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But I held up a hand warding him off. “The only thing I know about you right now is that you’re a fucking liar.”
Damien pulled up short and all the color drained from his face. I thought he was going to start bawling, but he sucked in a breath and lifted his gaze to me with bright red misery ringing his eyes. “Theotherreason I didn’t say anything during our first meeting was because I wanted it to be true.”
“You wantedwhatto be true?” I asked, shaking my head. “You wanted me to be able to see ghosts?”
He nodded sadly. “Yes. Every single other tenant made impossible claims about unexplained activity here—and therehavebeen a lot—but you were the first one who said you actuallysawher. That you talked to her and interacted with her. So I thought—”
When he broke off abruptly, I shook my head. “You thoughtwhat?”
He sighed sadly and looked down at his hands before admitting, “I thought you could help me.”
“Help you?” I whispered.
With a nod, he glanced up. “Her killer was never caught. We have no idea who did this to her, and I…” Taking a breath, he motioned toward me. “You know that file and picture you saw in my chest at the end of my bed? That’s a copy of her case. And that picture… That’s what he did to her.”
“Oh God,” I uttered and pressed both hands to my mouth.
Damien nodded, agreeing with my horror. “I did go into my major hoping to find her killer. It’s all I’ve wanted for ten years. And to suddenly meet someone whomighthave the ability to simplyaskher…”
He shrugged as if he couldn’t expect to be hated for that wish.
And he wasn’t.
I despised him for the lies.
“Yet not once did you ever ask me to do that for you?” I said.
“Because…because…” When he glanced at me as if asking me to read his mind, I shook my head, having no idea what he was trying to say.
“Because why?”
“Because Ilikedyou,” he said simply. “And you had no idea what you were capable of. I—I didn’t want to scare you off. And so…getting to justbewith you grew more important to me than learning the truth about Thalia. I’d lived without finding her killer for ten years. I knew I could suffer through the not-knowing. But I couldn’t handle losing you. And this… This was going to change your entire life.”
He was definitely right about that. Nothing was ever going to be the same again.
Panicked and petrified by that thought, I sniffed at the few tears that were starting to fall, and I glanced away as I miserably wiped at them.
“How could I be the person who flipped your entire world upside down?” he asked softly.
“Oh…” I drew out sarcastically as if all my questions had been answered. “So you stayed quiet forme. To protect my tender little feelings? Is that it?”
What bullshit.
I scoffed out my disbelief and ran a hand through my hair as I glanced away again to keep a bigger monsoon from streaming down my face.
But when Damien didn’t respond, my curiosity got the better of me, and I glanced back, only to find him staring at me as if I’d just walloped him in the head with a sledgehammer.
“Jesus, you’re right,” he uttered. With a slight shake of the head, he admitted, “I didn’t do it for you at all, did I? I did it for me. Oh God…” He gripped his head and bent slightly, taking a step back before he lifted his gaze back to me. “Oaklynn…”
“Wha…what do you…?Explain,” I demanded with a shaking voice.
He straightened to his full height and met my gaze with bleak, lost eyes. “At first,” he started slowly, “I wanted to protect myself. If you were trying to scam me and hurt me, I was going to be ready for it so you couldn’t. But then…then…” He shook his head as his face crumbled with pain. “Then, when I realized you were legit and you honestly didn’t know she was gone, I didn’t tell you because…because… You’re right. I wanted you, and I wouldn’t get to be with you if you found out the truth. But after that, it just…”
He pressed his lips together and winced as he swallowed before he began to rock himself slowly. “It got real, and I fell in love with you.”
All the heat drained from my face, and it left me cold straight down to the depths of my soul.
“No!” I growled, pointing at him. “Don’t you fucking dare say that to me.”
