Chapter 4: Three Years of Overreactions

The doors had opened on the ground-floor lobby.

My legs wouldn't hold me, so I stayed against the wall of the car.

Dominic looked down at me.

"Two hours should be enough to teach you a lesson. Apologize to Colette, and we'll call it even."

My lips were numb, and my teeth rattled when I tried to answer.

Colette stepped forward and slid her arm through mine.

"Dominic, Tobias, stop it. Allegra didn't mean any of this."

She turned to me with a soft smile. "We're still best friends, right?"

Before I could pull away, she wrapped her other arm around my waist and pressed her fingers into the burn.

Pain went through me, white and hot.

I shoved her off me before I knew I had moved.

Colette cried out and stumbled backward, and her eyes filled at once.

"Allegra, you still can't forgive me?"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Dominic said.

"She pressed on my burn."

"I didn't," Colette said quickly. "I was trying to help her."

Dominic shoved me, hard.

"How long are you going to keep this up?"

My back hit the marble wall right where the blister had formed.

My breath caught, and my knees nearly gave out.

Tobias came toward me.

For one second I thought he would catch me.

Instead he put both hands on my shoulders.

"Enough. Apologize to her."

"No."

I tried to twist away, but my legs were still weak from the cold.

Tobias pushed down, and I dropped to my knees on the marble, right in front of Colette's shoes.

The lobby went quiet.

Tobias flinched when he saw how hard I had landed.

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