Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 76298 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 381(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76298 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 381(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
What was true and what was fake? Can I trust anything anymore?
I feel like my brain’s going to crumple like an egg.
At least I know the truth now. Lucy’s death was an accident, but it was also caused by her own psychotic rage. If she hadn’t lost her shit on Emilio like that, she’d still be around today. Instead, she couldn’t help herself, and it was her own desire to strangle, to hurt, to kill that finally sent her over the edge.
I cry for my sister. I curl up and sob on the mattress. And when I’m done, I don’t feel any better.
Lucy’s never coming back and I don’t want her to.
The realization is horrifying. It makes me sick—but it’s the truth.
I’m happy she’s gone.
For so long, I thought nobody but Lucy could ever love me. She made it seem like I was broken and wrong somehow, and that she was the only one crazy enough to ever care about a monster like me.
Now I see that she was the monster.
As much as I hate to admit it, Emilio made me understand all of this. Slowly, he woke something up inside of me, and I began to see my sister for what she was.
Manipulative, horrible, abusive.
It’s like I’ve held my breath for my entire life, but I’m breathing now.
There’s a noise in the other room. It’s the sound of quiet footsteps. I sit up on the bed and wipe my eyes. I’m done crying for Lucy and I won’t ever do it again.
The door unlocks and opens. A figure stands there in the darkness before he steps into the gloom of my prison cell, illuminated by the TV screen.
Emilio stares down at me and closes the door behind him.
I slowly rise, not sure if this is some kind of trick.
“Are you hurt?” he asks quietly, whispering.
I shake my head. “I’m fine. They didn’t touch me.”
He stares around the room. If he’s disturbed by what he sees, he doesn’t show it. Typical Emilio—he can process the darkest parts of the world better than anyone I’ve met before, probably because of the way he was raised.
No wonder he handled my sister so easily.
“I’m here to bring you out. Come on, before someone comes down.”
“How are you here?”
“Malcolm helped me.” He shakes his head at my protest. “It’s a long story.”
“The dean was here. He told me—” I stop and stare at my hands. “He wants to kill me.”
“I know. Come on. I won’t let that happen.”
I move toward him, but stop.
It’s Emilio. I want to go to him so badly it hurts. I think of him saving me not once, but twice. I think of his lips, his body. Fucking him on the boat. Spending those hours with him in the hotel room. The joy of being at Calico House, of feeling like I belong somewhere, like I belong to someone.
I know he cares about me, but he still lied.
“I can’t.”
He tilts his head. “You can’t?”
“How am I supposed to trust you, Emilio?”
“I withheld information from you. I should’ve told you from the start, but I have my reasons. Dean Wotherspoon will kill you if you stay.”
“What are your reasons?”
His face twist and he glances at the door. “We don’t have time for this.”
“Emilio—”
He steps toward me and I flinch back. That makes him stop and he stares at me with pure pain in his eyes. I shake my head and hold up my hands, and he takes a calming breath and doesn’t move.
“If you knew about the dean, you would’ve been in danger, just like you are now.” He stares at me and I believe him, even though it breaks me, I believe him. “Once I started this shit with the dean, I couldn’t stop it, not if I wanted to make sure my people were safe. It stopped being about me very quickly, and became about Lesley and Paola and Dirk. Hell, it’s been about you and Dom and Nathan, too.”
“Not Terrence?”
He shakes his head. “Terrence is no longer part of the society.”
“Did you kill him?”
“No. I sent him home. And I’ll take care of his sister. But Kaye, none of this matters. Dean Wotherspoon is desperate and dangerous, and if we don’t get out of here right now, he’s going to hurt you. I can’t allow that to happen.”
“You said Malcolm got you in here?”
“He’s helping for now, but he’s got his own problems.” He moves closer. This time, I don’t flinch away. He holds out a hand and I stare at his fingers.
Can I forgive him? I came here to find out the truth about my sister’s death, and after struggling and fighting, I finally uncovered the truth. Even though Emilio hid what really happened, I believe that he did it for the right reasons.
And now I understand something even more important.