Page 321 of Double or Nothing

I need to believe that.

“And Jack?” I ask.

Dad waves a hand.

“Reid is of no concern to me. He’s nothing but a leech with an arrogant ego. He’ll be fucking some other rich girl before the end of the week.”

The thought of that stabs. Hard. But that’s one I can’t dispute, not really. I don’t know exactly what Jack will be doing before the end of the week.

Maybe he will he fucking someone else. At least I’ll never know.

“Tonight should’ve been one of the finest moments of my life,” I say.

Dad smiles. He actually smiles.

“It still can be. We can still celebrate your success now that the mess has been cleared up.”

“No. It can’t. It’s dead to me. I don’t ever want to see a paintbrush again.”

I curl my fingers around Christopher’s ring.

For one second, I imagine pulling it off and going back on my promises. Telling them all to fuck off and leave me alone.

Then I see Mum’s tears. Fresh ones.

Dad’s eyes warming, as though I’m a child that needs comfort after being told off.

Christopher’s quiet satisfaction. Piece of shit.

“Don’t say that,” Mum says. “You love your art, Alice. It will be ok again.”

I shake my head. “No. It won’t be. But that doesn’t matter, does it? I’ll be far too busy being a wife and a mother, attending gatherings and playing the role.” I let go of the ring, accepting my fate. “I’ll do what I said.”

Christopher’s smile is almost invisible, but it’s there.

Dad nods once.

“Good.”

One short word.

Approval.

The reward I spent my childhood chasing.

It feels like a prison door slamming shut. The black line stronger than ever.

But that’s ok.

Bryce is safe. Bryce is secure. Bryce’s career isn’t going to be taken from him, even though I’m abandoning mine.

Bryce’s life won’t be torn to pieces because I was reckless and wild, and believed I could ever be anything but a Parker. He was simply caught up in the crossfire.

That’s the very best I can do.

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

JACK