My Fault (Culpable Book 1)

I watched her walk off and understood nothing. Then I looked at the message under the photo.

This is what happens when you leave town. Did you really think Dan would wait forever for you?

Who the hell was Dan? And who was this bitch Kay to send a message like that?

I didn’t hesitate to open the photos on her phone. There were tons of pictures of her with some brunette chick, the same one in the other photo, I thought, and then some more with friends. And one in what looked like her old school. There I saw what I was looking for.

This so-called Dan had Noah’s face in his hands and was kissing her and she couldn’t stop laughing. I guessed she had known someone was taking their picture. So he’d cheated on her.

I turned off the screen and put her phone in my pocket. I had no idea why, but I wanted to toss it in the bottom of the ocean. Something got to me when I saw that picture of Noah kissing another guy. I suddenly wanted to punch anybody who decided to get in my way that night.

I went to the table with a card with my name on it. Noah was supposed to sit on one side of me and Anna on the other. Across from me would be my father and his wife. There were two other couples whose names I couldn’t remember, but Dad had said I needed to show them the most charming and perfect version possible of William Leister’s offspring.

Not two seconds after I sat down, Anna appeared next to me. I could smell her perfume as soon as she did, and I leaned over to take a sip of the bloodred wine that had been poured into all the glasses.

“Where’s your sister?” she asked insolently.

“She’s upset because some guy cheated on her.”

Anna laughed. It pissed me off, honestly.

“It’s to be expected. She’s a little girl,” Anna said, and I could sense the contempt in her voice.

I observed her for a moment as I analyzed her response. She sure seemed to dislike Noah even though she barely knew her. It was true she must not have appreciated Noah punching me in the face the night before.

“Talk to me about something else. It’s enough having her in my house,” I said, setting my glass back on the table.

Without realizing it, though, my eyes were already scanning the room for Noah. Most of the guests had already sat down, but she was at the bar on the other side of the room waiting for the bartender to come over.

I stood up when I saw who it was and walked over firmly. I was absolutely not going to let Mario get to know my new stepsister. But I got there too late, hearing the words “See you at the door in five minutes.”

“In five minutes, you’ll be sitting in a limousine waiting to go back home,” I interrupted them.

“Hello to you, too, Nick,” she said.

“Don’t be an idiot,” I said. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Mario was part of my past, and he absolutely couldn’t get acquainted with Noah. It was too risky. He clearly knew what I was thinking, and that was why he hadn’t hesitated one second to suck up to her.

“Not everything concerns you, Nicholas,” Noah said, and I had the urge to shut her up. “Can I have my phone back?” she asked, stretching out the palm of her hand. There wasn’t a trace of the tears I’d seen in her eyes before. Nothing. She was cold as ice. “Today, not next year please.”

She was pushing it that night. Mario laughed and raised his hands as if to say he was giving up.

“I wouldn’t mess with her,” he said, as though he’d known her his whole life.

“Noah, stop playing. You don’t even know him,” I told her, trying to reason with her, while I took the phone out of my pocket and slapped it down on her hand.

“I guess you do? Anyway, for your information, I’m going to those races you’re trying so hard to keep secret.”

I stepped in close.

“What have you been smoking, little girl? You better stay as far as you can from where I’m going, hear me?”

But Noah wasn’t daunted.

“I can go and not say a word about where we’re going tonight, or I can stay here and tell your father everything. Your call.”

Goddammit!

I didn’t get the attitude. Most girls, if their boyfriend cheated on them, would break down and run off to cry in a corner for days, and her reaction was to try to get under my skin?

I was tired of all this. I couldn’t waste my life dealing with her. I turned around and went back to my table. My biggest worry was that my father would find out what I was up to when I was out of the house. I’d always tried to keep my private and family lives apart, and now I had this miserable little snotnose here who not only didn’t care what I said, she had even decided to get mixed up in my business.

After about twenty minutes, I stood up and went to the bar, where my father and his new wife were drinking and chatting with a couple of friends. When he saw me coming over, he smiled, and when I got there, he clapped me on the back. I hated that. I needed my space, and the fact that he was the one invading it only made matters worse.

“Are you headed out already?” he asked. There was no reproach in his tone. Good. That meant I could leave without any problems.

“Yeah,” I said, leaving my drink on a bar table. “I’ve got to get up early tomorrow to keep working on the case.”

My father nodded.

“Noah already went home, so don’t worry about it. You look tired. Go on home.”

I nodded, satisfied, and walked out with Anna at my side.