CH.112

Lavinia slipped through the door behind him before he could close it in her face.

"Hey, hold up a sec there, Robert," she said with hands on her hips. "We need to have a little chat about what's going on with you and Talia."

Robert sank down on the edge of his bed and cradled his head.

"I already know what you're going to say, Lavinia," he mumbled, not looking up at her. "And you're right - I never should have said that vile, disgusting thing to her. It was just...a moment of blind anger and idiocy. I swear, I didn't truly mean it."

Lavinia's expression softened slightly at his obvious remorse, yet she remained firm.

"Well, regardless of whether you meant it or not, the damage is done," she pointed out, crossing the room to sit beside him. "Talia is absolutely devastated because of what you said to her. She's locked herself away, crying her eyes out over it."

Robert flinched, feeling another pang of guilt and self-loathing twist in his gut like a dull knife.

He dropped his ha