I always thought it would be Tobias who finally finished me off.
Turns out, it’s the brother who will do me in.
With an invisible blade.
“He’s your brother?” I don’t know how I manage to speak in this moment.
“Yes.”
The room tilts. The floor I’m standing on giving way beneath my feet.
I catch hold of the door to keep myself up.
Jack starts coming over to me.
“Don’t come near me!” I cry, putting a hand up between us.
He halts in his tracks, not coming any closer.
I press the heel of the hand not currently holding me up to my forehead, trying to gather my racing thoughts.
Lies. It was all lies. Every touch. Every word he said.
Everything was a goddamn lie. And I fell for it, like the idiot I am.
I just went in blindly. Trustingly. Letting my feelings for him lead me. I stopped listening to my own rules.
I deserve everything that is happening to me right now.
I stare across the room at him. “Ho-how … wh-why …” I don’t even know what I’m asking. What I actually want answers to.
Does it really matter?
No.
He’s Tobias’s brother, and that is all I need to know.
Which means, I need to get out of here. Away from him.
My keys to my apartment are in my bag. As are my rape alarm and mace.
Which is on the floor, next to the sofa. Behind where Jack is standing.
Fuck.
“Are you going to hurt me?”
He looks stunned. Like I’m the one who just dropped the mother of all bombs in here. “Of course not. No. I never could. Audrey—”
“I’m leaving,” I cut him off before he can say any more. “I am going to walk past you and get my bag. And then I’m leaving.”
“No. Audrey, please. We need to talk about this—”
“No!” A burst of anger flies out of me. “What I need to do is get far away from you.”
“You have to let me explain.”
“I don’t need to do a single thing! Except for get out of here.”
Jack stares at me for what feels like forever.
I can see guilt in his eyes. But that guilt means nothing.
Nothing.
Because I know he would do it to me all over again. Use me again like he has been doing.
He is only feeling guilty because he got caught.
Jesus. How long would he have kept lying to me? Sleeping with me?
I feel sick.
Jack turns away from me and picks up my bag from the floor.
I watch his every move, ready to attack or flee, whichever becomes necessary.
He takes a couple of steps toward me. I tense up.
Then, he stretches his arm out, holding my bag out to me.
I swallow hard. Forcing my feet to move, I quickly step forward, getting only as close to him as necessary. The man I could never seem to get close enough to, and now, I want to be as far away from him as humanly possible.
Reaching out, I snatch my bag from him and clutch it to my chest.
“Audrey, we have to talk. This isn’t right. That picture—”
“Stop talking!” I cry.
I can feel my eyes filling with his betrayal.
Heart pounding, I turn away from him, refusing to let him see my tears.
I’ve already opened the door, and I’m walking through it when he says in a low voice, “I am sorry, Audrey. I never meant … for this.”
I pause for a second, keeping my back to him.
Then, I just slam the door on his words. So hard that the drywall rattles.
Running to my apartment, I dig in my bag for my keys, blinking away the stupid tears threatening to fall.
Finally, I find them and let myself in, and then I lock the door behind me, sliding all the dead bolts into place.
I slump back against the door and then slide down it until my ass hits the floor. Bringing my knees up to my chest, I wrap my arms around them. Let my head fall to them.
And I allow the tears to silently run down my legs.
“Audrey.”
The sound of Jack’s deep yet soft voice on the other side of my door jolts me awake.
I don’t know how long I’ve been sitting here, but my ass is numb, my legs are stiff, and the tears I was crying have dried on my face.
Even though everything aches, I don’t move, afraid he’ll hear me.
I hear him sigh. It sounds sad.
I hate that my heart reaches for him. Stupid, dumb heart.
How can I still feel anything for him?
I let myself be vulnerable with Jack. I showed him the worst part of me, and he betrayed me. In the worst possible way.
“Audrey … I know you’re there.” His words are tentative. “I can hear you breathing through the door.”
I instantly hold my breath even though it’s pointless because, like he said, he knows I’m here.
“Look …” he exhales the word. “You don’t have to say anything … just listen to what I have to say. Please.”
I say nothing.
He must take my silence as my acceptance.
It’s not that I want to listen to him. But moving from this spot doesn’t seem doable either.
“I’m sorry I lied. No … that’s wrong. I’m not sorry. Because if I hadn’t lied, I would never have gotten to know you, and for that, I will never be sorry.”
Tears start to pool in the corners of my eyes again.
“But I am sorry for the way you found out. It should have come from me. And I wanted to tell you. I just didn’t know how. As time went on, it got …” Another sigh. “I knew I would lose you the moment I told you, and I wasn’t ready for that … I don’t know if I ever will be.” I hear his intake of breath. “Audrey … I need you to know that being with you … the way I feel about you … that was never a
