Page 125 of Paper Coffins

I down the second and turn back to Sebastian.

“I had my suspicions about Alistair.”

Cocking a brow, I take a few steps forwards. “And you didn’t think to share?”

“Whoa, calm the fuck down. I tried at the party. We got interrupted.”

Fuck. He’s right.

“Okay, maybe I should have tried harder. I was trying to get the facts out of her, but she shut me down, and then we had the gala. Something didn’t add up about it all.”

“What gave it away?”

“The cut on her lip.” His words carry with an incredulous tone. “You didn’t notice that, did you?”

“Not until tonight,” I admit, ashamed over the whole debacle. “I didn’t notice that or the bruising on her cheek until I was trying to wipe that bastard’s blood off her.”

“And you didn’t think her behaviour when you caught them was a bit off?”

“I thought she’d been caught in the act!”

In all honesty, I’m more than a little mortified by my poor judgement. Looking back, it wasn’t as it appeared, but I believed it was because I let hurt feelings rule me.

“Fuck!” I scream. “This is all such a fucking mess.”

“Yeah, it is,” Sebastian agrees, but I can tell he doesn’t mean it from my standpoint. “And where is Tally now?”

He uses her sweeter nickname as if to show the sensitiveness of the situation. As if I need reminding. He always had a soft spot for Natalia, always siding with her when we were growing up, but when she left and Alistair told us what had happened, he courteously changed his thoughts and opinions to mirror mine. Not because he had to, but because he lived it with me and was working with the information I was.

“I left her back there.” I nod over my shoulder as if he’ll see through walls. “She told me everything and I just left her.”

“You’re a stupid bastard when you want to be. This isn’t something a woman drops on someone expecting them to walk away without saying a thing.”

“I couldn’t just stay there, Seb!”

“Why not? Now she probably thinks she’s the issue all over again.”

“Urgh,” I grunt, throwing my arms up to cover my face, my hands gripping one another behind my head. “She doesn’t need me to survive this.”

“How do you know that?”

I throw my hands down and cut him a disbelieving look. “She’s managed to survive seven fucking years without me!”

“Believing whatever Alistair told her! She’s spent seven years like we have believing whatever he said was true.”

Falling silent, Sebastian’s mouth starts to twist with thoughtfulness, and his eyes become a little distant.

“What’s with that look?”

“I’m just thinking about something Nicolas said just before he died.”

I rack my brain for the memory, but all I see is his body on the floor as I walked in.

“What exactly?”

“What's done in the dark will always find a way to shine.” His eyes widen, and he looks physically sick. “Do you think Nicolas learned the truth and was killed for it?”

Apparently, the fucking hits just keep coming today.