Chapter 66
Chapter 66:
In a burst of feverish rage, he swept his arm across the nightstand. It was a clumsy, weak motion, but enough to send a porcelain vase tumbling to the floor. It shattered with a sharp crack just as she crossed the threshold. The effort left him gasping, and he collapsed back against the pillows, trembling with exhaustion.
Eliza didn’t flinch. She walked down the stairs.
Victoria was waiting at the bottom. “Is he all right p>
“He’s fine. He has enough energy to throw things,” Eliza said flatly.
She opened the front door. The rain had stopped.
She looked toward the gate.
The Maybach was gone.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗼𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗼𝗻
Panic spiked in her chest. Dallas had left?
Then she noticed the bright red convertible parked in the driveway, its top down despite the damp air. Azalea Koch was in the driver’s seat, wearing sunglasses in the dead of night.
“Get in, loser. We’re going for tacos,” Azalea called over the rumble of the engine.
Eliza blinked. “Where is Dallas p>
“He had a situation. He sent the cavalry.” Azalea grinned. “That’s me. Hop in p>
The convertible sped down the highway. The wind whipped Eliza’s hair around her face, stripping away the smell of Hyde Manor from her skin.
“Did you kill him?” Azalea asked casually, shouting over the rush of air.
“No. But I think I killed the memory of him,” Eliza said. She felt lighter. Free.
“Good. He’s trash,” Azalea nodded.
They pulled into a roadside taco stand, its neon lights buzzing in the darkness. They ordered three tacos each and settled on the hood of the car.
“Anson said Dallas is dangerous,” Eliza said, studying her taco. “That he has a dark past. Gaps in his file p>
Azalea froze mid-bite. She lowered her taco.
“Anson is an idiot,” she said. “But he’s not entirely wrong p>
Eliza’s heart dropped. “What do you mean p>
“I mean you know the basics of his past,” Azalea said, her playful demeanor disappearing entirely. “But Anson twists everything. Dad has seen things. Done things. In the war p>
“He was in the military?” Eliza asked. She had known he’d been “away,” but the details were a carefully guarded fortress.
“Special Ops. The scary kind,” Azalea said. “Ghost stuff. But that doesn’t make him bad. It makes him loyal p>
She looked at Eliza. “You know I’m 19, right? Dallas is 32 p>
Eliza did the math. “He had you at 13 p>
Azalea laughed. “Exactly. Biologically impossible, unless he was a very precocious child p>
“I know I’m not his biological daughter,” Eliza said softly. “But Anson was trying to make it sound like Dallas was some kind of predator p>
Azalea’s face hardened. “That’s because Anson is a monster who assumes everyone else is too. Let me tell you what actually happened p>