She stares at me for a long beat, sucking her lower lip into her mouth as she contemplates me, her eyes cold. “You're very wrong to say that I don't like you. I admire you deeply. I have been a bit upset with you recently. That doesn't mean, though, that I don't overall think highly of you.”

“Why have you been upset with me?”

She takes a sip of her wine, and when she looks back at me, I'm shocked to see tears shimmering in her eyes. “You took me under your wing, Carolina. You made me feel safe, as if someone had my back in the hostile environment of the media world. I thought you were my friend, but then slowly, you just started ignoring me. Do you know what it's like to be in the sunshine of your regard, and then just be forgotten under the cloud of indifference?”

“I wasn't indifferent, Lexy. I was busy. Stressed. Life you know? It wasn't personal.”

Something glittering and dark flashes in her eyes. “And that's the issue, isn't it,” she spits at me. “For me it was always personal. Deeply so.”

“I'm sorry, I mean it. I never meant to hurt your feelings. I know what you're doing, Lexy. Please, don’t get yourself into trouble. You need to stop this. You need help. I'm begging you, Lexy, please let me help you.”

She takes a sip of her wine, but her eyes flicker around the room. Her hand grips the stem of her glass as if she's holding on for dear life.

“Carolina, what did you do?”

“I don't understand.”

“Who are you here with? Have you called the police?” She agitatedly runs her fingers through her hair. “I need to leave.” She stands, pushing her chair back so hard it falls onto the floor.

Samuel shoots to his feet too and moves toward our table.

Lexy downs her wine in one smooth, huge gulp. A part of me is deeply impressed with that, but then she raises the glass high. Everything slows down.

The glass in her hand above me.

The rush of air into my lungs as I breathe.

Samuel approaching in my peripheral vision.

Pain.

Blinding, obliterating pain.

Oh God, it hurts so much.

I shakily raise my hands to my head, as I'm dimly aware of Marcus taking Lexy to the ground and Samuel hunkering down by me, his eyes wide and his face pale.

Darkness teases the edge of my vision, and there's a dull roaring sound in my ear, like the waves crashing on the beach. Then everything goes like an out of tune television set, and the darkness wins.

15. Samuel

Chapter 15

Samuel