Page 214 of Boys Who Taint

I lied and lied until even I didn’t know who I was anymore. I left my own heart somewhere down there in the deep end and destroyed her existence inside me.

All that was left was the hungry monster … and I wanted her addicted. Addicted to the pain, the sick obsession of a phantom, a ghost of her past, of a life we could never have.

She was never supposed to find out.

Never.

But she played the game so well, and I couldn’t be prouder of my little firefly.

I jerk free of Apollo’s and Grey’s grip and pull away, even though her burning gaze is still upon me, still tearing me apart from limb to limb.

But it won’t matter anymore.

It’s done now.

It’s over.

This is the end.

Apollo

“Levi!”I shout as he rushes away. “Goddammit. Finally, he comes clean, and now he’s gone.”

“Let him go,” Grey growls. “He’s done enough damage.”

Two thuds make me turn away from my cousin running out of the cemetery. Aspen’s knees are on the muddy ground, her eyes glossy and unfocused, like she’s no longer here.

Grey goes to his knees in front of her and grabs her, slowly pulling her into his embrace. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for everything.”

“I don’t understand,” she mutters, completely out of it.

In the distance, a motorcycle races off.

But then she suddenly locks eyes with me. “Wait … you knew?”

“It wasn’t hard to put two and two together when he’s part of my society, Freckles,” I say.

“You should’ve told me,” she says.

I raise a brow. “Do you think you would’ve believed me?”

She frowns, but doesn’t deny it. We both know that the truth is far harder to accept than a few lies, and when the lies become so deep that they leave scars when revealed, there is no way out, no way to stop them from spiraling out of control.

She buries her face into Grey’s chest while he’s still muttering sorrys, but I don’t think she’s even listening anymore, and I don’t blame her.

Discovering that the stalker you’ve been obsessing over is actually your most despised and hated bully isn’t something I’ddeal with well. I’m surprised she didn’t immediately go for the throat.

But I guess some things are too shocking to get over that quickly.

“You … you both knew,” she murmurs. “Didn’t you?”

She leans away from Grey, who tries to console her by brushing away her tears. “No, I didn’t.”

“But you had those cameras everywhere.” She leans away. “You saw me with him.”

“I did, but I didn’t know who he was. I just knew that I had a sick, twisted fantasy about seeing you with another man, and I couldn’t help myself. I needed to see more.”

She gets up from the ground and looks at me.

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