Page 133 of Unbroken

“Enough,” I said. I braced my hands on the back of the couch and leveled him with an unwavering stare. “I don’t want to talk about how you fucked up or how I figured it out. I want to knowwhyyou did it. I feel like it’s a simple question, Jeff, and you’re a smart guy. So, tell me.Now.”

“It’s a pretty long story, Blakely.”

“I have time, but you can spare me the psychotic details. The basics will suffice.”

He snickered, and it took everything in me not to begin pacing. As the seconds ticked by and he didn’t answer, I struggled to keep my composure.

“Blakely, Blakely, Blakely, you are just so?—”

“Now!” I shouted. That rage I was letting fuel me bubbled to the surface in one massive, unhindered wave.

His jaw clenched, and I could see a vein in his temple begin to pulse. It was a peek beneath the unrattled exterior he was portraying. Being confronted by your victim was bound to shake a person.

“You’re not going to be as satisfied with the answer as you think, Blakely.” He spit my name like it hurt to say it. When I didn’t respond, he narrowed his eyes and bared his teeth. “I met Valerie and was instantly fascinated with her. The amount of ownership she felt over your friend, Luke, was, well, intriguing.”

“You just met her?”

“Well, she was a patient-turned-friend. It went against all the rules to befriend a patient, but you knew Valerie, she was hard to resist,” he said. “Actually, you knew that very well, because for a long time, she was your only friend. Which is probably why you went along with everything for so long. Why you couldn’t thinkclearly when she threatened you to help her with Luke. Your childhood was so lonely, a friend was all you’d ever wanted. And she was?—”

“Enough,” I seethed. “We both know all of this. Now, tell me something I don’t fucking know.” I shifted on my feet and crossed my arms over my chest. He clocked the movement and my growing frustration.

“You want the short and sweet version?” He removed his black-rimmed glasses and examined the lenses. Opening the drawer next to him with an easy nonchalance, he pulled out a microfiber cloth and cleaned them. “Valerie wanted to use you to help get to Luke. Her tactics were a little unconventional and slightly ridiculous, but I wasn’t going to argue with her. If I had cared more, maybe I would have warned her she was going to get herself killed, but I didn’t. All I wanted was…you,” he said with an icy, uncaring glance.

“You wanted me?” There was no hiding the surprise in my voice.

He returned his little cloth to the drawer and replaced his glasses on his nose. “Yes, from the first time we met.”

“You mean when you attacked me from behind, drugged me and drove me across state?”

“No,” he said with a condescending laugh. “That Halloween party at Murphy’s. Your friend, Josh, I think it was, kicked Valerie out, but I stayed behind. That was when Valerie knew there was more going on between Hazel and Luke. But that’s beside the point. We met that night, although it’s clear now you don’t remember.”

My memories from that night were foggy at best. It was more than two years ago, and the bar was exceptionally crowded. I tried to remember any faces I’d seen. I had been bartending with Josh during one of the craziest shifts of the year.

I met and served a lot of people that night, and I don’t remember a single one of them.

“We had a short conversation with the usual pleasantries—‘how’s your night going?,’ ‘what are you drinking?’—that kind of thing. And the conversation may not have stuck with you, but it sure as hell stuck with me. And.” He paused, leaning forward. “Listen closely because here is the lovely ‘why’you’ve been waiting for.”

I stayed still and silent as he drew out the moment for as long as he could. His finger tapped against the leather with every passing second before he finally gave up and sighed.

“It was in your eyes, Blakely. Something I hadn’t seen before that was too exciting not to pursue. You were already broken, I wanted to know if I could break you more. So, when I realized Valerie knew you, we made a deal: she was dead set that you were going to help her with her little Hazel problem, and honestly, it helped my bottom line, too.”

He stood then, and I struggled not to retreat. I wrapped my shaking arms tighter around me but stood my ground. Luckily, he didn’t try to get any closer. Instead, he stepped around his chair and surveyed the contents of the shelves on the far wall.

“The things she had you do while holding the well-being of your friends over your head? It was beautiful to watch, and I got a front-row seat. Then she took Hazel, and I finally got you.”

My heart was in my throat, and the sinking feeling in my gut was nothing new.

“Your parents, your childhood, your friendship with Valerie—it all did a number on you, Blakely. And I wanted a turn atreallybreaking you. More than you already were.”

“So, you wanted to, that’s why. And because you’re just fucking psychotic.”

He turned on me then. He whipped around so fast I barely noted the movement before he was staring soulless daggers at me. “That is lazy reasoning, Blakely. And I don’t appreciate being called crazy. I did what I did because you were a firsthand test case, and there’s nothing better for research than that.”

His raised voice didn’t affect me. “You were right—that was not the answer I was expecting.”

He shook his head and let loose a sardonic chuckle. “So, are we done here? Because as much as I’m loving watching you go through every type of emotion and try to keep yourself together, I’m a little bored.”

“No, we’re not done. Where did Nick Hammond come in?”

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