I drop my phone on the desk.
Bob whines from his chair, but I can barely hear him over the roaring in my ears.
Did Nico feel it when he raped them? Did Billy make him enjoy it, or was Nico screaming inside his own head, begging his body to stop while his hands kept moving?
I hope it was the second one. I hope he was trapped and terrified and hating every second, because the alternative…
DJ must know. Same with Griffin. How could they know and not tell me? After everything I’ve been through with Stanley Daniels, after watching my family getmurdered, they brought me here to live with someone who killed seven girls and didn’t even warn me?
How has Donny gotten everyone in this house to keep Nico’s secret when they could get a quarter of amilliondollars for turning him in?
I snap the hair tie hard against my wrist repeatedly until my skin turns pink.
Because nobody here is a monster willing to turn in an innocent person for money, that’s how. Nico would be imprisoned for life, but he’s a victim, too. Billy possessed him. Used him. Destroyed his life and killed seven people with Nico’s hands. Of course Donny’s protecting him.
But that doesn’t explain why nobody thought I deserved to know.
The anger feels like it’s trying to claw its way out of my body, but I don’t know where to direct it. At Billy for being a monster? At Donny for keeping this from me?
“Have you seen Eden?” Nico’s voice carries through the door from down the hallway.
I need to leave before Nico can look in here. I scoop up Bob and run to the door, yanking it open to find Nico already standing there.
Nico fills the doorway with his height and broad shoulders, which seem more threatening than anything else right now.
His eyes meet mine.
I watch realization dawn across his face—the exact moment he understands that I know.
Bob rumbles against my ribs. I run my hand down his back, but his hackles are up and his teeth are bared. He looks ready to launch himself at Nico’s throat if I give him even half a chance.
Nico doesn’t move from the doorway. We stare at each other across the space. He stands there with his hands at his sides. I used to find his controlled stillness calming, but now it makes my skin crawl.
“Is it true?” My fingers tighten in Bob’s fur. “Have you imagined killing me?”
Nico stares at me, his mouth opening.
I need to hear him say it. “Is it true?”
“Yes.”
I recoil at the word.
“Are you happy now?” he snaps. “Got the confession you wanted?”
“Why the fuck would I be happy about that?” I cup a hand over the back of Bob’s head. “You killedsevenpeople.”
“You think I don’t know that?” His shoulders hunch, and he still doesn’t move, but Bob’s growling gets louder. “Do you think there’s a single fucking day I don’t think about that?”
“Billy said you wanted to,” I say. “Is it true you went to talk to him because you couldn’t stop thinking about killing me, because I remind you of them?”
The blood drains from Nico’s face. “You talked to Billy?”
“I was worried about you,” I say. “I thought maybe he was manipulating you, and I was scared for you.”
I sound so naive. How stupid did I have to be to think that?
“What thefuck, Eden?” Nico steps forward. “Why the fuck would you do that? Did Billy hurt you? Are you okay?”
