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My chest tightens.
Itwasreal. So fucking real.
“I want to leave.”
“You don’t mean that.”
We stand toe to toe. Her eyes blaze, her lips quiver.
“You destroyed me when you left that night.” I can hear the sob catch in her throat, threatening to break through her lips and drown out her words. “You pretended to care about me. You pretended to be Kylian’s best friend. You crawled under my skin and made me fall in love with you before you pulverized my heart. I hate you so much for that.”
Each caustic word stabs my heart with the truth.
“I did what I had to do.”
“You did what?” Her jaw drops, an incredulous laugh piercing the air. She throws up her hand and paces in front of the bed. “You latched on to Kylian with the football bullshit, promising to help make him a star. You seduced me and tricked me, all to get close to my father. You took my virginity. Did you even know that? Do you even care? I gave you that part of me, and in exchange, you blackmailed me. You son of a bitch. Don’t you dare say you ‘did what you had to do.’ You don’t get off that easy.”
“I had to help my sister. I did what I could to get her out of a bad situation.” I grab Skyla by the wrist to stop her from pacing. “It was the only way to get the information I needed. I had to save her.”
“I betrayed my family for you. I never said a word to them about what happened that night.”
“Bullshit. You told Kylian.” My pulse jumps into my throat and punches a hole in the side. “That’s why he sabotaged me on the field.”
“No, I didn’t. I never said a word because of what you threatened to do to me. I couldn’t take any risks, knowing what a low-life bastard you turned out to be. Oh my God, I still can’t believe I was so blind.” She smacks her hand against her forehead. “You did those crazy, dirty things to me and filmed it all as insurance against me. You knew I’d keep your secret if you threatened to use that video.”
This time when she launches her fist against my jaw, I let it happen.
“You ruined my life. You broke my heart. You’re a selfish liar. And what pisses me off the most is that even now, knowing everything I do, I still can’t stop myself from falling back into those feelings again. For as much as I want to see you dead, I…”
I reach behind her and let my fingers wander into the back of her hair. Her eyes float closed for a split second before they crack open, pooling with tears.
“I still love you.” She sniffles. “Fuck my life.”
Hearing those words makes my heart clench. I fucking love her, too. More than she knows. But she’d never believe me if I told her that. She already thinks I’m a liar who used her to get ahead.
Which I did.
So those words… they won’t mean shit to her. She needs more, and hell if I know how to give it to her.
“You asked me why I was so angry at your father.” I grind my back teeth, my jaw tensing. “It’s because he did the same thing to you that my dad did to Val.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“He used her. Brokered some sham marriage agreement, pretending it was a business deal. He sold her off so she could spy on her in-laws and get information for him. And she fucking agreed to do it.”
I stab a finger at my chest. “I tried to convince her to stop it, but she wouldn’t. She said she needed to help. So I went to my father right before the wedding and told him what a piece of shit he was for marrying off Val.”
“What happened?”
“I begged him to give me another chance to get what he needed. Val was barely nineteen, and he chose to ruinherlife. Then my family was attacked. Val vanished. Dad and my brother Dima were killed. That argument was the last exchange I had with my dad.”
“And you still don’t know why he made the arrangement?”
“Nope. And it doesn’t seem like we ever will, not until we track Denis Stepanov. That’s why I ended up at your wedding. I needed to do something to redeem myself in the eyes of my family. I needed to do something right for once. Stepanov wants to take down my family, and anyone who works with him is our enemy. Including the Van Dynes.”
“So you took me to stop them from banding together and against your family’s organization.” Her face free-falls. “You used me again.”
“I let my family down too many times before. I saw an opportunity and I took it. I needed you to fix them.”
