"The worst kind," she murmured, the bleakness in her eyes not stopping me from stepping over her on my way to Mia.
However, by the time I glanced up, Mia had gone.
Chapter 23
MIA
I ran.
Ran as fast as I could, channeling every ounce of pain and devastation into my feet, willing them to take me as far from the ugliness as I could get.
I had no idea where I was headed, until I reached the main house. This was where I could hide. Regroup. My sanctuary.
I let myself in the back door and bounded up the steps, taking them two at a time, needing the safety of my old bedroom, the one place in this topsy-turvy world I'd always felt safe.
I burst into the room, half expecting it to be converted into another of my dad's trophy rooms. Instead, it was like entering a time warp. Nothing had changed. Nothing. The queen size bed covered in a pink satin throw. The dressing table covered in hairbrushes and make-up and jewelry. The bookcase stacked to overflowing, paperbacks and hardbacks jostling for position three-deep. The corkboard covered in postcards from around the world, from every city my dad played in.
The familiarity drew me in, comforted, as I locked the door, crossed to the bed, and dove under the covers. Where I lay for the next two hours, alternating between crying my eyes out and formulating my plan.
I had to leave tonight; there was no question of staying.
And I couldn't see Kye, that was a given.
Kye.
The guy I'd fallen in love with.
The guy who'd been kissing my best friend.
The guy who'd been lying, cheating scum.
God, I was such a fool.
Had he been playing me all along? I didn't think so, but then, what did I know? With no relationship experience, a guy like him could tell me anything and I'd believe him.
Shit, I had. Believed it all. Every single word he'd fed me.
Had it all been a lie? Or was he tired of me and suring up his bet for once I left? Maybe that was it: Dani would be around once I headed back to Denver and he wanted to move from one girl to another.
As for Dani, nothing she did surprised me anymore. We'd been growing apart for years and our fight had cemented what I'd known for a while. We had nothing in common any more. I was working hard at college to make it on my own. Dani was living off her trust fund, drinking and partying and sleeping her way around LA.
And apparently, she'd decided to sleep with my boyfriend.
The pain gutted me anew, like someone had stuck a knife in my stomach and ripped upward, leaving a jagged, gaping hole leading directly to my heart. It ached with a fierceness that made me gasp for air.
I had to escape. Tonight. Without arousing Dad's suspicions and ensuring Kye kept out of my way.
In the end, it was too easy. The simplicity of my plan would guarantee success.
But it all hinged on one thing: me being able to pull off the biggest con job of the century.
That I was a perfectly normal girl eager to get back to college to help out a friend in need. A girl who hadn't just had her heart torn in two by an absolute bastard.
#
I knew Dad's official clubhouse dinners took three hours, so I texted him to meet me at the house when he was done and spent a good thirty minutes making myself presentable. Washed my face. Practiced smiling in front of the mirror. It didn't look like a grimace and I almost believed I could pull this off, until I saw my eyes. Dull. Lifeless. Empty. Like a light had been switched off.
I blinked several times, trying to erase the devastation. It didn't work, but hopefully Dad would be preoccupied as usual and wouldn't notice. Wouldn't be the first time.
I heard the front door open and close, and took a few more seconds to compose myself before heading for the den, where I knew Dad would be pouring a post-dinner scotch.
He never invited people up to the main house, something I relied on as I knocked once before entering.
"Hey Dad, how was dinner?"
"Same old," he said, not looking up from the glass in one hand, crystal decanter in the other. "What did you do tonight?"
Saw two people I care about betray me. Had my heart broken. Just your average evening. Not.
"Stayed in, grabbed a sandwich while I watched a movie." Thankfully, my voice didn't quiver at all. Good. I could do this. "’Til I got a call from my roommate, and then I packed."
He glanced up, a frown creasing his brow. "Packed?"
"I'm heading back to Denver tonight, Dad." Mustering my best hangdog expression, I sat on the leather sofa, trying to appear relaxed. "Andie's having a few problems and needs my help."
His frown deepened. "What kind of problems?"
I played my trump card. "Woman's problems." Two words guaranteed to strike fear into the heart of any male.
Predictably, my dad appeared uncomfortable as he sat behind his desk and downed half his scotch in one gulp. "Doesn't she have family?"