Page 148 of Forged

I drag a hand over my face and sit up slowly. My head throbs violently, the scotch still pulsing through my system like a punishment. Fuck, I don’t even remember getting back to the estate last night.

“Hold on,” I mutter.

I open the door before she can knock again. Violette stands inthe hallway wearing a perfectly tailored charcoal dress and the expression of a prison warden.

“You look terrible,” she says.

“Good morning to you too.”

“You smell like a distillery.” She frowns.

“That’s because Enzo kidnapped me on my way into a drunken stupor.”

She steps into the room without asking permission, her gaze moving across the rumpled bed and the jacket I dropped on the floor when I got here.

“You’re hungover and dramatic,” she says calmly. “That’s a terrible combination.”

I sit on the side of the bed.

“Did Enzo send you in here to interrogate me?”

“Enzo is downstairs handling a situation involving a very unpleasant Kelly Kavanaugh.”

That pulls my attention.

“He caught her?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

Violette’s smile mocks me.

“If you hadn’t slept half the day away, you would know that Dom and his men secured her this morning. She’s in one of the cells.”

I rub my temples slowly.

“There’s so much going on right now.” I exhale.

She walks to the window and pulls the curtain open, letting the morning light spill across the room. The brightness makes my head pound harder.

“You’re not allowed to hide in here,” she says.

“I’m not hiding.”

“Yes, you are and don’t argue with me. You won’t win.”

I lean back against the headboard.

“How did I not see it, Vi? How did I let this happen? I shouldhave seen a sign, I should’ve been smarter,” I whisper, fighting tears.

“The only reasonable explanation is that he was very good at his job. Maybe there weren’t any signs to warn you.”

I look down at my hands in my lap. “Vi, is it wrong that I think I still love him?”

She reaches out and takes one hand. “I don’t think so. You had very strong feelings for him and it can be hard to let that go. You’ll get there.”

“What if I don’t want to let it go?”