Violet Addiction by Kirsty Dallas

himself good and proper if he realized you actually did fucking die.”
    My brow furrowed with confusion. “Where is he, Harry?” I asked, a small amount of panic jolting through my veins.
    Harry sighed deeply as he ran a hand down his tired looking face. It was then I noticed his clothes were rumpled, his hair mused from sleep. I glanced back at the couch then once again to Harry. He had been sleeping there, not Cain.
    “I couldn’t tell you where he is at this moment, honey. All I can tell you is he is not here nor has he been all week. I received a phone call at some ridiculous hour New Year’s morning. He was furious; I could tell because he was so calm. You know the eerie sort of oh-crap-you’re-in-for-it-now calm that only one pissed off Cain Everett can do? Anyway, he said he was done. He wasn’t prepared to watch you destroy yourself and him in the process.” My mouth opened to say something, but the words were lost with disbelief. “That very same night I get a call from this very hospital telling me you’ve been dumped here, and I arrive five hours later to be told you had died, twice no less!” Harry’s voice was starting to rise with obvious panic as he recalled the ordeal. “I tried to call Cain, but his phone is dead, and I mean like dead, no voicemail, nada. I called his parents and all they would tell me is he needed a break and he would contact me when he was ready to talk. They also told me they didn’t know where he was. I told them it was an emergency, I told them you were in hospital, and they sounded sincere when they told me they didn’t know how to reach him.”
    My hand automatically rose to the pendant that should have hung from my neck, but clearly didn’t any longer. Cain had left me. My breathing grew rapid as panic threatened to overtake me.
    “Violet?” Harry was blessedly distracted from his little rant.
    “My necklace,” I wheezed out. He spun around and fumbled through a pile of bags and clothing sitting on the floor by the couch.
    “They took it off you in the emergency room, but I’ve got it here.” He was quickly back at my side, the amethyst diamond hanging from the simple white gold chain. I pulled it away from Harry’s fingertips and held it to my chest that was hurting for a whole different reason now. “Ahhh, honey, I promise I’ll find him,” Harry whispered. “He’s just having one of those tantrums Cain is prone to. As soon as he finds out what happened here, he’ll come charging in to save the day.”
    I shook my head. God, I wanted that more than anything in the world, but as it stood right now, Cain had escaped. He was free of me and my tainted soul.
    “Don’t tell him, Harry. Promise me you won’t tell him.”
    Harry gave me an incredulous look. “He would want to know, Violet.”
    I clenched my eyes closed tightly. “I don’t want to guilt him into coming back. He’s pissed and he has every reason to be. You told his family I was in the hospital. They’ll tell him, and if he wants to know more, he’ll contact you. Until then, promise me you won’t say anything.” After a far too long silence, in which I held Harry’s dominant stare, he finally gave me a small nod. I closed my eyes with relief and tried with everything I had to fight off the tears that were building under my lids. “Just find me a clinic; I want to get better, Harry.”
    “Okay,” he said with a long, drawn out sigh. “I’m gonna go make some calls. There is a rehabilitation facility out near Vegas that has a good reputation, one of the best actually. They’re discreet and they’re strict and they have a track record better than any thoroughbred race horse.”
    I nodded, my eyes still closed. I heard the withdrawal of Harry’s footsteps and the gentle click of the door closing. Enveloped by silence and privacy, I let the tears go. Like the opening of the flood gates, they emptied from a heart that deserved no less. He was gone and I should have been happy because