Page 20 of Above All Else

“Just imagine how Amber felt moments before her death.” I gripped her hair and tugged her head to the side. “She choked on her own blood and died in my arms. But you know that already, don’t you?”

I lightened my pressure on her chest, and she sucked in a lungful of air with a wicked gasp. “No...”

“Lying will only add to the suffering before I end your miserable existence.”

“I’m not lying.Please, believe me.“ June sobbed.

“Why would I?” I shook my head. “She trusted you, and you killed her.”

“I would never. She was my best friend.” Her mouth dropped open. “Where is this coming from?”

“You’re recanting your confession?”

Her brows furrowed. “I’ve never confessed to anything. She was my best friend.”

Best friend?

“Stop saying that.” My knuckles cracked as I squeezed her wrists, causing her to wince. “I have the video evidence.”

Tears overflowed in her eyes as she stared up at me. “That’s not possible.”

“Why?” I leaned closer and cocked my head to the side, my gaze dipping down to her plump, trembling lip, her skin smooth like porcelain. “Because you thought you’d really gotten away with it?”

Her dark hair fanned out and wedged between my fingers. “But I didn’t—“

“You were the last one seen with her before she went into the backyard. I saw texts from other classmates saying they saw you follow her.”

“They’re lying.” She twisted her hands in my grasp, scrunching her negligee, her pert nipples on display through the sheer fabric.

I squeezed, released her hair, and double-fisted both her wrists. “Why did you slip out of the party after they found her? What kind of friend does that?”

“Ethan and I left earlier in the evening.” She shook her head and struggled against my hold. “I didn’t hear about her death until the next morning back at the hotel.”

My jaw pulsed as I pictured her sneaking back into her house the next morning after fucking him. “You disgust me.”

Chapter 6

June

Ifrowned, my head swimming.

Why did he care who I slept with? That was eleven years ago.

Gunshots exploded from beyond the bedroom door, jolting my entire body in his iron grip. “What the hell was that?”

Carter’s head snapped toward the door, his focus broken for a split second—just enough. I twisted my wrists, breaking free from his grasp.

His eyes whipped back to mine.

With a fierce cry, I shoved him hard in the chest, everyounce of strength behind it. He stumbled back, crashing toward the floor, nausea whirring in my gut.

Carter hit the floor with a grunt as I spun around on the bed, scrambling across the sheets. My fingers fumbled for the doorknob, yanking it open. I bolted down the hallway, my heart pounding in my ears. I glanced over my shoulder as I reached the top of the staircase leading down into a main room.

He burst through it and came to a screeching halt as he spotted me, his mask in hand. “Where do you think you’re going, dollface?”

I stiffened as my childhood nickname fell from the lips he wiped with the back of his hand.

Out of here.

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