“You think they killed her?” Dante asked me. “You don’t think it was just a car accident?” I looked at him in surprise. “You think it’s a coincidence that Layla died the next day after she left the house? Come on, Dante, don’t you see? The Golden Hive never intended for her to live," I pointed out. "With all the things that she’s seen, how could they? They have the resources to kill her and are cold-hearted enough to do it. They will never let any former escort have any sort of life outside of these walls. They killed off Sara because she knew too much.” “But they didn’t kill my mother. They let her out and allowed her to live the rest of her life before she died,” Dante argued. He did have a point there. I considered what he said for a minute, then an idea came to my mind. “What if the society was okay with allowing your mom to live because they made sure your father could keep control of her? Didn’t you say that he had control of your mom's whole life?”

Dante was still waiting for me to answer his question about my day. He had a patient expression on his face, even though I was staring at him like an idiot. I quickly took another bite of my pizza so I could give myself time to think. While I chewed, I analyzed the situation I was in. I thought that Dante and I had agreed to wait to explore this undeniable connection we had until after we took down The Golden Hive. I vividly remembered our conversation about it, in which we ironically lay naked in bed together after we had passionate sex. Why was he going back on what we’d agreed on now? I couldn’t understand why. I thought about what happened yesterday. Did he think our lives were more in danger now because he found out just how far the society will go to silence those who cross them? Or even who were no longer of any use to them? I didn’t fully understand his reasonings, but all signs pointed to this being an actual date with Dante. So, the question was, what did I

I went over to Charlotte’s side. She was sitting on her bed in a white dress, her blonde hair was messy, and mascara was running down her face. Alice was sitting next to her with her arm around her with a concerned look on her face. Charlotte began crying again and put her head in her hands. I looked at Alice, silently asking her if she knew what was wrong with Charlotte. But Alice just shrugged. I placed a hand on her shoulder and spoke in a gentle tone. “Charlotte, I’m going to make you a cup of tea, alright? Then you can tell me what’s wrong.” She didn’t respond, she just kept crying. I ran to the kitchen and made three cups of chamomile tea. I brought them back on a tray. Thankfully, Charlotte was a little more calm when I came back. Since I usually buried my own emotions, I didn’t really know what to do or how to comfort people when they cried. I thought that was why I got along better with Alice than with Charlotte. Charlotte was sweet and kind, but she wo

Before I went to find Tamara to see what she wanted to trade for my necklace, I went back to my room. This outfit didn’t feel like me and I wanted to get it off my body immediately. No one was in the room when I got there. I took a quick shower and wiped off all my makeup. I threw on a loose pair of jeans, a white tank top, and brushed out my blonde hair. When I stepped out of the bathroom, I was shocked to find Charlotte standing right outside the door. “Hey,” I muttered, stepping to the side of her. Immediately, I noticed that she had an expression on her face that I’d never seen her wearing before. I’d only ever seen Charlotte happy, sad, and worried. But I’d never seen her looking angry. No, not just angry. With Charlotte’s dark blue eyes and tense jaw, she was beyond pissed. “Um, is everything okay?” I asked her. Charlotte laughed once without humor. She walked closer to me. I never really realized how tall she was, but she towered over me. She put he

Dante led me over to the couch and put his arm around me. It reminded me of the last time I broke down in front of him, which was, embarrassingly, not that long ago. However, like last time, he let me cry it out. When I was finished, he raised my chin and stared into my eyes. He traced my eyebrow. “When you’re upset, your eyebrows turn pink. It’s one of the many adorable things about you,” Dante whispered. “Now, would you like to tell me what’s bothering you?” I nodded. Then, I told him what I learned about Sara. He listened without interrupting. At first, his expression was concerned, but after I explained how corrupt the governor was, he looked increasingly angry. “That asshole,” Dante exclaimed. He looked down at me and his expression switched to concern again. “I’m sorry, Gabrielle. I’m sorry you found out like that.” Dante pulled me into the circle of his arms and pressed me against his hard body. We sat in silence and it was exactly what I needed. He