Page 8 of Dare To Fall

She answered me. It’s a step up from the silence.

“Why would I tell you to key my car?”

“To make sure I don’t think it’s you.”

“Have you any idea how much it cost to repair the damage?”

Her shoulder moves in a shrug.

“Will you at least look at me?” I lean up on one hand and brush her hair off her cheek.

She turns her head and buries it into the pillow.

“Ari, please?”

She twists to face me. “Answer one question.”

“Anything.”

“Why?”

I frown. “Why what?”

“Why did you do it? Why pretend to be a stranger? Why do the things you did to me? Why did—”

The door swings open and Kellan walks in, juggling two bags and three drinks.

“Hey, you’re awake.” He smiles at Arabella.

Arabella looks at him, then at me, and the little color that had returned to her face drains away.

“Oh my god,” she whispers. “If you’re Sin, then he …” She scrambles from the bed, sways, and drops heavily back onto the mattress.

“Ari, calm down.” I sit up and swing my legs off the bed.

“Calm down,” she repeats. “You want me to calm down? The video … that’s you and …” her eyes cut to Kellan again, who carefully sets down the food and drinks, then crosses the room.

“Bella.” He crouches in front of her and takes her hands. “Eli wanted to tell you it was him, but he couldn’t see a way to do it without making you feel—”

“Used? Lied to? Manipulated? Tricked?” Her voice is hard.

“Yes, all of those.” He glances at me. “It might have started as a cruel joke, but it didn’t stay that way. You know that, don’t you?”

“When did it stop? Was it when you recorded me sucking your cock? Or how about when you were both … doing things to me? Maybe you started feeling bad the night I begged you to fuck me, and you refused?” Her blue eyes, when she twists to glare at me, are no longer empty. They’re blazing with fury. “When, Eli? When did it stop being a joke to you?”

“When I kissed you on Halloween.”

Chapter 4

Arabella

Months ago.

The anger I’m feeling sears through my numbness. “I don’t believe you.”

I stare into Kellan’s face. There are cuts and bruises covering it. I’m sure they hadn’t been there yesterday.

He strokes his thumbs over my hands. “Sin started giving you what you wanted after Halloween. Don’t you remember? He ate you out on the tomb and touched you in the way you wanted. Did things that were in your diary—”

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