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I huff out a short laugh.
“I will see you soon, my boy,” he says, and then nods towards the door, giving me permission to leave.
I incline my head before getting to my feet and leaving the study.
Uneasiness slithers through my stomach as I descend the stairs towards where Andrea is waiting.
The people who killed my parents are here. Just a few miles away. I can’t draw this out any longer.
No more dancing around each other. I need the truth. It’s time to confront Isabella once and for all. I have waited six long years to ask these questions.
I will have my answers.
And I will have them now.
29
ISABELLA
Dread pools in my stomach before I even open the door. Rico is standing there in the corridor outside when I do, his face serious.
“We need to talk,” he says.
“Yes, we do,” I reply.
Stepping aside, I motion for him to come in. He keeps that serious expression on his features as he walks into my living room while I close the door behind him. Then I move until I’m standing in front of him.
For a few seconds, no one speaks. Outside my windows, a car blares past on the street below.
“It’s time to stop,” Rico announces at last.
“I agree.”
“You need to stop pretending and tell me the truth,” he says at the same time as I say, “You need to stop coming here and leave me alone.”
He draws back in surprise. I do too.
“What?” we say in unison.
Shaking my head, I recover first. “Enough of this. I know that you’re only pretending to like me because you’re trying to get me to tell you something that I don’t know. But it’s time to stop now. The waffle dinner, the park, the necklace. Playing with my heart like this is cruel. And you need to stop.”
He flinches. Actuallyflinches. His mouth drops open as he just stares at me for a moment.
“You thinkI’mplaying with you?” he blurts out eventually. “You’re the one who is playing with me!”
“I’m not playing with you! I’m not that girl from your past. No matter how much you try to force me to be, I’m not her. And you need to accept that and leave me alone now.”
“Six years!” The words rip out of his throat as he stabs a hand towards the windows. “I have waited six years for these answers.”
“And I’m sorry for that. I’m sorry for whatever happened to you and that girl. But I don’thavethe answers that you’re looking for.” I point at the door. “Now, get out.”
Without waiting for an answer, I turn on my heel and stalk towards the kitchen. I only make it a few steps before Rico’s hand wraps around my wrist, spinning me back around.
“Don’t you walk away from me,” he growls. “We’re not done—”
“Yes, we are,” I snap back at him, yanking my wrist out of his grip. “Because we didn’t even start. You and me, we were never real. Everything you did was done solely to fool me into thinking you care about me. And I went along with it because I needed to survive your damn attempts to force me to tell you something that I don’t know. None of it was real and we both know it.”
His dark eyes sharpen. “None of it was real, huh? You know that’s a lie.”
