Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 109368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
The door closed behind us and I waited for London to make the first move.
She dropped my hand, her arm trembling as she raised it to take off the cap and sunglasses.
Fury exploded through me, and I had to suck in a breath to contain it.
Her right eyelid was swollen and there was dark bruising all around the socket and top of her cheekbone. A sob burst out of London, and I grabbed her to me, wanting to shelter her from Nick with my entire being.
I tried not to cry, but I couldn’t stop the tears.
When one of us was in pain, we were both in pain.
She clung to me so hard, her fingernails bit into my back, but I didn’t care. I held her as she rattled both our bodies with the force of her sobs.
41. Tierney
Icalled for chamomile tea and snacks as London cleaned herself up as much as she could in the bathroom.
She stayed in there when the room service arrived and didn’t come out until the server was gone. If he’d noticed my eyes were red and swollen from crying, he didn’t comment.
“Sorry for breaking down like that,” London apologized quietly as she approached the sitting area.
I pushed a cup of chamomile toward her. “Don’t be. I’m sorry I couldn’t keep it together for you.”
The corner of her mouth quirked up. “You cry, I cry. I cry, you cry.”
That was true.
It always had been.
London slipped into the chair opposite me, her shaky hands reaching for the hot cup. “I don’t know how I got here,” she whispered.
I knew she didn’t mean to my hotel.
“You can tell me anything, you know. Nothing you say will ever make me love or admire you any less.”
Tears flooded her eyes again. “But I let him do this to me.”
I controlled my anger. “You didn’t let anyone do anything to you.”
“He wasn’t like this at first.” She smirked bitterly. “He was charming. I thought his confidence was sexy. The sex was great.” Self-flagellation glowed in her eyes as she looked at me. “You knew, though, didn’t you? These last few months that’s all I kept thinking was that you knew something was off about him and you tried to tell me, and I didn’t listen.”
“London—”
“Why couldn’t I see it?” she hissed. “I saw it in Hugh. I saw what a creep he was. Why couldn’t I see it in his friend? Why did I let this happen?”
“You didn’t let anything happen. This happened to you.”
“It was … it wasn’t like this at first,” she repeated. “It was gradual. Little negative comments about my job and my friends. Things I let get in my head over time because they were, like, my deep buried insecurities. How did he see them? How did he pluck them out and use them against me?” She swiped at a tear in frustration. “Stuff like … how I worried I wasn’t good enough at my job. That maybe I couldn’t handle the stress or the hours. That my friends there weren’t really my friends but liked that my name could get them into places.” Shame paled her features. “That you left me behind because you didn’t love me like I loved you.”
I covered my mouth to cover a sob.
“I’m sorry,” she cried. “I know that’s not true.”
“I’m sorry I left you,” I apologized through my tears. “I’m sorry you’ve been going through this alone.”
London huffed, wiping at her cheeks. “I was the one who told you to go. And you had big-world shit going on, Silver. I let you down, not the other way around.”
“I don’t believe that. I will never believe that.”
“He said I did.” She turned to stare out at the city. “Nick said I was a shit friend and that I didn’t deserve you. Of course, that was weeks after he told me you were a shit friend and I deserved better.” She chuckled unhappily. “By that point, I knew he was a fucking asshole. I just …” London tentatively touched her cheek. “I tried to leave after the first time he hit me. He was being a pretentious asshole, and I was starting to really not like him. I said so. He punched me. I was so stunned I barely heard him threaten to kill me if I left. Every time I tried to leave, he would remind me he had the kind of power that meant he could kill me and get away with it. And I believed him.”
“London …” I didn’t know what to say. What to do that would make it all better.
“It was easier to give him what he wanted.” She shrugged, vacillating it seemed between high emotion and numbness. “I quit my job. Became his little arm ornament. My parents love him.” London scoffed. “They met him at this stupid fucking art gala thing last month and told me that they were so proud of me.”