Love the Way You Lie(55)

I close my eyes as I wait for the pain and nausea to pass. When I open them again Clara is holding a glass of water and two white pills in her palm. “No,” I say. “No more of that.”

“The doctor said—”

“I don’t care what he said. They mess with my head. I haven’t been sure if I’m awake or asleep. I wasn’t even sure if I was dead or alive.”

Clara’s eyes fill with tears. Her hand closes around the pills as her lip trembles. “Oh, Honor.”

“I’m sorry,” I say, immediately contrite. I’m still not taking the pills though.

“Don’t apologize,” she says, sniffing. “I’m the one who left you there. I can’t believe I left you. How can you forgive me?”

“There’s nothing to forgive. I’m glad you left.” The image of Clara tied to that bed, being beaten by a belt, is one that will never leave my head. I feel sick with it.

With a sigh, she drops the pills onto the table. They roll until one falls off the edge. The other one comes to a stop. “At least have a sip of water. You need liquids. And rest.”

“I’m fine now that you’re here.” Not exactly fine, not with a million miles between me and Kip. I’m staying in his house, but there’s more distance between us now than ever. “Speaking of which, how did you know it was safe to come back?”

“I never left. Not really. You know our neighbor on the right side?”

“The one with the mullet?”

“No, the other side. The one cooking meth on that hot plate. Anyway he came and warned me about some guys poking around. It was sweet actually.”

Wait. Her expression is way too appreciative. “Please tell me you don’t have a crush on Meth Guy.”

She rolls her eyes. “I wasn’t sure they were there for us. There are a lot of shady people in that place, you know. But I figured it would be safer to leave. I took the statue out of the window so if you came back before me you’d know it wasn’t safe.”

“And then you left town.” That was the plan anyway, but I’m starting to have suspicions. Especially with that faintly guilty expression on her usually open face.

“Not exactly.” She makes an exasperated sound. “I didn’t want to leave without you, okay? Is that a crime?”

“So where did you go?” Suddenly the ceiling becomes the most interesting thing in the world to her. “Clara?”

She still won’t meet my eyes. “I went looking for you, that’s all.”

Oh no. My eyes narrow. “Where would you possibly look for me?”

“I went to the Grand, okay?” The words are ripped from her. “I went there, and I know you’re going to freak out but don’t. It was fine.”

Okay, somehow I survived Byron. But I’m not so sure I can make it through this. It’s like there’s an anvil on my head. “Are you lying to me right now? Tell me you’re lying.”

A sigh. “Look, you went there like every day. But I can’t go there even once?”

“No,” I say flatly. I want to stomp around, but that would hurt a lot. More than that, I want to wrap her in a bubble, one where creepy dudes will never stare or paw at her.

“They were actually really nice.”

This only makes me more suspicious. “Who was nice?”

“Everyone! I met Lola and Candy. They were cool once they found out I was your sister. At first they were worried about Ivan seeing me, but he said I could stay as long as I needed to.”

So this is what an aneurysm feels like. Okay then. “He’s a mobster, Clara. Like Dad.”

She turns pensive. “Maybe that’s why I felt comfortable with him. Maybe growing up like we did has made us twisted or something, like dangerous guys feel safe.”

I stare at her in shock. How did she know? It had taken me forever to figure that out. And by then it was too late. I was already head over heels for a dangerous man. Already in love with his boots and his scruff and the stories he tells.

There’s something around her neck. I recognize it—but not on her.

“What’s that?” I ask.

She looks down, a faint smile on her lips. Her fingers grasp the marble cross I’d seen Kip wear. “He said it’s for me. Something my father—my real father—left behind when he… He said I could have it.”

My heart melts at the wonder in her voice. Of course she’d known she wasn’t my father’s daughter. And Kip must have told her the whole story. Or at least the PG-13 version. I’m glad Clara can have that sense of family now, even if it’s laced with betrayal and pain. At least now she knows where she came from.