Page 141 of Unspoken Truths

CHAPTER26

LILIANA

Ignacio the Dickhead Reyes follows us to the restaurant, and then adds an extra chair at our table so his large body can squish in.

“You’re working on my last nerve,” I mutter. “Why are you ruining this for us?”

“In order to be able to keep myself from imagining really shitty things, I have to be able to keep her in my sight,” Ignacio says, the color high in his cheeks.

Is he… blushing? Oh shit.This is a rare sighting in the wild.

“Are you really ‘seeing’ me dead when you close your eyes?” Rachelle asks seriously.

I love how after everything, there’s still compassion inside of her. He doesn’t deserve it, but I love that they didn’t break it.

“Yes, and not just when I’m trying to sleep,” he says unblinkingly. “Does that make me crazy?”

The waitress walks up before Rachelle can answer, and we order our drinks and food. Once she leaves, Rachelle sighs as she gazes at Ignatio’s waiting face.

“Oh my sweet summer child,” she mutters. “When you see me, what do you think, Ignacio?”

“I hate that you call me Ignacio,” he says, grimacing. “I think only teachers call me that out loud and people I don’t know. Or even my dad when he’s mad at me. I see someone who’s stronger than she should be, who refuses to back down even when she doesn’t have the tools to defend herself. I see someone who is gorgeous, intelligent, and full of pain. How you walk around if you feel anything like the guilt I do now.”

“I don’t do things I need to feel guilty about,” she says. “I live a life I’m proud of, for however long I’m here for.”

Nacio and I both wrack our fingers through our hair in pain. I know I fucking hate when she talks like this. It’s fatalistic, and I’m very superstitious, which means it feels as if she’s borrowing trouble.

“Don’t talk like that,” Nacio begs. “It’s like you know?—”

“The bet ends when I’m dead,” Rachelle says heavily. Her finger taps on the table without her realizing it, as if she hears music no one else hears. She does this when she’s stressed, but I never mention it.

Rachelle is grounding herself, which means she needs whatever comfort this gives her.

“I know that, and so does everyone else who understands the way the Kings work,” she says. “To say anything else would be a lie. I can’t outrun it, as is evident by the fact that you’re here.”

“I don’t want you hurt anymore,” he rasps. “The words I wrote on your skin were a test. Jared wanted to see if I was loyal to them or not.”

“Congratulations. You passed his dumb test. You’ve only been friends your entire stupid life,” I remind him. “Why would he feel the need to do that?”

“You’re under my skin, Rachelle,” he mutters. “If they’re honest, you’re under theirs too, but I’m the one who is here so I’ll leave them out of this. I look for you in the hallways at school to see how you’re doing, see if anyone is fucking with you. At home, I wish we could hang out together, so I push myself into your personal space.”

“He blew up my phone after what they did,” I admit. “I think they should still all take a giant leap off a cliff together, though.”

“Is that because you want her for yourself?” Nacio asks.

“No, I want the best for my girl. If a person with a cock were to theoretically be that, then fine,” I say. “Rachelle has a giant heart.”

“I’m also a mess,” she says. “Cocks trigger me.”

“Only because they’re idiots,” I confirm.

“I know I’ve managed to fuck this all up,” he says. “I was really pissed off when you moved here, Rachelle. Then my dad was all of a sudden marrying your mom and it felt like he was moving too fast. So I decided you were the enemy, and I passed that information on to Jared.”

“He decided to draw first blood,” I say slowly, trying to remember the rumors that go around about the Kings.

“We don’t call it that, and she didn’t bleed, but yes,” Nacio says, wincing. “He marked you as ours to fuck with, until we decided we were done.”

“Which means you deserve the visual lies in your head,” she says, looking away. “If the future rolls on a continuous loop in your head, maybe you’ll think twice when it’s set to happen.”

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