“All about me?”
“Yes. You’re my first and only obsession that rivals the one that’s been fueling my blood for years.”
A strange warmth flushes through me, which just speaks to how truly fucked in the head I am because, how does this earn such a reaction from me? “You’re a murderer, and you’re sick. These kinds of obsessions usually end badly for women.”
“So when your brothers stalk, blackmail, and kidnap women, that’s love, but when I do it…it’s sick?”
“My brothers and cousin aren’t murderers. They have very questionable methods in dealing with those who stand in their way, but it’s vastly different from killing people left and right just because you don’t like them.”
He chuckles at my speech and takes out a remote from his back pocket, pressing on the button. “Check it out.” I look at one of the TVs on the right, and my eyes grow wide as shock waves crash into me, seeing Rush and Orion torturing some men. “They kill them in the end. They have an interesting technique, wouldn’t you say?” All I can do is stare as my brother picks up a blade right before piercing it into his victim’s abdomen. “Rush is a bit messy. He likes to leave blood everywhere.” Nausea comes back at this point, and I tear my gaze away, refusing to focus on Orion at all. “Rafael believes in the law. Trust he will fuck up anyone who he deems worthy of his punishment, but at the end of the day…he’ll twist the law in his favor to achieve what he wants. I wouldn’t say he’s never killed anyone, but I would say he isn’t like us.”
The headache becomes unbearable, and I press my fingers into my temples while my voice trembles as the life I knew just crumbled. “You are… How could they… This is…”
He clicks his tongue and lifts my chin, rage glazing over his blue eyes as if my losing my shit over all this is unacceptable. “You’re a smart girl, Lavender. When your brother hunted mydad and brought Aileen to his island, did you think he was a saint or something?”
“Of course not.” I knew he was in the dark place, so to speak, but it’s one thing to suspect and quite another to watch it. Orion completely blindsided me, though! “My brother is not a saint, but he killed all those men because he was avenging our parents. And they deserved it. They made his life hell!” I’ve heard bits and pieces about his past, and my heart broke every single time. “So I’m not saying this is right. Still, my brothers had their reasons. You grew up in a perfect family with perfect parents and a sister in a world designed to cater to your every wish! What was the reason for all this?”
Something crosses his face, and he leans back, taking a few steps away from me. “Interesting how our views change depending on who is on the receiving end of our judgment, isn’t it?”
“Don’t call me a hypocrite. You know I’m right. You expect me to clap my hands and sayyayafter seeing all this?” I point at the screens. “You invaded my privacy. Manipulated me into doing what you wanted, and for what? Save this lie about protecting me. I’m about done hearing it from all the men in my life.”
The fury is back, and I sigh when he replies, possessiveness coating his every word, “I’m the only man in your life,moy cvetochek.”
Ignoring him, I continue. “You can keep me here, but I have a family, and they will be searching for me.”
“Like I said, you have a very vivid imagination, Lavender. You aren’t my prisoner.”
“So what do you call this?” I lift my ankle and wrist. “You’re a psychopath, Levi, and I can’t believe I let you touch me.”
“Well, you can always look at my marks on your body to remind yourself.” I wish glares could kill, so he’d drop dead.“I’ll come back later when you’re ready to listen.” He steps out, leaving the cage’s door open. I can’t fucking reach it anyway, and he knows it, so it’s him mocking my helplessness. “Oh, and while you’re thinking about what a monster I am… Didn’t you say people killing evil people is sometimes necessary because that’s the only justice some of the victims get?” he hisses. “Turns out, when it’s actually happening…you’re just like everyone else. Afraid and wanting to put people like me behind bars. Because a crime is a crime, Lavender. I tried to explain that to you once, but you didn’t understand.” He opens his arms wide. “Now you do.”
My wrist falls to my side while my heartbeat speeds up, and air becomes nonexistent.
Once during my conversation with Lev, I tried defending a woman who killed her uncle. He raped her for years, and she finally snapped on her eighteenth birthday. I couldn’t believe that she was sent to prison and society judged her for it, claiming that she could’ve just run away.
God gives life and takes it away. We can justify some murders, but it doesn’t change the fact that a murder has no gray color in it.
And as such, there could never be any justification for it.
That’s what Lev said. “No.”
“Yes,” he replies, and winks at me before turning around and going upstairs while I crunch down, holding my head as tears stream down my cheeks.
Because the best friend I thought I had?
Was Levi all along. Was it another one of his schemes to stalk me?
What have I done?
Levi
Closing the basement door, I press my splayed palm on it when I hear Lavender crying, my insides in knots at hearing her so upset.
Yet I have no other choice.
She couldn’t live in her bubble forever, and she needs to accept every part of me. There is no going back for either of us.
She’s mine, and I’m hers. The sooner she accepts this fact, the easier our lives will become.
