His glare sears through me, but I don’t look away, my entire body
beginning to shake from the mix of adrenaline, shock, and panic.
Scoffing, he turns away, muttering under his breath, “I can’t fucking
believe this shit. Adeline, what the fuck have you gotten involved in?”
I frown. “I didn’t even do anything, Dad.” He turns back to me with incredulity. “You think I didn’t see the three of
you kill those men in cold blood? The little crazy one—”
“Don’t call me crazy!” Sibby screeches from beside me, causing me to
flinch, the pitch hurting my ears. I pause, noting how manic she looks right now. Her chest is pumping, and her brown eyes are wild, like she’s a tiger cornered in a small cage.
Dad must see it, too, because he trains his glare onto me. “Don’t sit here
and act like you’re the daughter I raised,” he barks. “You just murdered someone.”
“He was going to kill Mom,” I defend, in disbelief he’s lecturing me
right now. He’s in shock and angry, and taking it out on me.
He clenches his teeth, baring them at me as he spits, “If she dies, this
will be all your fault. That bullet hit her because of you!”
His words feel like a bullet of their own, hitting me right in the chest and
punching the air out of my lungs.
“What?” I choke out. “When you were fighting with that guy, and the gun went off,” he barks,
his face reddening. He stares at me like… like I’m a monster. “The bullet ricocheted and hit your mother.”
My mouth opens, speechless. I remember it ricocheting but never saw
where it hit, distracted by the man I was fighting with.
Wave after wave of guilt slams into me, and fuck… this is my fault. I
blink, my vision blurring with a fresh wave of tears. It feels as if my chest is cracking wide open, my heart spilling out right alongside my mother’s.
“She’s not the one that pulled the trigger,” Zade barks, defending me.
Huffing, he turns around and stares out his window, vibrating with fury. “This is your fault, too,” he accuses snidely, directing it toward Zade.
“The both of you. None of this would’ve happened if it wasn’t for your criminal boyfriend, Adeline.”
Zade turns his head to my father, the leather steering wheel groaning
beneath his tightened fists, and for a moment, I’m convinced he’s going to