Page 49 of Explosive Prejudice

Looking to my sides to make sure no one was around, I removed my mask and rubbed my face. This whole mess was exhausting, and my body ached with the need to see him, to have my arms around him, and to erase every mark Dion might leave on his body.

I blew out some air and put my mask back on, wishing I had a cigarette right now. Just then, the sound of the elevator caught my attention, and I saw the doors open and Llorón coming out of it, alone. Thank God. Looking at the floor, he didn’t notice me at first, but once he lifted his gaze, our eyes met. The sadness and despair in his eyes pierced my soul, and I thought back on the time I was stabbed and how little pain I felt then compared to seeing him this way.

Peeling my back off the wall, I walked toward him.

“You waited all this time?” he snarled, stopping before me.

“I would have waited all night.”

He bit his bottom lip, then tore his eyes away from me. “I never knew you were so pathetic,” he hissed, but his fake hostility meant nothing to me. He could bark all day long. I didn’t give a shit.

“Llorón.” I tried to reach for his arm, but he slapped my hand away and attempted to move past me. Having had enough of this, I grabbed him and turned us around so he was caged between my arms with his back pressed against the wall.

Rage burned in his eyes, and the look he gave me from underneath his mask was furious. If it wasn’t for how angry I was, I might have found it arousing. Scanning him more carefully, I had to hold myself together so I wouldn’t burst. The disheveled clothes, the bruised lips, the messy hair, and the red marks left on his skin made it obvious he’d just gotten fucked by another man, and it messed me up. Somehow able to push aside my need to break something, I took a deep breath.

“What’s wrong with you? What happened?”

“What do you mean what’s wrong with me?” he snorted, and I then noticed how dilated his pupils were.

“Are you high?”

“Fuck off,” he snarled.

Grabbing his chin, I forced him to look at me. His eyes were bloodshot, while his pupils were the size of coins. “Yes, you are.”

“Sharp observation, Sherlock.”

“We’re going to talk about what you did tonight, but not now. Not when you’re fucked-up like this.”

His lips pulled into a half smile, and his eyes shone viciously. “Oh, you’re right about that,” he sneered. “I am fucked.”

Knowing he was trying his best to provoke and push me away, I let go of his chin and grabbed his wrist. “I’m taking you somewhere else until you sober up.” I ignored his resistance while forcing him to move with me.

“Why?” he laughed. “I was just about to tell you how properly fucked I am… Seriously, Nero, I can feel his cum dripping down my legs as we speak.”

Tightening my hold around his wrist, I clenched my jaw and turned to face him. Right now, looking at him was like looking at a stranger. And although I knew he was acting out to push me away, to make me hate him on purpose, it drove me nuts.

“Why are you doing this?”

He looked startled, and for a moment, he held my stare without saying a word, but then he spoke. “What do you mean why?” A sad smile appeared on his lips. “I’m facing the consequences.”

My heart stopped as his words turned every part of my body to stone.

“What did you say?” I asked, barely able to hear anything but the blood pounding in my ears.

“You heard me.”

Listening to his words was like throwing a match into a field of thorns and standing by, watching the flames spread and grow, burning everything to the ground.

I swallowed hard, then forcefully moved my fingers to his mask. I swear to God, I was shaking, but what I was about to find out not only scared me but angered me. Standing still, Llorón didn’t try to resist as I slowly took off his mask in a second that dragged out forever. The moment it was gone, I felt like the whole world was crashing down.

“Feeling sick to your stomach?” he asked, his intoxicating eyes piercing into my soul like so many times before. Only this time, it wasn’t my Llorón I was facing, but… him?

This can’t fucking be real.

Anger took over me as rage I couldn’t contain spread through my veins until I clenched my hands into tight fists. My vision turned bloodred, my whole body trembled, and the next thing I knew, I punched the wall hard enough to leave a hole in it. My knuckles burned, and my skin tore, but I couldn’t care less. I was too obsessed with the sickening idea that my Llorón was none other than the guy I hated the most in this world.

Shay-Lee seemed shocked I’d just left a hole in the wall, but it was supposed to be his face. I’ve never had a problem hitting him before, like this morning, but all of a sudden, it felt impossible.

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