an extra fifteen minutes at lunch.”
She pouts, and I know that look. She’s trying to start shit, and it’s all because she saw me run off with Demi.
“Who’s the rich bitch that came in here looking for you? New girlfriend?” Pandora leans over the counter, her tits falling out of her unbuttoned top. I don’t look, and I’m sure that pisses her off.
“Not new,” I say.
“Old girlfriend?” Pandora huffs through her nose.
“Yep.”
I clock back in at the computer beside her and turn to leave, only her nails dig into the flesh of my forearm.
Groaning, I face her.
“Does she know?” she asks, one pencil-thin brow arched. “Does she know what you are?”
A flood of panic courses through me so quickly it stings. Out of hundreds of scenarios, Demi finding out from someone like Pandora never crossed my mind. They were never supposed to cross paths in the first place. I never counted on Demi showing up in South Fork out of the blue.
“She knows everything,” I lie. I have no choice. I’ll be damned if I let Pandora hold anything over my head, especially my past.
The fact that Demi came to me today tells me we’re making progress. If Pandora fucks me over . . .
Pandora turns her back to me. “You’re a shitty liar, Royal.”
Twenty-Five
Demi
* * *
“Oh, my God. Where have you been?” Delilah slams the passenger door of my car and yanks the seatbelt over her lap. “I’ve been calling you since this morning when I heard.”
“My phone died.” I point to my black-screened phone and the white cord running into the car charger. It didn’t die at all, but the excuse works in a pinch. And it’s easier than telling her what I was really doing.
“Have you been at the hospital? How’s Brooks?”
“He’s been with doctors all day. They’re running a bunch of tests, and I couldn’t really stick around since I’m not legally family, so I left.”
“You left? Like, you left the hospital.” Delilah cranks my heater. I turn it down a few notches.
I nod and flick on my right turn signal.
My sister slumps in her seat. “Oh. So did you at least say bye? Tell him you were coming back? Did he recognize you?”
“It was a little chaotic. There were a lot of doctors and nurses. I doubt anyone noticed I left.”
Delilah’s lips dance, moving from a frown to a smile and back. “Wait. So your comatose fiancé wakes up, and the first thing you do is leave the hospital?”
My hands shake, and I attempt to steady them with a firm grip on the steering wheel.
“You’re judging me, Delilah.”
“Damn right, I’m judging you. This isn’t like you. Like, who are you right now?” She shakes her head before giving me a sideways glance. “You’re hiding something. This is about Royal, isn’t it?”
My body tremors from head to toe, and my vision blurs. The closer we get to the hospital, the sicker I feel. But it’s an emotional kind of sickness. The kind you can’t fix with modern medicine.
I check my mirrors and veer off to the side of the road, pulling into a row of empty parallel parking spots in front of the Rixton County Courthouse.
“Jesus, Demi, what the hell?” Delilah angles her body toward me and scoots to the edge of the seat. “Are you okay? Tell me what’s going on. Now.”
My body expands with each breath, and still it acts like it can’t get enough air. I roll my window down and inhale the cool air like my life depends on it.
“I knew it,” Delilah says. “This is about Royal. He’s the only one who can make you act like a damn lunatic.”
When I’m finally able to speak, I meet her glaring stare and clear my throat. “This is about so much more than you know.”
“All right. Fine. Enlighten me.”
“The night of the accident, Brooks left me. He ended the engagement.”
Delilah’s judgmental expression fades and her eyes soften. “What? Seriously?”
“His bags were packed when I came home from work. He said he wanted out. And I didn’t try to stop him.”
She takes my trembling hand and sandwiches it between hers.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Her head tilts, her voice just a smidgeon whiny.
“I didn’t think anyone would believe me. I mean, look at the timing.” My throat constricts. “And you love Brooks so much. You’re so excited about the wedding.”
“I believe you, Demi.”
“You . . . you do?”
Delilah nods. “I know you’d never make something up like this.”
“Yeah, but you’re my sister. You know