Page 86 of Twisted Truths

“Nah.” He tries to wave me off then flinches.

Tears well in my eyes. Not only did he rush in and put himself in danger to help me, but if that bullet had been a few inches either way, there’s a good chance he wouldn’t be alive.

“You okay?” he asks me.

“Fine.” I nod.

He looks at Bastion standing behind me. “Uma?”

“Dead. Obsidian killed her.”

My shoulders sink. I can’t help but wonder how Obsidian feels about that. I made him a murderer.

“Good. That’s good.” My dad looks down at his body, then turns his gaze back to me. “Ari… I don’t know what to say.” He swallows hard. “I owe you an apology.”

“It’s okay, Dad.”

He shakes his head. “No, it’s not. I put you in harm’s way. If Uma had killed you, I don’t know how I ever would’ve lived with myself. But I owe you an apology for more than just that. Your boyfriend was right to come at me for how you were raised. It wasn’t right. I just… after your mom left, I didn’t know how I was gonna support you except to do it the only way I knew how. But I never should’ve dragged you into it.”

I swallow past the painful lump in my throat. “I know you did your best.” I grab his hand, fighting against the pain in my ribs. “But I don’t want anything to do with that life anymore. And I really hope that after this, you don’t either.”

He sniffles and blinks the tears out of his eyes. “I’m gonna give it a go. I can’t promise you I’ll be perfect, but I’ll try.”

Knowing that’s the best I’m ever going to get from him, I nod and squeeze his hand. “Deal.”

I stay for a while longer, until I can barely keep my eyes open. My father has long since gone back to sleep, leaving Bastion and me in quiet of just the beeping hospital equipment.

“I need some sleep. What are you going to do?” I ask.

Bastion shrugs. “Probably just sleep here in this chair. You should go back to the manor and sleep. We can catch up with each other tomorrow and figure everything out.”

I nod, dreading returning to the manor. But I have nowhere else to go and all my things are there. If security won’t let me through the front gates when I arrive, I’ll come back here.

The next morning, I shift and the pain of my ribs makes me groan. My eyes slowly open, and I yelp, sliding back in the bed. I place my hand over my ribs. “Shit.”

Obsidian sits in a chair in the corner of the room Marcel showed me to last night. I was surprised when I arrived at Midnight Manor, and my things weren’t waiting for me in garbage bags outside the front door. There was no way I was going to be able to sleep in my old room though, so I breathed a sigh of relief when Marcel led me here.

“Hey,” I say.

He rises off the chair and stalks toward the bed, his dark gaze never leaving me. I shift to sit up, but grunt in pain from the stabbing pain in my ribs.

Obsidian raises his hand. “Stay where you are. Marcel tells me you have some pretty badly bruised ribs.”

I didn’t realize when Marcel was asking me questions last night that it was for Obsidian’s benefit.

“Could be worse… if you hadn’t intervened. Thank you.” My eyes sting, but I hold the tears at bay.

“You don’t need to thank me, Ariana. Regardless of what went down before, I still wouldn’t let anyone hurt you.”

It’s just because he’s a good man, despite what he may think. Don’t read into it.

“Either way, I appreciate it. You probably saved my dad too, so thank you.”

He nods, lips pressed together. “I want you to know that I talked to the police, and they won’t need to talk to you, your brother or your dad again. They determined that I acted in self-defense and won’t be looking into last night further.”

“Thank you,” I say in a small voice.

I know for certain he or his brothers have used their influence, or money, to make it go away. After what I did to them, I certainly didn’t expect their help.

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