Heartbreak Me by T.L. Smith Page 0,33
following week.
I send it back, and don’t hear from him again that week.
Peace.
Chapter Sixteen
Theadora
The police ring me the following week and ask me to go to Lucy’s apartment. When I arrive, they tell me that Mandy overdosed, and they ask about my sister. Mandy reported her missing last week, and they want to know if I’ve heard from her. Just as I am about to speak, the door opens and in strides Atlas himself. He walks straight over to me, grips my waist, and kisses my cheek, pulling me to him. The police officer watches us with narrowed eyes. Just as I am about to pull away, Atlas grips me harder so I’m unable to.
“You two together?” the officer asks, writing something on his notepad.
“Yes,” Atlas answers for me.
“I assumed you didn’t date, Mr. Hyde.” The officer looks up from his pad and eyes Atlas.
“You know what they say about people who assume,” he replies.
My cheeks are on fire from where his lips touched me. I lift my hand to see if I can wipe away his touch, but he seems to know what I’m planning and pulls me to him even harder, so our bodies are touching everywhere.
“So, Miss Fitzgerald, your sister?”
“Lucy. We just saw her.” Atlas talks for me again, for which the officer eyes him, and then turns back to me.
“Is this true?”
Atlas grips me to him.
“Yes. Yes, it’s true.”
“Okay, well, either you have to take her stuff or the landlord will get rid of everything.”
“Thank you, I will deal with it.” I nod, and the officer leaves, leaving me standing in my sister’s apartment with Atlas. The last time I was here, I found Mandy dead. And now I am glued to a man who’s pretending to be my boyfriend, and who will not let go of my waist, even after the officers have left.
“You can let go now,” I say, trying to pull away.
“Did you want to tell him?” he asks, keeping me tight to him.
I’m afraid to look up at him. My hands stay planted on his chest, making sure he can’t move me any closer than what I already am. But also, ready to push him away the minute I can.
“I wouldn’t have.”
“What did she say to you?” he asks.
“Who?”
Atlas squeezes me and lifts my face, so it is now resting on his chest. I can see the flower on his collarbone. He won’t let me go, and now my hands are on his pecs.
“You like to play dumb when I know for a fact you are anything but,” he states, shaking his head. “Is this a game you’re playing with me? Some sort of payback?”
I push off of his chest, but don’t get far. He holds me securely against him, and I look up into his eyes.
“If you want to ask me what Lucy said, then ask.”
“What did Lucy say?”
“I never said I would tell you.” I tilt my head and smile a fake smile.
He bites his bottom lip in frustration and pulls me impossibly close to him. “Are you trying to make me want to dispose of you like I should have?”
“Do it.” I dare him.
He looks down at me with his eyebrows pinched together, almost forming a perfectly straight line. “You would rather that than deal with me?”
“Possibly.”
“Am I that bad to you?” he asks with sincerity in his voice.
“This is not what I want. This is not what I signed up for.”
Atlas loosens his hold, just a fraction, not enough where he lets go of me completely, just enough where I can breathe a little easier.
“You are a good girl, are you not?”
“What kind of question is that?”
“Have you ever done anything bad in your life?”
“No,” I answer. “And I don’t plan to. And I am more than happy with that choice,” I tell him. “Will you let me go now?” I ask, pushing at him once more.
He nods, steps back, and lets me put distance between us. “Lucy has done many things that are bad. Illegal. Can I tell you a bit about her you may not know?”
“I know my sister,” I tell him. I may not agree with her, but I know her.
Atlas walks over to the counter and taps his fingers along the top, then grips it as he turns to look at me. “Lucy’s been doing illegal shit for quite some time. And it all started with her first hit, when she got away with doing something she shouldn’t have. She never learned her lesson,