Page 139 of The Wrong Heart

He stares at me, his gaze like a warzone—but less like he’s running into combat, and more like he’s crawling his way off the battlefield, beaten down and bloody.

This doesn’t make sense.

He’s Zephyr, Iknowhe’s Zephyr—I saw him on the camera. He told me things only Zephyr would know.

This doesn’t make any sense.

Parker sits up straight, and I jump back, away from him, almost as if he just burned me. Disbelief surges through me as my eyes dart back to his chest, still searching for something that doesn’t exist.

A cry breaks loose, and I cup my hand around my mouth, realization sucker-punching me right in the gut.

He lied.

Parker has been lying to me this whole time.

Seventy-nine scars…

Seventy-nine scars, and not a single one of them is mine.

Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth. – Buddha

—THIRTY-THREE—

Inever meantfor this to happen.

This wasn’t deception by design, or a ploy to break her heart. If I could relive every cigarette burn, cruel word, sharp slap, and dark, hungry night alone in that closet, I would—I would relive it a million times over, just to erase this fucking godforsaken look in her eyes.

Her betrayal feels tangible; I can taste it on my tongue.

And it tastes so much worse, more bitter, than I ever could have imagined.

Melody scurries away from me as I sit up and try to reel in my chaotic thoughts. I meant for her to see me this morning. I knew it would all be over, come sunrise. I should have told her the truth last night, the moment I saw her standing on my front porch, but the coward in me won out. Theman. The man who somehow broke through the rubble and ruin, all because of her.

The man who fell in love.

And I know how goddamn selfish it was to ask for one more night when I should have told her the truth the moment I found out who she was. But I needed to feel her one last time. I needed to be inside her, soaking up her warmth and storing it away, so I could keep her with me long after she’d left.

Her two hands fist at the bed covers, drawing them up over her nude body. Shielding herself from my guilty eyes. “Is this a trick?” she whispers in a trembling breath, still inching backwards on the mattress, putting more and more distance between us.

My jaw clenches tight, my teeth rattling. “Melody… let me explain.”

“Please do.”

I scrub a palm down my jaw, my eyes closing as I try to locate words. I should be more prepared, but my thoughts are scattered, and my throat feels tight. It’s impossible to prepare for loss—especially when you finally have something worth losing. “I had no idea it would ever go this far,” I say softly, but the desperation is laced into every word. “You were just supposed to be an outlet. An anonymous, faceless e-mail address.”

Her voice quivers. “You lied to me.”

“I didn’t…” My head drops back against the headboard as I try to regroup. “I never came out and said I had your husband’s heart. Not once. You assumed, and I… I just went with it.”

Melody’s face twists with scorn, her grip tightening on the bedsheet. “Youdeceivedme.”

“Fuck, I didn’t know you wereyou,” I proclaim. “When I finally figured it out, I was in too goddamn deep. I had feelings for you. You have no idea what it’s like to finally fuckingfeelsomething for another human being after three decades of just existing—of just wanting life to end, so I could escape this burden, this emotionless prison.” Catching my breath, I toss my legs over the side of the bed and storm over to her in my boxers, throwing my arms in the air. “Jesus, Melody, look at me. I’m a fucking joke. I finally had something good in my life, something that made me want to do better,bebetter… I couldn’t throw that away.”

Tears spill from bloodshot eyes, her entire body trembling beneath the covers. Her gaze rakes over me, softening when she lands on my scars.

I tent my hands in a hopeless plea. “Please, try to understand.”

“Understand that you posed as the recipient of my husband’s heart during the most vulnerable time in my life?”

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