not supposed to be here! Are you following me? Ican’tbe seen with you!”
It’s true that I wasn’t invited to tonight’s charity dinner. Nobody wants the mafia associated with a goody-goody event for impoverished children like Fuel the Child. At least not so openly. The corrupt officials in Northam are more than fine with visiting my club for illegal gambling and other debauched activities. Where the public is concerned, they just want to pretend they have scruples.
Fine with me.
I can’t stand any of them anyway.
I only came tonight to set sight on Delphine. Tonight’s the first time in almost three weeks she’s left her apartment for anything other than work. She’s stopped grocery shopping, stopped her morning runs in the park, even stopped going to lunch and dinner with colleagues and friends.
Now she’s drunk. Her words slur and she looks out of it. Alcohol in excess always means something where Delphine is concerned. Not only is she a lightweight, she doesn’t like giving up the control sobriety gives you.
Once upon a time, many years ago, she’d wandered into Club Nirvana alongside her high school best friend Ashley Taylor. While Ashley was preoccupied with relationship troubles with her boyfriend, Delphine was seeking an escape from her problems at home. She’d downed tequila shots and had almost gotten herself mixed up with the wrong crowd at the club.
I’d spotted her from the VIP section and knew from the moment I saw her, she was upset. She was acting out. She was eighteen then.