Ripped (Real, #5)(74)

He reaches into his jeans pocket, and I blink at the ring he holds out.

His promise ring.

Is this a promise ring?

What are you promising me?

Me.

My stomach plummets as I see the familiar yellow gold band, the tiny diamond in the center held up by six legs, as if begging for attention. “Don’t,” I whisper.

He clenches his jaw. “Pandora, I didn’t leave you because I wanted to. I left you because I had to.”

“No you didn’t. You didn’t have to!”

“I f*cking did. And if you don’t believe me, you can go ahead and ask your mother.”

“What?” Tears blur my eyes. “What does she have to do with anything?”

“She never wanted us together, babe. I’m sure that’s no news to you.”

“That still doesn’t mean you had to give her more power over us than she already had over me.”

“She had power over my dad. Over his sentence.” A stony look crosses his face, and his voice grows hard with rage. “She offered to cut his sentence if I left you alone. She told me I wasn’t worth even a moment of your day wasted thinking of me. I promised her I’d be back for you. Hell, I told her I was going to be good for any woman’s daughter, especially hers. All I was waiting for was for my dad to serve his sentence. I have been planning for years to come back to you, Pandora!”

“No! Mackenna, do you realize what you’re saying?!”

“I’m telling you the truth.”

“I need to talk to my mother,” I suddenly say, my chest close to imploding from the pain delving into our past is causing. “I need to talk to my mother.” I run to the corner and hold my hand up for a cab while Mackenna calls after me.

“What the f*ck are you doing?”

When a cab screeches to a halt, I climb inside and close the door, my world spinning. “Drive! Now.”

The car screeches past him as he flings his arms up in the air, and I think I see him mouth, “What the f*ck?” but I can’t be sure.

I’m close to unraveling, and I tell myself that I will. That when I’m back home, I’ll have a good long cry, even if it takes me months or years to heal. But I can’t break now. Not when I still need to know the truth.

My mother has her faults. She’s bitter, true. She’s overprotective, but . . .

I can’t fathom she would do this to us.

Break us apart.

Exploit her power.

Make me experience the same pain of betrayal she felt after the truth about my father’s affair came out.

An indeterminate amount of time later, I find myself at Lionel’s open door. I don’t even react to Olivia, visible right on the bed behind him. “It’s off. The contract. It’s over. I’ll give you the money back.”

“What . . . ?” He glances back at Olivia, twists the lock so the door doesn’t close on him, and steps out wearing just a hotel bathrobe. “What the f*ck did he do?”

A wave of protectiveness washes over me. “It’s not Mackenna. It’s me, all right? So whatever deal you had with him . . . please, just honor it. I just need to go home now. You got some footage. Ask Noah, he caught us kissing in the plane. And fooling around in the car. He caught us . . . looking at each other too, I’m sure. And when we were locked in the closet, he probably caught the sounds of us kissing too. But please”—I’m begging him and I don’t even care—“I can’t be here anymore. I had an out from the contract saying if I didn’t fulfill, every cent would be turned back. It will be. I’m out. I quit.”

“You can’t quit!”

This last comes from the low, angry, painfully familiar voice of Mackenna. I spin around and there he is, eyes glimmering with anger, ready in his battle stance. But he looks . . . confused. Like he doesn’t know what’s happening here. One minute we’re mashing songs, the next I’m running. But can he blame me for running, when he ran too? All I know is that I need to be home. I need to stop this from spiraling. I need to talk to my mother.

“I need to go home,” I tell him in the strongest voice I can manage, searching for even an ounce of pity in his face.

“Miss Stone,” Leo says, but Kenna stops him.

“If that’s what she wants, I’ll fly home with her.”

“Really?” I ask, wide-eyed.

“Yeah. Really.”

An intense wave of relief and gratitude washes over me. And love. A painful, intense, overwhelming love that makes me wrap my arms around myself as my entire body trembles. “Thank you.”

“Argh! Fuck this!” Leo explodes. “Jones, if you take her home, our deal is off. Do you hear me!” he yells as Mackenna heads to his room in the opposite direction from mine.

When he answers, Mackenna’s voice is unwavering. “So be it.”





NINETEEN


LET GO


Mackenna


“If you think I’m letting you ruin whatever deal you have with Leo, you’re wrong, Mackenna. I’m flying out of here, and I’m doing it alone.”

“Says who?” I contest, crossing my arms with a frown as I watch her pack. She’s got her suitcase up on the bed, and boy, is that lady on a mission to pack, and pack quickly.