Page 132 of House of Lies

I scream, sob, almost puke. My leg trembles, the knife quivering until Angelo yanks it out. It hurts almost as much going out as it did going in.

I’m a blubbering, pathetic mess, my head swimming as I watch blood ooze out of the deep gash and spill over my thigh onto the chair seat below.

Angelo’s laughing. He brings the knife close, and I almost pass out at the thought that he’s going to stab me again. But he just cleans the blade on the bodice of my dress, leaving a dark, wet smudge over the burgundy fabric.

“There’s something I need you to do.”

Like die?

A harsh ache thumps through my leg. It radiates up and down the entire right side of my body, perfectly timed with the terrified pounding of my heart.

Fuck, it hurts. But I’m more worried about the fact that my heart is beating so fast, like I’m about to have a heart attack.

Angelo walks away, and my head bobs down as I huff out a sigh of relief. I squeeze my eyes closed, forcing myself not to pass out. It’s just a nick. I still have a lot of blood left in my body…right?

I listen to his footsteps as he walks away, but my hearing is pulsating with my heartbeat.

Am this what dying feels like?

Oh God, now I’ll never know what happened to Mom.

And I’ll never get the chance to tell Ethan I’m sorry.

That he’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.

That…that I love him.

Something thumps into my lap, shocking me out of my miserable thoughts. My silent tears splash down on the thing for a few seconds before I realize what I’m looking at.

There’s a legal pad on my lap.

I flinch, whimpering when Angelo’s knife appears in my field of view. But instead of stabbing me, he uses it to slice through the ropes around my right-hand wrist.

He slips a pen between my fingers, forcing me to hold it despite how I tremble. Then he uses the knife to tap on the yellow paper.

“Dear Ethan.”

When I do nothing, he presses the tip of the knife into the paper, forcing the cardboard backing against my wound. I whimper from the pain, and hurriedly rest my hand on the paper, writing out a shaky Dear Ethan near the top.

“There we go,” he says happily. “Next line.”

My hand slowly drags down the paper. I’m trembling so much I doubt anything I write is even going to be legible, but it’s not like I can argue.

Ethan,

I’m done playing pretend.

I was only after your money, but it seems you’re too selfish to share.

There’s someone else I’d rather be with, anyway. A much better man than you’ll ever be.

Don’t come looking for me.

Cassidy.

Angelo snatches the legal pad off my lap, leaving behind a smear of blood on my legs, reads my note, and makes a cheerful sound before walking away again.

My head falls back, then rolls to the side.

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