Page 96 of The Hate We Breathe
Ice forms inside of my bones. “That was you?”
Her lips curve upward, slow and smug. “Of course. The pathetic bastard was supposed to make sure you disappeared. Itold him he could fuck with you but to kill you before he was done. I didn’t care what he did with your body.” Her amusement dies a quick death at that, though. “The little weasel must’ve just scared you and skipped town,” she huffs. “It was such a waste of my allowance.”
Right. Because she couldn’t know whatactuallyhappened to him. Now that she’s caught her wind, the words seem to spill from her like blood from a wound.
“I thought maybe it was the universe again—fucking laughing at me,” she goes on, her tone unraveling with each word. “So I burned your apartment down. Watched the flames from my car. I thought,finally—finally she’s gone. Butno.”
Her voice cracks on the last word and her eyes glint with something dangerous as she takes a step towards us. “You survived that too.”
Lex’s body is rock hard against me, pain, anger, and fear keeping him tense. The thundering of his pulse presses against my closed palm. The sound of his breath comes out shallow and ragged, but I can’t tear my eyes away from Roquel.
All this time. The attempted rape. Murder. My fucking apartment—the one I thought the guys had burned down. Everything had beenher. I know one thing for certain. One of us won’t walk away tonight.
36
JULIET
When I speak, my voice comes out low and lethal. “You ruined my life.”
“You ruined my love!” Roquel screams, jerking the gun at me as if she's ready to shoot me here and now. “Morpheus was so fucking infatuated, all he ever fucking talked about was how beautiful and smart you were.” She gags. “After that night that I let him have you—I thought, maybe, he’d see that you weren’t anything special. That he’d finally realize you were just another slut prancing around, trying to get attention.” She shakes her head, an expression of astonished confusion on her face.
“Instead… it was like he became even more obsessed. You bewitched him. I had to do something. I couldn’t lose him.”
“The embezzlement.” The words escape my throat, raw and empty.
She snorts and looks up once more, her confusion replaced by the twitching corner of her lips—a grin of satisfaction. “Oh yes,” she says. “That was my idea. See, even if he couldn’t have you, Morpheus still wanted you.” Her grin shifts into a snarl. “He wanted me to dress up in that ridiculous prep school uniform. I did. He wanted to call me by your name. I let him. I did everything for him. It hurt. I just wanted him to seeme.”
My stomach twists, nausea roiling like storm waves.
“So, I convinced him that your parents were keeping you from him. If he just got rid of them, you’d be his. He framed his best friend, ruined his reputation, got him arrested, and for a few short weeks, he was overwhelmingly happy. You were in his house. You were his—of course, I wasn’t allowed to come over when you were there. He wanted to play the white knight and take things slow—ease you into a relationship.”
Vomit burns like lava in my throat, my stomach cramping with the need to spew it all out. I hold it back with nothing more than a force of will. “And the rest?” I prompt her, needing to hear it all. Needing to know the rest.
“Your mother was a thorn in his side, of course. She was suspicious of him—knew he was the only one with access to the business accounts aside from her,” Roquel replies. “I had to help him get rid of her too. Get her out of the way, so to speak.”
“You’re lying,” Lex snaps, jolting forward before he recalls his injury and a grunt leaves him and his weight presses more fully against me. I struggle to hold him up on the stupid heels I’m still wearing, but somehow manage to keep him from going back to his knees. “Denise Donovan isn’t dead,” he finishes breathlessly.
“I didn’t say we killed her,” Roquel huffs. “We threatened her and she left town. That was well enough. Thankfully, that was when you moved out.” Roquel turns her attention back to me. “I thought I’d finally gotten lucky. You were sufficiently humiliated, everyone in town thought your father had ruined them, and you were hated. Morpheus couldn’t let you go, though.”
“So, you befriended me at school, to what?” I demand. “Keep tabs on me?”
“Ihadto. He was mine, Juliet.Mine.But he couldn’t stop wanting you. He wouldn't just let you go.”
Lex growls beside me, but I’m past hearing him.
“He thought once you were alone, once everything was ripped away, you’d crawl to him.” The air feels thick, suffocating.
“You surprised him,” she admits. “Me too, if I’m honest. I thought things would be easier when he was away from you. I tried getting rid of you with Otis. Then the fucking fire. When it was clear you wouldn’t come back to him on your own, he asked me for help. He wanted to kidnap you—no one in town would give a shit about the daughter of the man who ruined them.” I don’t flinch, but my chest burns with renewed hurt and irritation.
“I set things up, called a few friends of my parents—they don’t just deliver regular goods, you know,” she tells me. “They work for all sorts of people, delivering interesting products that your boys might know about…”
“The caskets of cocaine?” Lex’s voice is sharp, thready, and I glance up, frowning when I see the sweat glistening on his temple and the pallor of his skin. I look down further and realize there’s blood on the pale fabric of my dress. Where his leg has pressed against mine, there’s blood leaking all the way to his feet.
Roquel’s witch-like cackle brings me back around. “Yup.” She pops the word from her lips with a giddy little smile. “It’s a small world—anyway, I set up the kidnapping and when she was with them, I called to change the deal. They were supposed to kill you. All on Morpheus’ dime—served him right for being so obsessed.”
Her smile falls. My body goes still.
She takes a step forward, eyes wild, mouth twisting into something between laughter and tears. “Andstill,you slipped through my fingers.” Her words break, and the gun wavers again. “Do you know what it’s like to be haunted by someone who just won’t fucking die?”
