Page 72 of The Masks and the Dancer (Their Obsession 2)

“That’s a habit I can’t seem to break,” I bite out sarcastically, acid burning my stomach with every word.

“Then so be it,” Jakub snaps, his finger tightening over the trigger.

“STOP!” Leon shouts, holding his hands up. “Fucking Christ, Jakub. Just stop.”

“Make love to her then. Do it. You’re a changed man aren’t you? So fucking prove it.”

He shakes his head. “She doesn’t want that.”

“When has that stopped you before? You do whatever the fuck you want and damn the consequences,” Jakub says, his eyes flashing with anger, but also with pain. He truly believes he’s lost his brother to me. I wish I was so certain.

“I promised Christy. Iwon’thurt her like that.”

“Okay,” Jakub nods, pulling the trigger.

The sound of the bullet releasing from the gun is deafening and I squeeze my eyes shut, waiting for it to pierce my chest.

It doesn’t.

Peeling open my eyes, I let out a shaky breath, my whole body trembling. I expect to be bleeding, I’m not. No one is. The wall behind me, however, has a new hole.

“Next time I won’t miss,” Jakub warns.

“What is it with you, Jakub?” Leon asks, glaring at his brother. “First you wanted me to prove Christy meantnothingto me, forcing me to strangle her to death—”

“I didn’t force a damn thing and you know it,” Jakub snaps back, a bitter laugh escaping his lips.

“And now,” Leon continues, “you want me to prove I’m a changed man to satisfy your own twisted desires. Just admit howyoufeel about Christy. It’s about time you man the fuck up. God knows I’ve been saving your arse for years now, and we both know why that is.”

“What did you just say to me?” Jakub hisses, livid with anger.

“You heard me. Iknowyou, Jakub. I know how hard you fight who you truly are. You’ve been fighting it for years, so don’t you dare fucking turn this on me to ease your warped sense of loyalty to a man who doesn’t fucking deserve it. You werenevertruly emotionless, not like Malik wanted you to be. You werealwaysthe one who had to fight the hardest to maintain the darkness he was hell bent on inflicting on you, onus. Malik beat you, forced you to fuck and degrade One because heknewthere was no destroying that tiny glimmer of goodness within you, and when that didn’t work he took you to the cabin and did far worse. Youfeel. You always have.”

“I don’t feel anything,” Jakub roars, grabbing the lapel of his black shirt and ripping it open.

I gasp at his shredded, bloodied chest, at the weeping wounds criss-crossing his skin, the violence inflicted on his body.

“She did that to you?” I whisper, bile burning my throat.

Jakub’s eyes narrow at me. “It didn’t fucking work.”

“Precisely!” Leon shouts. “You don’t find any release with One because she isn’t the one who can give it to you. Don’t you see, Jakub, we’re doing this right now because you’d rather hurt the people who have a chance at helping you climb out of the fucking hell you’ve been living in than face the truth.”

“I’m doing this for you!” he shouts, pain etched across his face. “I’m trying to show you that this temporary personality transplant is just that,temporary.”

“It isn’t.”

“Thenproveit, motherfucker.” Jakub reaches into his pocket and pulls out a knife and throws it. It lands equidistant between me and Leon. “Look familiar?” Jakub asks, pointing to the knife.

I nod. “Yes.” It’s the knife he had displayed in his room of curiosities.

“That butterfly tattoo is a symbol of the Dálaigh family, they’re all marked with one. This tattoo right here once belonged to your uncle. My father murdered him, then cut out this section of skin and used it to fashion the handle as a reminder to everyone who fucks with the Brovs just what we’re capable of.”

My hand flies upwards to cover my mouth as I gag. “No.”

“Yes. Our families have been bitter enemies foryears,so whatever bullshit Renard heard, whatever your mother thought was true, and despite what my father believed, there is no changing the fact you are our enemy. You. Are. Our. Enemy.”

“Why are you telling me this…?” I ask, clasping my hands together to stop them from shaking.

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