Page 137 of They Break Beauty

“In a sense.” There was no point denying it, because he’d seen the board, and he was even studying it with a furrowed brow as he drew closer.

“How did Steven detect your movements? You’re stealthy too.”

I lifted a shoulder. “I was laser-focused.”

“Ah. The state for you where the rest of the world slips away.”

“Yes,” I ground out.

I stepped back from the board and shoved my hands into the pockets of my hoodie. “Let’s stop dancing around it. Get to it. Reprimand me. Tell me this truce is already done with. Call me an obsessive danger to us all. Tell me that you’ll—”

“This is impressive.”

I started. “What?”

“The detail here, the depth of it all, so much that you’ve compiled over time, all these leads you’ve obtained all by yourself… it’s impressive, Lev.”

“I… what?”

He merely smiled, then studied both my board and my laptop screen for several minutes.

And I studied him.

What the fuck was happening?

He stepped back, then folded his big arms across his chest. “I’m sorry.”

I frowned. “For what you did to Brianna?”

“That, yes. And I’m trying to make it up to you both. It’s why I offered her to stay with us for a couple of days, to get to know her, to show you both that I’m going to support your relationship. But that’s not what I’m currently saying sorry for.” He shifted his weight, clearly uncomfortable with the emotion he was displaying, the raw honesty and regret coming off him. It flew in the face of all that stoicism he usually put forth. “I’m sorry that you’ve had to do this all alone. I didn’t realize how badly you needed this justice for what happened to you. You don’t talk about it, Lev, so me and Colt both thought you’d made peace with it, that you’d let that initial surging need to make him pay that you’d had after it happened go.”

“You saw what happened when I talked about it last night.”

“I did, but it’s more than that, isn’t it? It’s because of me. You thought I’d shut all of this down, that I’d even use Roman to do it.”

“Yes.”

“Well, I’m not gonna do that.”

“Why not?” I asked, the suspicion in my tone very clear.

“Let’s just say that Brianna made me realize a few things, especially when it comes to you. And it’s clear you need this. You need this closure to find peace.” He dropped his arms and stepped right up to me. “The torment won’t stop, will it?”

“Mason,” I groused.

I went to turn my head away, but he grasped my jaw.

Firmly, but with no malice in it. “Lev,” he pushed.

I swallowed hard. “No,” I forced myself to admit. “It won’t fucking stop.”

“But doing this will see to it, won’t it?”

“I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life.” I grimaced. “But going any further with this—because it’s reaching a tipping point—risks exposing me to Lynch and his new organization, which risks pulling you guys into it too by close association. And Brianna… she’s not ready to hear about this yet. It was hard enough to get her to admit that it had even happened, to acknowledge who she really is, to get her to acknowledge me.”

“I understand. And I have an idea.”

“What’s that?”

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