“That’s what I thought.”
“You’re a monster.” My voice breaks.
A devilish smile sharpens his features, and he opens his arms. “Yourmonster, darling dove.”
My knuckles crack as I clutch my bag filled with all its hopeful treats. I know this foolishness was a futile attempt at feeling normalfor once.
Maybe, after what Malcolm did for me this week, I deluded myself into thinking of him as more human than creature. Maybe I thought tonight could be a chance to have my very first movie night with someone not quite friend, but not completely enemy. Maybe after all the other things I’ve survived with him at my side, I thought I could manage one more.
“Why…” I hiss. “…are you like this?”
“Like what, exactly?”
“Demented. Controlling.” I sneer. “Insensitive and insincere.”
His brows rise. “Insincere?Now you’re just being mean. I assure you, Azalea. I have never once beeninsincere.”
I step forward, into his room, and square my shoulders.
He chuckles. “Why do I get the feeling you’re about to make me prove it?”
I ignore him. Anger builds. Scathes.Burns. “For two years, I’ve hated you.” My voice wobbles as fury rocks me to my core. “After a lifetime of people hurting me, you think I’d be used to it, but you take it farther than any of them ever did. You’re sosubtleabout it. It’s practically an artform.”
He dips his chin in a bow. “Why, thank you.”
Air shreds through my lungs. “I can’tstandyour attitude. I can’tstandyour personality. Everything about you makes me want to throw up. And to make it all so much worse? You balance every rotten thing about you out with something thatseemskind or considerate or thoughtful. Being around you is exhausting.It’s one calculated attack after another, and I can’t escape the confusion. Are you even human?”
“Who knows?”
Isnap. Something inside me cracks in two, leaving nothing but splinters behind. “You say you love me?”
“I do.”
“If you really love me, kill yourself. Right now. So I never have to deal with you again. If youreallylove me,jump.” I throw my hand out, referencing the great expanse behind him. The wide open air. The thousands of feet he couldfall.
He cocks his head over the rail, looks down, down, down. Then he exhales a laugh, and steps away from the balcony.
“That’s what I thought,” I mutter. Swallow.Breathe. Containing my rage, I battle to level my spiking emotions. “Can wepleasestop this game, sir? I’m tired. And it’s cruel. I’ll beg if that’s what it takes. I’ll repent. I don’t care anymore. Can we go back to the way things were before you brought up this nonsense about liking me? I don’t want revenge anymore. I’m not good at making you suffer. I was never born to win.” I stare at the dark carpet. “I’m too scared to face what other misfortune it’ll bring me if I keep trying to hurt you. Right now, I just want it all to be over.” His shoes stop in front of mine, inches away, so I pull my attention up along the firm planes of his body to meet his eyes. “I just want peace. Can wepleasereturn to our professional relationship and leave all this insanity behind us?”
Smiling tenderly, he takes my hand and lays something in it. “Oh, dear sweet dove…” he murmurs, and a chill cascades down my spine. “I’ve already told you. The last thing I want…is peace between us.”
Stunned, I blink as he steps away, back. Turning, he marches out onto the balcony.
My heart leaps. I look down at my palm. At the elevator key.
Then I look up.
At the man on the railing.
“Malcolm!” I jolt forward as he teeters on the edge and swings around to face me.
A breeze whips his hair and clothes. He throws his arms open. His face tints red, melding with the hues of the setting sun. “I love you,” he says. “Sincerely so. To the grave…and beyond.”
Then he steps off.
?
My blood rings in my ears as I stare at the empty space in front of me.
