Page 21 (1/2)

"You can’t goas well What if I come back horeet me"

"I’ll always be here for you, Noah I will always do everything inis wrong, I will fix it"

"What if I don’t tell you and I keep it to myself?" I said wide-eyed, deliriously happy that Zane was taking so much time to talk to me and show me how much he loved me

"I will always know, Noah Even if you keep it to yourself I will always knohen so And I will always do whatever I can to ician" I yawned and snuggled under the duvet "My very own ht, Noah," he whispered "I’ll never let the bed bugs bite you"

"Did you have any foster brothers and sisters that you were close to?" I sat on Robin’s crea for us This was the second night I was spending at Robin’s and I felt sad that it was likely the last night that either of us would have together

"I had three sisters and three brothers" She handed lass and smiled "However, they are all a lot older than me, so I’m not really close with any of theave her a s where you came from and all that"

"It’s hard" She nodded at me "Some days, I just want to knohat they looked like What they did, why they gave lad I don’t know, because what if it was bad? I don’t want to carry that burden with reed "I was really worried about how Zane would feel about his birthuilt forever"

"You guys are really close, aren’t you?" She took a sip of wine and sat back "It must be nice to have so brother There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for hi to fake your own death" She teased uess"

"Wasn’t it hard keeping it a secret? I’ you, but how could you do that?" She looked at me onder in her eyes "Personally, if you had been iven you I hate being lied to, especially by the people closest to me"

"It was for my brother’s safety" I started and she shook her head

"That’s bullshit" She took a sip of wine "No offence, but you do realize that’s bull He’s your brother and froreat and trustworthy guy You should have told him"

"Sometiave her an earnest look as I said the stateent Waldron had instilled inthe truth"

"What malarkey is that?" She shook her head vehemently "You should never lie to the ones you love What sort of foundation is that for a relationship built on love and honesty?"

"Soed and took a deep gulp of wine I was starting to feel claustrophobic and I didn’t kno er I could continue in this conversation

"I don’t agree" Robin looked upset and ju to eat? I have soood, thanks" I nodded and sat back as she walked into the kitchen I looked around the apartlimpse into her soul The apartment complex itself was sketchy, but her apartment was a real ho was slightly worn, it wasn’t tattered It was lived in and ho that I noticed was that there weren’t a lot of photographs at all, and for some reason that surprised me I looked at a console table with two frames and went over to look at the two photos One appeared to be a photo of her and an older couple, whoraph was a photo of her with a e of jealousy as I looked at the photograph I wanted to knoho the man was and why she still had his photo up in her aparto into the kitchen and demand that she tellso For one, I thought that only a crazy guy would go de anshen he wasn’t even officially in a relationship, and secondly, I realized that this o act all jealous and then just leave? I already felt like scu to be leaving Los Angeles the next day The phone call with Skylar was still at the forefront of o," Robin walked back into the roory, I put quite a bit on the plate"

"Thanks I’rabbed souy in the photo?" I pointed to the console and alreenout

"Oh," Robin paused "That’s ave her a quick s to pretend I was not terribly disappointed "Do you still love him and miss him, then?"

"No" She shook her head slowly "Not really"

"So sohed and sat back "I don’t have feelings for him anymore But sometimes I miss him We used to be friends"

"I see" I didn’t see and I didn’t want to do anything but smash the photo

"Do you still miss your ex?" Robin looked at me curiously and her eyes were alert

"No," I shook hed and then paused "Well, no, I don’t hate her But I dislike the person she is She’s the sort of woman who makes you want to protect her because she acts like she’s a victi from her"

"Sounds like she really hurt you"

"She did hurt me" I said bitterly "In her oay, she hurt me the best way she kne"

"I’m sorry"

"Don’t be It’s not your fault She was married, you know She escaped fro her She even had some scars She was really broken I knew that from the start I could see it in her face, hear it in her voice We both were in Palm Bonita because we had to be, not because anted to be, and we both missed the outside world That’s hoe bonded" I talked more than I had expected to, but I wanted Robin to understand Maybe not today or toone and why, I wanted her to remember this conversation and understand why I had to leave I wanted her to knoasn’t because I didn’t like her