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My heart raced and my hands shook as I considered how this could be real. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I steadied myself.
“Someone held a gun to my head and forced me to set the fire,” I stammered, my throat tightening with every word. “As soon as I dropped the match, she dragged me out of the house and into the trees. She promised if I didn’t cooperate, she would kill you.”
My defenses crumbled as hot tears ran down my cheeks. “Her name was Crimson. She kept me hostage for three days, telling me that you’d died.” A sob escaped from my throat as memories of that time flooded back. “Theo and Samantha flew me to New York and stayed for a week before dropping me off at the academy. But even when I begged them to tell me that you weren’t dead, they never did. They just cried and grieved with me. Samantha prepared your funeral with flowers and pictures . . . and people showed up from everywhere. Since you died in the fire, it was a closed casket.”
Jagger’s expression contorted with shock and disbelief. He laced his fingers behind his neck, stared at the ceiling, and spat out a profanity-filled response. “What the actual hell?”
Forcing himself to look at me again, he said, “Ari, I think we were both lied to.”
ChapterTwenty-Three
Ariana
Icrumpled to the floor, the crazy reality of the situation finally soaking into my head and heart.
“You need to leave,” Jagger said to Anderson, his tone bordering on harsh.
“I’m out,” Anderson said, his tone heavy with concern.
The tip of Jagger’s black dress shoes caught my eye as he sat beside me on the floor. I wrung my hands together, refusing to look at him.
“Ariana.” His voice was void of anger this time, but I wasn’t sure who I was dealing with: the Jagger that used to love me or the hardened man I’d witnessed as the Black Mamba. “I don’t understand why we were lied to. But at least we know that neither of us left by choice. I didn’t abandon you.”
My gaze slowly lifted to his, and my forehead scrunched in confusion. “What do you mean?” Still in shock, it hadn’t occurred to me to ask what had happened to him after the fire.
Jagger’s jaw clenched and for a fleeting moment, I saw a glimpse of the monster that now lived inside him. He cleared his throat, the dark expression quickly shifting.Who is he?
“You don’t need to know.”
“Why? You know what I lived through.”
Jagger glanced away. “It was a different time, Ari.”
By the rigidity of his shoulders, it was clear that it was difficult for him to talk about the past.
“How did you end up with Peter?” His ice-blue eyes landed on me again.
“He was there for me after the fire. I thought he was a good person. Turns out I was wrong.”So damn wrong!
I gulped, not sure I wanted the answer to the question I was about to ask Jagger. He’s not just Jagger. He’s my stepbrother. The love of my life. “What happened with Peter? You say I’m safe from him, but what exactly did you do?” My gaze widened as his lip curled into a sinister smile, chilling me to the bone.
“I couldn’t allow him to hurt you anymore, Ariana. As far as I’m concerned, I did what I had to do.”
I narrowed my gaze on him. “Which was?”
Jagger cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders. “When I ripped his fingernails out with pliers, he sang like a spoiled little bitch.”
I gasped and scrambled backward. “Wh-what?”
Jagger rose and loomed over me. “I needed information.” He gave me a half-shrug as if he’d done so much worse. Something told me he had.
“What was so goddamn important that you ripped out someone’s fingernails?”
Jagger pressed forward until he backed me into the wall. He placed his palms on each side of my head, caging me in.
“You.” His tongue darted across his lower lip, and it took everything inside me not to kiss him. “I saw you at the party that night. When you left the house in a hurry, I followed. Peter was waiting for you. The moment he got rough with you, I realized he had to be dealt with. As I told him, you’re mine. No one has a right to touch you.”
Confusion and rage clouded my mind. I wasn’t an object that could be owned, but he’d saved my life. What the hell was I supposed to do with that mixed bag?
