voice is hoarse, until I have no more voice, but no one ever comes to save me.
Nineteen
Daphne
Rachel shoves down the hoodie of her sweatshirt and holds up her hands. “It’s me.”
Like that’s supposed to make me feel better about the situation.
Her normally perfectly styled blonde hair is loose around her face, with dark roots showing. She’s in yoga pants and a baggy, shapeless sweater. There are dark craters under her eyes. She looks fragile, but all the more beautiful for it.
Of course she’s the one woman who looks amazing even when she’s a wreck. I brush crumbs off my lap from the teacakes with Armand, and tug up the sleeve of my boat neck sweater, which has fallen off my shoulder. I look like seven types of shit.
“Daphne, I am so, so, so sorry.” She’s stopped a few feet away from me, wringing her hands.
I scoff. Does she really expect me to believe that? Especially after she just broke into my house, on top of everything else?
“Adam blackmailed me,” she blurts. “I didn’t want to help him with any of it.”
“What?”
“He’s had dirt on me a long time. I know you’re mad, and you have a right to be. But I can explain.” Her eyes drop to the floor in shame. “A few years ago, remember when my dad needed surgery?”
In spite of myself, my heart tugs. “Rachel, I told you I could help you out, no strings attached.”
When she looks up, a tear is streaking down her cheek. “I was too proud. I thought I could fix it on my own.”
“How?”
She swipes angrily at her tears and swallows hard.
“Belladonna has an annual slush fund for company parties. It’s stupid and nonessential and no one ever usually checks the balance but me since I’m the chair of the committee. I just needed $2000 to pay off the hospital so they wouldn’t foreclose on Dad’s house. I knew I could pay it back as soon as I got my tax refund. And I did. In full. The money was only missing a few weeks. It seemed harmless.”
My thoughts are on a merry-go-round. I was barely able to sleep last night after they took Logan away, but that reminds me—
“You drugged me.” The betrayal still cuts deep.
“Not me. Adam.” Her voice is desperate. “Look, I know you won’t believe me. I can only imagine what he’s told you—”
“That you instigated the whole thing so you could sell my pictures to the Inquirer.”
“What?” she rage screeches. I flinch. “Sorry,” she drops her voice, still fuming. “I can’t believe he accused me. That lying...cheating…”
“Douche canoe?”
“The douchiest!” She throws her hands up in the air. I shouldn’t laugh, but it’s amazing seeing Rachel like this. Her hair’s mussed and her cheeks are red with rage. It’s a good look for her.
I want to throw my arms around her. I miss my best friend so badly. But my naïveté has cost me too much, too many times.
So I hold myself back and gesture at the kitchen table. I sit at the opposite side and fold my hands together. “So what happened then?”
She nods, swallowing hard again, and returns to her story. “It should have been harmless. But somebody did notice the money was missing.”
“Adam,” I say.
Furtively, she looks my way and nods.
“Adam,” she agrees. “I didn’t even know Archer Industries had access to our books until he showed up in my office one day looking for answers. We weren’t officially affiliated with them back then.”
I know the answer to that. Dad. No doubt Adam made the request, framing it in such a way as if he was looking out for my dad’s interests… When all along it was just another lever of control for Adam, always on the hunt for any weakness.
And he found one in Rachel.
Rachel’s eyes are back on the table. “At first it wasn’t anything big. He just said I might owe him a favor in the future. Then sometimes he’d show up at my apartment in the middle of the night and I got the idea it was in my best interests not to say no.” The last part comes out as a whisper.
“Back then I was still trying to pretend that I was into it. He was hot and New Olympus’ Most Eligible Bachelor three years running…”
She sucks in a deep breath. “But then he started dating you.” Her eyes dart up to meet mine and then away again. “He said I should encourage it. When I balked, that’s when he