Page 68 of Downfall

“You,” we both say in unison.

“Me?” Her brows crash together in confusion.

“He found out we kissed,” Ashton explains, still exasperated.

Skylar reaches back, touching the base of her neck with her palm. “I don’t…” She shakes her head slightly. “We were only fifteen when that happened.”

“I was sixteen,” I clarify. Not that it makes a difference. “And the bastard stole your first kiss,” I add, glaring at Ashton.

“I didn’t steal anything,” Ash cuts in. “We both consented to it.”

“Why would you even care?” I see the metaphorical wheels turning as she works it out in her head. “You…you had a thing for me back then? Before we even⁠—”

Ashton nearly cackles, but I shoot him a look that effectively shuts him up. I’m not having this conversation with him here, especially because he still has an unhinged look in his eye.

“Can we talk about this later?” I ask her.

She takes a long, steadying breath. “Yeah, okay.”

I jog up the stairs two at a time, ignoring Ashton’s insistence that he’s not done with me. He can kick the shit out of me another time. I’ll happily lie down and take every blow, but right now, I need time to think. Not because I’m angry that she told Ashton—it was time—but because Skylar deserves to know that I still love her, that I’ve never stopped loving her. Not since I laid eyes on her when I was thirteen years old. In order to do that, for there to be nothing else that gets between us, I have to figure out a way to take down my father.

Unfortunately, the one person who might be able to help me is the last person I want to call.

28

SKYLAR

There are only two weeks left until my birthday, and I’m no closer to knowing what to do. It’s an arbitrary date. It’s not like we have to decide to get divorced the second the trust fund hits my account, but somehow it still feels monumental. When we first entered into this agreement, six weeks felt like an eternity. I wasn’t sure how I could stand to be near Declan for that amount of time, and now I don’t know if I can leave him. What if he really was only trying to protect me from becoming powerless like his mother? But did he not have any faith in me? He must have known I wouldn’t let that happen. As much as I grew up feeling like I needed to apologize for being myself, I never wanted to be invisible. He didn’t even give me the opportunity to prove that I was more than a meek little bookworm.

It makes me think about our conversation when we watched Casablanca.

He does the selfless thing because he knows she’s better off without him.

Declan was talking about himself, but like Rick, he made the decision on his own. I was strong enough, or I would have been if he had given me the chance.

My phone chimes again, so I take it out to turn it on silent, but when I notice the text messages are from an unknown number, I swipe it open.

Unknown

I have what you need

Unknown

27 Shadowbridge Rd. #30D

What the hell? Does someone know I’ve been poking around in Marshall Astor’s affairs? I quickly type the address into a maps website on my computer. It’s on the other side of town, but still only about ten minutes away. Either someone is trying to help me or it’s a set-up. Either way, I owe it to myself and to Declan to check it out.

Opening the bottom drawer of my desk, I throw the can of pepper spray I keep there into my purse. It dawns on me for a split second that maybe I should bring someone with me, but I don’t need anyone else getting involved in this mess, not even Declan. Once I know what we’re dealing with, I’ll tell him everything.

Abandoning my trash can article, I grab my purse and head to my car. In the time that it takes to drive to the address, I almost talk myself out of it five times, but every time I think what would Isla do? She may have let Rick walk all over her, but she was also kind of a badass. She definitely would have gone to check this out.

The maps app on my phone leads me to a community of townhouses at the edge of town. There are cookie-cutter rows of houses that all look identical, aside from some of them having different-colored curtains in the windows, or planters full of bright flowers hanging by the front door. I look at the house to my left, which is marked number fifteen. The numbers seem to be increasing, so I keep going until I get to thirty. House thirty has a ‘D’ off to the side of the door.

Am I supposed to go knock on it?

Ilsa would knock.

I take a deep breath and unbuckle my seatbelt, but before I can get out, another text comes through.