Page 84 of Outcast’s Return

“Okay, then. I’ll give you clarity. I hate you, Jolie. I hate what you did to me.”

“I don’t believe you.”

Fabien opens his mouth, ready to unleash something else. I brace myself. I deserve whatever he has to say.

But then he pulls himself back. He restrains his darker impulses. Exhales.

And then he whispers the next few words, which is even worse than a tirade.

“I hate that you do not even seem to care what you did to me. I gave you everything, Jolie. I gave you my deepest fear, and you used it against me. You called me the one thing I despise. Sure, fuck the Castaways, but you? I wish I had never snuck down into that kitchen that night all those years ago. I wish I had never met you, Jolie Auclair.”

And then, without waiting for my reply, he abruptly stands up.

“We’re fucking leaving,” he barks.

His glass of wine topples over. The liquid runs down the table, staining it like blood, but Fabien doesn’t give a shit.

He’s already out the door.

32

FABIEN

“Pull up here,” she tells me, pointing at the curb ahead.

“But the penthouse is only a block away,” I reply.

“Pull up, Fabien.”

“This is insane, Jolie. Look outside. It’s going to rain any minute. Why walk?”

She sighs, and then her breath turns venomous.

“I can’t stand being in the same car as you. Not one more minute. Not when you’re like this.”

“Like what?”

“You know. The restaurant. That display there.”

I give in. I pull up along the sidewalk.

I turn in my seat toward her, but before I can ask her what the hell’s going on, she’s out of the vehicle and storming down the block.

Fuck.

I glance up at the nighttime sky. It’s definitely going to rain. It’s dark, and she’s on her own.

She might be crazy, but I have no choice. I have to follow her.

Just say you hate me.

Yes, hating Jolie Auclair would be so easy. It would make everything so fucking simple.

But the reality?

As she stomps away from me, arms crossed, I call after her.

“What are you doing, Jolie?”