50. Let me hold you

COLE

“You need to come back.”

I looked down at the text displayed on my phone screen for the dozenth time now and my gut clenched, because something didn't feel right about this text. And a part of me was afraid that Mad was texting me this because Violet got what she really wanted, the timeline was perfect for it as it had been more than three weeks now since I came back to New York.

My thumb hovered on the keyboard to type a message back but before I could bring myself to do it, another text popped up. “She tried to burn her paintings, man. This is not good.”

A cold chill ran down my spine, freezing my blood in my veins. The glass of whisky slipped from my fingers, making a thud as it dropped down on my father’s office desk, sloshing the golden liquid everywhere. The conversation between my father and Uncle, that I was only pretending to listen to, came to a halt.

“What is it?” My father asked and I could feel the weight of my Uncle’s eyes on me through the screen of the laptop.

“I