Page 25 of Double Dare

“You don’t know that.” She shakes her head in disbelief. “He’s my twin—my best friend.”

“Not now he isn’t.”

“And how would you know?” She stands from the bed and stalks toward me.

“Because when my men found him and brought him to me, he knew what would happen. An eye for an eye. He killed my man, so I was going to kill him, but before I could, he offered me something I needed. An alibi.”

Realization washes over her face. “He offered you me.”

I nod.

“So that’s it? I was supposed to be an alibi?”

“No, love. You were more than an alibi. You were the life I would take to pay for my runner.”

“You—” She cuts herself off as if she can’t even say the words. “You’re going to kill me?” I know what she’s thinking by the way her voice shakes.

I’ve betrayed her.

We just shared something so crude and honest, and it has me spilling my secrets. She’s supposed to be my payment—only here to entertain me anyway I see fit—but in a way, I feel the way she does. Like I’ve betrayed her, and it makes me angry.

“No. I’m not killing you.”

“Then why am I still here?”

Looking down, I try to hide the smile on my face. She and I both know the answer. “You’re here because you don’t want to leave.”

I bring my stare back to her, and she shakes her head. “That’s not true. I’m here because you’ve forced me to stay. You corrupted me with fear so Iwouldn’tleave.”

“But that’s not the only thing that was holding you back, was it?” I ask, gliding my finger up her arm. Goose bumps break out over her skin with my touch, and I can see the vein in her neck throb harder.

“It doesn’t matter because in the end, you were going to kill me,” she spits, pulling away from my touch.

“Were. I’m not now,” I reiterate.

“And how does that make this better?” Her voice raises.

“How does it not?” I hiss, stepping forward as she steps back. When her back hits the wall, I place my palms beside her head, caging her in. “I could still put a bullet in your head or fillet your delicate skin if I wanted, but here I am, saying I won’t!” I yell, letting my anger get the best of me.

She should be thankful I’m sparing her and willing to take her brother instead. She should be kissing my feet and asking for forgiveness for even being mad at the thought of the past.

She shakes her head again. “And why won’t you? What changed your mind? Because until this very second, I wasn’t sure of anything other than the fact you fucking hated me and wanted to cause me pain.”

Slamming my fist into the wall next to her head, I scream, “I didn’t hate you, Danica! I saw what lingered under the surface of you. I wanted to see you be the strong woman I knew you could. Fuck your morals, fuck your brother, and fuck everyone else!”

“No!” she screams back, laying her hands on my chest and pushing me. “You wanted to break me! And congratu-fucking-lations, you did it! Here I am, at your fucking mercy, praying to a god I don’t even believe in to tell me what to do because we aren’t right.”

She slides down the wall and pulls her knees to her chest. Her sobs echo around the room, coupled with my heavy breathing. Yeah, I wanted her broken, but only because it would make her see the truth so much clearer. I don’t understand why she doesn’t get that.

Squatting down in front of her, I plop on my ass and cross my legs. “Stop crying.”

Lifting her head, she smiles at me sarcastically. “You’re so fucking toxic, Adrian.”

“I don’t care. Stop crying,” I repeat.

“Do you even care I’m hurting? That I just found out my brother—the one I shared a womb with—basically gave me over to the devil himself?”

I shake my head and reply honestly. “No.”

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