Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 81635 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 408(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81635 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 408(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
"Oh, no, you will not,” Franny says. "Fuck no," she says, angry now. "You will not give her the time of day." She shakes her head.
I look over at her. "Franny, she can’t get away with this."
"She did this for a reaction." Franny gets up now. "She knew it would get to her, and you would call her. Trust me, I know. I’m a girl." She folds her arms over her chest.
"I don’t give a flying fuck what she is expecting," I say, my voice staying calm. "What she did …" I shake my head, the rage flying through me.
"It’s taken down," she counters.
"And what if she leaks something else?" I stand, looking at her. I can’t believe we are having this conversation in front of her parents. "We don’t even know if there are more cameras in the house." I throw up my hands. "It’s either I go to the lawyer, or I go to her house and I’m pretty sure if I do that, I’ll blow it up." I shrug. "So I’m going with the one that will not land me in jail."
"Or you just ignore it and move on," she says to me. "It’s probably already yesterday’s news."
"It’s eating me up inside." I point at my chest, trying not to raise my voice. "That you were put on display for the whole world to see." I step to her, putting my hand on her cheek. "There’s this burning in the pit of my stomach." I rub her cheeks with my thumbs, my voice going soft. “So much that the rage comes next, and all I want to do is punch something."
"I don’t want anything to happen to you," she admits finally. "What if she’s waiting for you and makes up lies and stories?"
"I can’t not do anything, Frances," I tell her. "You have to meet me halfway here. Let's go see a lawyer and see what he says."
"Fine," she finally says, rolling her eyes, and I bring her face to me to kiss her softly.
"Holy shit," Matthew says. I look over at him, and my hands fly off her face as if someone had lit them on fire. "This isn’t a joke or a onetime thing?" He looks at me and then at Franny, then back at me again.
We stare at each other, and I shake my head. "It’s not."
Chapter 33
Frances
I watch my father and Wilson have a stare-off. My heart pounds in my chest because one, we just had an argument in front of my parents. And then two, he just kissed me in front of my parents. Not just a kiss on the cheek, either—a kiss on the lips. In. Front. Of. My. Parents.
"This isn’t a joke or a onetime thing?" my father says, looking at Wilson, then at me, and back at Wilson.
I watch Wilson when he shakes his head and says, "It’s not." I swear my knees get weak.
"What do you need from us?" My father gets up, and I look over at my mother, who has tears in her eyes. I start to breathe a touch heavy, and I know I need to sit down.
"I need to …" I turn and walk out of the room toward the bathroom. After closing and locking the door, I exhale the big breath I was holding as I drop my head back onto the door. "Oh my God," I say with my eyes closed, the stinging of tears starting to form as my heartbeats start to slow just a bit. "I love him," I mumble to myself. "How in the hell did this happen?" I turn to look at myself in the mirror. "I love him," I repeat, and I think I’m going to be sick. I wet my hands with cold water and pat my cheeks as I fight off throwing up and tears at the same time.
The soft knock on the door has my head turning to the side. "Franny." I hear his soft voice, and I blink away the tears. As I look at myself in the mirror, I see the tip of my nose is a touch red before I open the door. His eyes search mine. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," I reply, pushing down the lump in my throat. Opening the door, I step out. "I just needed a little bit of a breather."
He slips his hand in mine, and instead of walking back to the family room, he brings us to the kitchen where my mother and father are making coffee. "I just ordered breakfast," my mother says, looking over at me, and I can tell she has been crying. I don’t have time to ask her what’s wrong because Vivi comes into the kitchen.
"What did I miss?" Vivi looks around the room. "All guests accounted for." She smirks. "No casualties." My father rolls his eyes. "Dad, are you going soft on me?" She walks to Wilson. "We haven’t met formally." She holds out her hand. "I’m the good sister."