Page 112 of Collateral Love
“That’s because I was busy trying to help you.”
She sniffed.
“Yeah,” she murmured. “You messed that up pretty good.”
I let out a breath that almost sounded like a laugh. “Not my best work.”
Her eyes drifted toward the book still sitting in my lap.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“A small-town romance,” I said. “By Chante Bellamy.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“You? Reading romance?”
“I told you I was trying something new.”
She picked the book up and flipped it open.
“You didn’t even make it past chapter two,” she teased.
“I got distracted.”
“Clearly.”
She settled deeper into the pillows and began reading aloud.
“The town of Willow Creek was the kind of place where everybody knew your name and nobody locked their doors. The kind of place where broken hearts had room to heal and love had time to grow”
Her voice was soft and uneven at first. But as she kept reading, it steadied. I listened to her, letting the words wash over the room. For the first time since Charles tried to take my life, my chest loosened just a little.
Channy paused and looked up at me. “You know what the problem with these books is?” she said.
“What?”
“They always act like love is simple.”
I snorted quietly.
“Yeah. They definitely skipped our story.” She smiled faintly and nudged my shoulder.
“Maybe we’re just the dramatic version.”
“Maybe.”
She went back to reading, her voice filling the quiet house.
Outside, the night settled deeper around us.
And for the first time in a long time, we were just two sisters again. Curled up in the same bed. Crying. Healing.
Listening to a love story while the rest of the world waited for morning.
They served Chanel at noon.
They waited until she stepped out of a meeting at her fucking job. Two men trailed her because humiliation is part of the strategy.
