sly smile on his handsome face, while his son watched from afar.
They had us all where they wanted us and then they took calculated steps to control and manipulate our lives.
I think back to the way John had Nicky hanging on to his every word. But then, there was something different about the way he was looking down at Nancy just now like she meant the world to him, and the way Nancy didn’t protest at all when I told her where we were going to live.
As for me, John didn’t have to deal with me directly. He sent his sons for that.
A powerful frisson of unease moves through my system and I start clawing at my chest again, my nails scratching at the skin there.
I can’t breathe.
“Mm…” Nancy stutters, anguish in her broken whisper, matching the regret in her eyes, but I just stare back at her, feeling blank, empty, and weak.
Something is seriously wrong here, but I can’t move.
Julian used me.
Liam played me.
Cole helped the brotherly cause.
Did John tell his sons to infiltrate my life, get to know me then when the time came, they were to rip me apart?
“Oh God,” I gasp, as unbridled pain shoots through my chest. Tears sting my eyes as I think of the day Liam seemed to accept me at the hospital. Was he playing me then? “This can’t be happening.”
“I…” Nancy stutters. “Mm…” Her voice is strained, hoarse from not being used. Her body is shaking in the bed, but I just watch.
The loud sounds in the room become shrill, louder, angrier but I feel like I’m sinking down in quicksand. Everything sounds and looks unattainable to me now, so far out of reach.
Then, our gazes lock and hold. Like the calm before a storm, I watch as Nancy’s body calms down before my eyes. She stops moving, her gaze on me with her eyes wide and in that moment, something happens.
This is the last time I’ll ever stare into her eyes.
“No,” I gasp as I look at her. I don’t know how I know this, but as I stare at the woman who raised me with so much love and care, sass and empowerment, something settles in the pit of my stomach.
I hold her gaze as the truth of the near future settles between us.
Wild emotions swirl in her eyes and like she just punched me in the stomach with it, everything in me just…goes numb.
She’s going to die tonight.
As if from a distance, I can hear machines beeping louder and louder. There’s a stampede from somewhere, closing in fast but I can’t look away from Nancy.
“Mia, what happened? I thought you were just talking to her?”
The beeping gets louder as more blurry figures enter my line of sight, but I can’t tell who’s here.
“Mia, call the nurse! What did you do?” my father shouts but I don’t move.
I think there’s an alarm that goes off.
“Mia, do something!”
I think I hear a stampede of feet running down the hall.
“Mia! What did you do?”
I think someone is struggling to breathe, but all I can do is stare.
Meanwhile, there’s a plethora of activity happening around me. I’m pushed out of the way and a blur of white rushes past me. I hear commands being issued. I hear them counting to three then they shout. “Clear!”
I hear John’s panicked voice echoing in the room.
I can see a frail body spasm out of control on the bed, covered by white sheets that are now stained with blood.
Red.
There’s a lot of red here.
Someone is shouting at me, no, they’re shouting her name. No, at me.
Is that Nancy’s voice or is that Nicky’s?
What’s happening?
My head is spinning out of control. I claw at my chest some more.
Darkness closes in on me.
I feel like I’m falling into an abyss of unending torment and as I hear the gurgling of blood, I just… give in to the darkness.
4
“Mia, wake up my love,” an urgent, distressed voice whispers in my ear as someone shakes me violently.
I jerk-knife awake, feeling groggy and disoriented. Where am I?
I look around the room, noticing the beautiful interior design and immediately realize that I’m still at the Fitzgerald mansion, but it’s a room I’ve never seen before.
I look up and see Nicky. She’s crouched on the side of the chaise lounge, tears streaming down her face, despair in her eyes as she hovers over me.
Why is she crying? And why am I here? What was I doing when all this—
“What happened?” I croak out.