Her head whips in my direction. “Wait, there’s a way to report people?”
I frown. “Um yeah it’s the same anonymous email address, you can report a crime of passion, bribery, whatever you want.”
“But you can’t just ruin people’s lives.” How cute that she truly believes that when she had such a hand in ruining mine.
“You should know better than anyone, Lilah that people rarely fact check when every single finger points to the same person. And they’d rather prove an innocent man guilty than admit they’re wrong or made a mistake. It’s better to hide and manipulate in order to stay on top than to take the fall yourself.”
Her face pales. “How did she?—”
“Nope.” I grab her by the chin. “You do not get to ask how she died, what happened, or anything that might make you sleep a little bit better tonight. I’ll tell you when I feel like it, not when you need the fucking consolation.”
A tear slides down her cheek and onto my hand. It’s hot. I don’t care if it’s the memory of her sin that caused it or my anger. That tears mine. I lean in and lick it up with my tongue. “And here I thought your guilt would taste so much more bitter, Delilah.”
Her eyes glisten with more tears. She’s willing them not to spill.
I lean in closer. “I’m thirsty, give me one more, one more tear for one more life you ruined, you fucking owe me.”
Her eyes rage. One slips free it slides slowly down the front of her face until it collides with her top lip, resting on her bottom.
I stare it down.
I remember the lines we never crossed.
The rules we made are no longer in fucking play.
My tongue slides across her upper lip and then I suck in her bottom lip between my teeth, biting down hard enough to make a mark. I pull back. Her eyes are wild, but her breathing is erratic just like my own pulse.
“Thank you for your service.” I lightly shove her away, walk over to the wine, and pour some into a glass. “Now go pretend you’re not a monster. We’re done here.”
She grabs the wine and bolts from the room.
And I stand there and force every ounce of control back into my body. I almost cracked. Her eyes, her taste. I told myself it had been a dream, the one kiss we shared, the one forbidden kiss before the world turned on us.
And now it was back.
Full force.
My body rioted against me. I couldn’t stop the visceral reaction I had to her anymore than I could stop the memory from bubbling to the surface.
“Kiss me.” She’d begged. “Just once.”
She was like oxygen rushing into my body. I kissed her so hard I bruised my own mouth; our teeth clashed along with our hands as we tugged at each other’s clothes. Too many years spent lying next to each other.
Too many years telling ourselves no.
And like the universe wanted to remind us we were never meant to be. The storm cracked across the damn sky.
And our worlds shattered along with the sound of a gun going off.
Never to be the same.
I shake the memory away. It’s like cold water on my hot body, or so I think and then I walk into the room and hear the word watch.
Watch.
Should not trigger me.
Not at all.
