Page 367 of Filthy Elites

“There wasn’t another way out. Believe me, if I could have ended it without putting you through all that, I would have. She would have come after you with or without me, but without me, I wouldn’t have been there to stop her.”

I nod. “Was it her idea or yours?” Finally, I meet his gaze. “Killing me, I mean.”

His gaze is solemn. “I was never going to kill you.”

“Could’ve fooled me.”

“I had to fool you,” he says seriously. “I had one chance, and I was already playing with a wild card. If she got it in her head that you weren’t scared enough and you knew you weren’t in real danger, she would have turned on me before I had the chance to turn on her.”

I shake my head, looking down at my bed. “What an exhausting way to live.”

“Tell me about it.”

I look at the chipped polish on my toenails, unsure where to go from here.

Dare scoots closer.

“I know it’s fucked up, Aubrey, but Iwasprotecting you.”

“I believe you,” I say softly.

Like everything else he says to me, it’s the truth, just not the whole truth.

Some part of me knows that, no matter what he’d say if I asked, some part ofhimenjoyed doing that to me. He liked kidnapping me and scaring me. He liked me tied up, crying and begging him not to hurt me.

There’s a side of him I’ll never understand, and never be fully at peace with.

Anae understood that side of him. She embraced it. Embraced all of him, even parts that terrify me, allowed him freedoms I could never bear.

And still, he chose me.

He could have done all the shit he wanted to do to me and even worse, and then he could have killed me and buried me, and gone right along with his life with her without missing a single beat.

He didn’t get to be a hero this time, but hedidstill save my life.

Even though that side of him scares me, maybe I should be a little grateful that he’s enough of a lunatic to convincingly play her like that and maneuver me out of harm’s way.

Because he’s right. She wanted to drown me that day at the beach, but thankfully, I didn’t walk to the cave. Maybe it would have been over right there if I had.

If Dare would have simply broken up with her and started dating me, there’s literally no reality in which she wouldn’t have killed me.

Only this one.

It’s a brutal, harsh reality, but I think he’s right. I think it was the only way.

The room has been quiet for long enough that Dare decides it’s safe to segue. “I had to talk to my dad’s lawyer today.”

My heart beats a little faster. “Oh yeah?”

He nods. I can feel him looking at me, but I keep my gaze down. “He’s pretty hooked up in this town. Knows a lot of people.”

“Hooray for him.”

He misses one more beat, then delivers the shot he’s been holding back. “Apparently, my girlfriend had a rape kit done last night, so… He wanted to know if there was anything we needed to get ahead of.”

A chill sweeps over me. It lingers. I know it’s not really cold in here, but I feel like all the warmth has been sucked out of the room, so I yank back the covers and climb under them.

A decent person wouldn’t dare, but Dare climbs under them with me.

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