Page 89 of Lunar Crest University

“Why am I not safe?” I question with a bite to my tone. “Tell me exactly what is going on. No lying. No beating around the bush. I want all of it.”

His throat bobs as he swallows.

“Now, Luca.”

“Rosco told Javier about you before I—” He grinds his molars as he sucks in a deep breath. “Javier knows about you. He doesn’t like when people know about him. He makes people who know too much disappear. When I came to your apartment that night, when we had pizza, there was a man outside your window, watching you. I killed him, too.”

I try not to choke as I process his words. His honesty chills me down to the bone, but I asked for it. I asked for this.

“You killed someone before…” I lick my dry lips as my chin trembles, “before coming into my house?”

He nods once.

“Before you—” I rasp. “Beforewe?—”

Luca takes a big step toward me, and I swallow my gasp. He must have noticed my change in demeanor, because he stills before he reaches me.

“I would do it again,” he says. “I told you, I’m keeping you safe too. And if that means killing every single person who even looks at you, then I will. I know that’s not what you want to hear, Finley, but I don’t care. I will not let them hurt you.”

I stare at his chest because I can’t seem to look him in the eyes. I know what I’ll see if I do, and I just can’t. Tears slip down my cheeks for the millionth time, and I sniffle as I try to blink them away. He has killed people forme. How can I live with that?

“I need time,” I croak, shaking my head aimlessly.

“I know.”

“This is a lot to process.” And I’m crying again.

Fuck.

Who am I kidding? No matter how strong I try to be, this is ripping me apart from the inside out. The anger only lasts so long before the hurt seeps back in.

“I know,” he repeats, and he sounds broken too.

Why doeshesound like that?

Why would he be broken when he’s the one who did this? Aren’t murderers supposed to be soulless beings with no hearts? A villain. He really is a villain. He tried to tell me that once too, and I ignored it. The cards were all there, right in front of me the entire time.

“Does your family know?”

He looks to the floor now. “Just my mother.”

Uncrossing my arms, I wrap them around myself instead, searching for any amount of comfort I can find, because I’m dying here. I press my lips into a thin line as a wave of sobs ripple through my chest, but the whimpers come out anyway.

“And s-she’s okay with what you do?” I whine.

“I don’t do this. I’m not—” He stops as he huffs impatiently. There he is. Is that the psychopath I’ve been ignoring? Just masking with anger like he always does? “I wanted out. I was trying to get out, but here I am, being sucked back in because ofyou.”

I flinch at the growl in his voice.

“What do you want me to do?” he practically barks at me, throwing his hands in the air as he laughs breathlessly. “Huh? Just leave you alone to figure it out yourself? Do you think I could really do that?”

“I wanted you to behonestwith me.”

“Would you have wanted anything to do with me if you’d known?”

“I deserved thatoption, Luca!” I cry out, my vision blurred once more. “I deserved to know the truth and make that decision for myself. Instead,youmade it for me.”

The fury in his eyes softens. “I know.”

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