Page 63 of Twisted Trust
He paces slowly around the other side of the stage, not speaking.
“Am… am I supposed to be meeting your mother?”
Levi snorts very subtly. “I sent her home.”
“Is she alright?”
“She’s fine. But you?” Levi’s sharp gaze locks onto me as he continues to slowly walk around the stage toward me. “How have I let you trick me twice?”
Exhaustion pulls like a rough rope through my mind and I briefly close my eyes. “I’m too tired for your guessing games.”
“Five years ago, I thought you were the love of my life. This random woman with such a spark in her eyes, who was frankly a terrible hostess but an incredible lover. I thought I’d found the one person who saw me as a real person and instead, I got you. A traitor who took the secrets I entrusted her with and ran straight back to her fucking boss.”
The hell is he talking about?
A prickling warmth pulls down my spine and a sudden wave of nausea cramps through my gut while my knees press together. Before I can speak, he continues on.
“And five years later, I find you doing the very same thingagainonly this time, instead of betraying me to my enemies, you’re talking to the fucking cops?”
“What?” How the hell does he know that? “Were you following me?”
“I hardly think that’s the issue,” he barks as his anger rises. “But no, I had to track you because when I called to check up on you, they told me you’d snuck out and left Scott in the hands of security. I thought to myself, what could be so fucking important that she leaves her son with strangers? And then I see with my own eyes, you’re getting coffee with a detective? Having a cozy little chat, were you?”
He’s so close I can see the dark brown ring that hugs his honey-gold iris. Eyes I used to lose myself in, and now they bring me nothing but fury.
“Was it all a setup to get back in my life? Was Cameron a setup by you? Is that kid even yours or is he as fake as you?”
Something inside me snaps.
Deep down, something cold breaks apart and seeps through me like venom flooding into my veins. Before I can stop myself, I’m slapping Levi so hard that his head whips to the side and he has to take a step back.
“Howdareyou!” I yell as fury surges through me so rapidly that I can barely breathe. “How fucking dare you! I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. Five years ago? I have no fucking clue what you’re accusing me of, but I can tell you right now that I didn’t do anything to hurt you! I went to bed and woke up to the news that you were dead, understand? No fucking warning, no explanation! I grieved you!”
He lifts his head and I slap him again as hard as I can muster. My palm stings hotly as tears burst into my eyes.
“I mourned you formonthsand then a year later, I find out that you’re alive and well! Who the fuck fakes their death to break up with someone, huh? And then when I tried to reach out because I was sick and scared, I get some asshole telling me that I have to leave if I want to survive because you want medead. That your whole family wants me dead! So don’t you stand there and call me some traitor when you’re the one who lied! You destroyed us! You broke me!”
I hit him again. Then again. When he doesn’t lift his head, I slap his shoulder and his arm over and over with both hands.
“I didn’t do shit!” Tears stream down my cheeks. “And now I’m back in this hell because of you, Levi! It’s all you!”
Suddenly, he surges up and catches both my wrists and pushes me backward. I wrestle against him until his movements push me back, sending me down onto the couch, and then he’s over the top of me with fire blazing in his eyes.
“I saw you talking to the cops!” he yells, seemingly unfazed by my struggles.
“Because of you!” I sob. “It’s all because of you! My life is ruined because of you!”
“So you run to the fucking police?”
“No!” I sob, finally ceasing my struggles. “You forget that I’m just a normal person, Levi. I’m not from your world. I have normal shit to deal with and when you took me to the hospital after I was mugged, guess what they did? They had to call the cops because of the gunshot wound and they’ve been looking for me ever since!”
Levi finally seems to hesitate. His eyes roam over my face for a few long minutes, then he sinks back into the couch and releases me, allowing me to sit up. A sob hiccups out of me as I kick at his thigh to force distance between us.
“Why?” he asks, and his jaw clicks with his restrained anger. “Why were they looking for you?”
“You want to know why? Fuck you, that’s why.” Scrambling in my pocket, I drag out the letter the detective gave me at the station and shove it hard against his chest. “There was an old warrant out for me and you put me back on their radar!”
Levi catches the paper before it can fall. “A warrant? For what?”
