Two Can Play (Celeste and Dominic) novel Chapter 530

TASHA

I freshened up and got ready to leave, but I was not ready to face Sparrow yet. Not after what happened between us last night. The memory of the whip still burned across my skin, a brand I could not scrub off no matter how hard I tried, and the shame that followed it was a cold stone in my stomach. I could not look at him without seeing the disgust in his eyes, the way he had looked at me like I was something he had stepped in and could not wait to scrape off his shoe.

So I decided to wait in my room until he had left. I sat on my bed, listening to the house come alive around me. The pipes groaned as someone turned on a shower. Heavy footsteps moved down the hall. Sparrow’s footsteps. My heart did a stupid little leap against my ribs, and I hated it. Then I heard voices, his low and steady, hers lighter and quicker, and I knew they were having a conversation somewhere. Scarlett and Sparrow. Of course they were together. They were always together.

I pressed my forehead against my knees and tried not to listen. Tried not to imagine what they were talking about, whether it was me, whether he was telling her what a pathetic little fool I had been. The thought made my skin feel too tight for my body. I wished I could disappear into the mattress and never come out.

Finally, after what felt like an hour, I heard the sound of a car engine turning over, then the crunch of tires on gravel, then silence. He was gone. I let out a breath I had not realized I was holding and sagged against the wall. The relief was so sharp it hurt.

I came out of my room ready to leave and found Scarlett standing there. She looked at me with her head tilted to one side.

“How are you feeling?” She reached out and touched my arm, her fingers gentle on the fabric of my sleeve. “Do your injuries still hurt a lot?”

I shook my head and made myself smile. “Not really. Thank you for the balm last night. I can barely feel any pain today.”

“I know.” I felt a pang of guilt, sharp and sudden. “I am sorry, Scarlett. I will not take long. I promise I will be back and we can have lunch together. Then we can talk about all the plans you want to talk about.”

Scarlett sighed, a long, tired sound, and pulled me into a hug. “Fine. I will cook and wait for you. Do not be late, okay? I will be waiting.”

I hugged her back, breathing in the familiar scent of her shampoo. “I will not be late. I promise.”

I smiled, waved goodbye, and left the house. I took a cab straight to the address of Sparrow’s grandmother’s house, the one Sparrow had taken me to, before our wedding. The neighborhood was even grander than I remembered, all towering gates and manicured lawns and houses that looked like they had been carved out of marble. My own reflection in the car window looked small and out of place.