Page 77 of Beautiful Liar

Kieran cupped my face, forced my eyes on him. I didn’t pull away this time. I couldn’t. I needed him, his touch, his kindness. It held all my broken pieces together. “It’s not your fault,” he said. “You were a kid.”

“I loved him.”

“You were a kid.”

“I think maybe I still love him.”

“It’s not your fault, Tomás. You were a fuckingkid.”

I lowered my head in total defeat and melted into his embrace. I’d already dried out of fresh tears, but I felt the wedge in my throat, the crack in my soul, this toxic hole inside of me I wanted to fill with something else. Something good. With Kieran.

Unfortunately, Luca took that moment to return with a fresh coat of paint on his face and a new shirt with no hint of blood on it. “It’s time to go,” he said, a gun resting lazily on his thigh.

“What’s the plan here, Luca? You hand us over to your brother and he kills us?”

“The deal is everyone gets what they want,” he lifted the gun. “Now move or die here.”

I waited for Kieran. For a moment, I thought he’d changed his mind, but then he plucked the portable light from the ground, handed me my bag, and took the lead. As we walked back down the corridor, everything behind us was swallowed by the darkness. Even Luca. The dark flanked us too. It was everywhere. I took Kieran’s hand. He squeezed gently and I felt safe all over again.

I needed to grow a pair.

We came out into the clearing where I’d entered. The night was cool, quiet. Every able body should’ve made it to the castle already. I hoped Micah and Ashton were okay.

We reached the parking lot and Luca directed us to his black SUV.

Kieran cursed under his breath as we got closer to the vehicle and to Wren, leaning up against it.

Luca lowered the gun and huffed “You were supposed to remain inside the trunk space.”

“Yeah, well, you were taking too long.”

Wren knew?My head felt twisted up inside. “What the ever-loving fuck?”

“This wasn’t the plan,” Luca said to Wren.

“No,” Wren said, lowering his eyes to the collar around my neck. “That wasn’t the plan.” He gestured to my collar. “Let him go.”

Luca grabbed me and used me as a shield as he lifted the gun first to Wren then to Kieran. “Hewas always the plan. I make good with my brother and take him. And you morons save him. Or not. That’s the plan.”

Kieran looked two seconds away from bursting.

“Luca,” Wren started, trying to diffuse the situation and keep my head intact. “We all want the same thing.”

“And what’s that?” Kieran snapped.

Wren looked wounded. As if Kieran should’ve known all along what Wren wanted. I even knew and I hadn’t been with the Ark Boys that long.

“Vengeance,” Wren answered. “This is how we get to Alessandro.”

“And you trust this piece of shit instead of me?” Kieran kept the pain behind his heart, but I could see it in his eyes. The betrayal.

“It all happened too fast.”

“I’m in,” I said despite not really having much of a choice with the gun and the collar Luca had on me. “Whatever you need, Wren.”

Wren gave me a tight nod, relief in his eyes. Then he looked at Kieran. “And what’s the plan?” Kieran asked. “Go in and kill everyone and save the day?”

“We’ve had worse plans,” a small smile lit Wren’s face. I saw the adoration he had for Kieran, the need for his acceptance. Kieran would go to the ends of the world for his brothers.

---