Chapter 4All My Love Went to You

Regina’s return was sudden. Her flight was the next afternoon, leaving me no time to process the wreckage of the previous night. I had to plaster a serene mask on my face and prepare to greet the best friend I hadn't seen in years.

Nolan, however, was a different story. Since last night, his recklessness had only intensified. While I was brushing my teeth, he crowded in behind me, his taller frame easily eclipsing mine.

"You smell so good, Kate."

His hot breath ghosted across my neck. Before I could even spit out the toothpaste, his mouth was on mine, his tongue aggressively sweeping away the foam.

"Nolan!"

I shoved him away, my hands trembling. I raised one to strike him again, but it faltered mid-air. Under his defiant, brazen gaze, I finally slapped him, hard.

"This is the last time I'm telling you," I seethed, my voice dangerously low. "I am your godmother!"

That was the second time I’d hit him. In all the years before, even when he was a snarling twelve-year-old fresh from overseas, covered in bruises and bristling with anger, lashing out at everyone, I had never once laid a hand on him.

Slap.

Nolan's head snapped to the side. A thin trickle of blood appeared at the corner of his lip. The dam of my feigned composure instantly cracked.

"...Does it hurt?"

I reached for him, but he flinched away. He stood just outside the bathroom door, his large frame hunched, radiating a dark, obsessive energy. My own weakness overwhelmed me. It took everything I had not to break. I finally managed to turn my head away, unable to meet his gaze.

"Regina's flight gets in tonight. You're coming with me to pick her up."