Page 13 of Overdosed: Her Dark Side
Okay, Melanie. A deep breath. I knew I couldn’t let Karl in. At the same time, I knew I couldn’t come off as too distressed. A thousand excuses ran through my head, but none seemed good enough. I was terrified. I knew Hope would wake up any minute now, and knowing Karl’s intentions, his finding out about her was the last thing I wanted.
“Melanie?” he pressured, peeking behind my arm. I felt the weight of his gaze as if it was exposing the truth. He was already getting suspicious, and I felt like I was losing the ground beneath my feet.
“I mean—” My voice caught in my throat. A chilling shiver raced through my veins. I didn’t know what to say or what to do. I started panicking, the tension became unbearable, and time seemed to slow to a crawl. I could swear I heard my own heartbeat echoing in my ears like a drumbeat warning of the inevitable storm. Disaster. Danger.
I jumped in dread; the loud sound of a gunshot pierced through the air, and its deafening squeal muffled everything else.
“Karl?!” I yelled, watching his inert body collapsing to the ground. A pool of blood around him.
“Y-you?” He choked on his words as his head turned in the same direction as mine.
A wave of cold washed over me. I saw a silhouette of a man holding a gun, staring at me with his eyes dead empty. “Callan?” I gasped. “Why did you do this?” I muttered, struggling to catch my breath. I felt like I was suffocating.
“I had to. Otherwise, he would’ve found out about Hope. He would’ve hurt you,” he mumbled, his tone seemed so lifeless. “I did it to protect you.”
SEVEN
Shane
Iwoke up to the sound of my phone ringing, the noise cutting through the silence like a broken tape on repeat. Groggily, I fumbled for it on the nightstand, sliding away from Paige. Her arm was draped across me like a shackle. I freed myself from her embrace, and last night’s memories hit me like a wrecking ball. After we left the club, I took her to my car to fuck. Or the other way around because as soon as we got in the car, she was all over me, kissing and undressing me like a horned cat. She was ready to ride me there on the backseat of my Bugatti, but I couldn’t. Anders’ words kept echoing in my ears again. All over again, my mind started picturing all the possible things my brother did to the woman I loved in my very own car. Fuck, now I had to get rid of my brand-new Bugatti that I had bought just a month ago. I ended up taking Paige to my apartment. All night long, she eagerly tried to satisfy me as if trying to prove she was the best I’d ever had. Well, quite the opposite. The worst sex ever.
Obliviously hugging the space where I used to be, Paige mumbled in her sleep. I ran my hands through my face, trying to wake myself up. The room was still dim. I squinted at my phone. It was just five in the morning. An unknown number flashed on my phone screen. Five unanswered calls. I got out of bed and walked toward a large window with a view of Manhattan, my phone to my ear. A deep breath escaped my lungs as I listened to loud, long beeps. Until the voice on the other end sent a jolt through me.
“Shane?”
I froze. In an instant, I was well awake. “Melanie?”
“I was afraid you’d changed your phone number.” Her uncertain voice was barely above a whisper.
My gaze dropped, and my cheek sucked in. “I’ve kept it. In case you ever called.”
The line fell into a deafening silence. Each second felt like a void in my heart was growing further.
“Where are you, babe?” Paige’s sleepy voice broke the muteness.
I exhaled deeply, my eyes closed shut. I knew Melanie had heard it, and for some fucked up reason, it hurt me. Maybe I was being delusional, but I was hoping deep down she still had feelings for me. Even after all that happened. I felt like I was betraying her, betraying our love. At the same time, I couldn’t get the images of her and Anders out of my head, which led me to this point.
No, I wasn’t a saint. I’d had some women during these three years. I’d had episodes when I would get wasted and end up with some random chick. Mainly on the nights when I drowned in my thoughts. The haunting thoughts that she had moved on with somebody else. That she had moved on with another man.
Fuck, I had never assumed the other man is my brother.
I even had a period when I wanted to forget Melanie and move on. After all, she disappeared and gave me no sign of life for three years. She tried to vanish and move on without me, so I wanted to do the same.
I failed. Every time.
“You’re… not alone.” Melanie’s tone was half a statement, half a question.
“Does it bother you?”
“Not at all.” She cleared her throat.
She couldn’t see it, but I nodded. My gaze dropped, and I squeezed the bridge of my nose. “Why are you calling me at this hour, Melanie? Did something happen?”
She hesitated for a moment before mumbling in a hushed tone, “I’m at Presbyterian Hospital. Your father has been shot. He’s in the surgery.”
A cold chill swept through my body. “I’ll be there soon,” I said and hung up. My mind was in a haze. What happened that my father had been shot? Why was it Melanie to notify me about it?
I felt the warmth of Paige’s hands wrapping around me from behind. Her breath brushed against my nape. “It was the best sex I’ve ever had.”
