Page 34 of Cruel Charming Psychos (Necessary Evils 2)

“What?”

“Asher.”

“No,” I say flatly.

“And the Academy award goes to anyone other than you.” He claps his hands together in applause. “Just admit that you loved him.”

“Fine. I loved him but only because he was strong and I was weak and I needed something to cling to so that I would stop cutting myself. He made me not hate the world so much. He was my ticket to a normal life, and I destroyed it just like I destroy everything I touch.”

He shrugs and purses his lips with apathy. “I’m not going to argue with you there.”

“You’re a fucking prick.” I turn my back on him, with the intention of never seeing him again. I almost want to turn around and thank him for showing me who he really is so I can finally put to rest the feelings I thought I was growing for him.

Not taking the hint, he follows me out the door. His shadows stalks behind me as I make my way down the dark pier until the only light that’s left is the light of the moon over the ocean. There’s a storm brewing on the dark horizon as a bolt of lightning streaks through the sky, followed by an echoing boom of thunderous explosion.

“Don’t you want to know why he died?” Nick yells out from behind me.

I spin around to face him, meeting him beside a railing that hovers over the water below. “It doesn’t matter at this point. He’s dead, gone, buried in the ground. You know, just like your brother.”

“You’re trying to provoke me and it’s not going to work,” he says with an unexpected calmness. He’s on a mission and he’s not going to be deterred. “I’ve come to terms with the fact that my brother was a bastard.” Then he looks me straight in the eyes. “It was my father, by the way.”

“What are you talking about?”

“We both know that my father killed Asher and I’m going to find out why. That’s why I need you to keep playing the part.”

“Sorry, I can’t go into business with someone I don’t trust. You’re keeping things from me.” All of a sudden, the things that I decided didn’t matter now matter. “The summer you came home from boarding school, what happened?”

He plays stupid, looking away from me. He’s a better liar than most but when there’s something hereallydoesn’t want to talk about, he averts his gaze. “I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.”

“Your mother once warned me to stay away from you. So tell me, what did you do?”

“I haven’t always been the best person.”

“No shit, but the only way I’m going to agree to this farce is if you tell me the truth.”

He stares me down without blinking, without moving a muscle. There’s another clap of thunder above us and soon enough, the incoming storm will drown out any conversation. “I killed someone.”

That makes me fucking laugh and not because it’s funny. “The nerve of you to harass me for so long-”

“I was drunk and high, and I got behind the wheel and we crashed into another car of another drunk driver. My father buried the story and paid off the local police. That guy was ten times drunker than I was, so it’s not like he was innocent in the matter.”

I don’t know what part of that story is supposed to endear him to me. “As if that makes it okay. You’ve been harboring this secret for this long and it doesn’t seem like you have much remorse in the matter because you’re still making excuses by blaming the other driver.”

He gestures with his hands, clearly frustrated. “We both killed someone. How is that any different than what you did?”

“Because it tore me up inside,” I scream. “Do you know how many nights I went to bed unable to sleep? Do you know how many times I sliced open my own skin with a sharp knife to make the pain and guilt go away?”

“That’s the problem,” he points squarely in my face. “Do you think that I don’t have the same regrets? The past is in the past, though. It can’t be undone. You’re looking at me like you think I might kill you or something.”

I shake my head. “I don’t know what you’re capable of.”

“Do you know how many times I could have killed you and I didn’t? Back when I thought that you killed my brother because you were nothing more than a murderer, I spent so much of my time wishing you dead. I could knock you out cold and throw you over this banister and leave you for dead, but I don’t.” He closes the distance between us, almost pleading with me to believe him. “I’m not a killer.”

All this talk about who is a worse person than the other doesn’t concern me anymore. We are equally horrible people that have done equally horrible things but at the end of the day, we are nothing like his father. That’s what really matters here.

I let out a sigh, knowing that I’m going to live to regret my decision. “So, when do let everyone know that we’re getting married.”

“That’s my girl,” he says, a breath of relief slipping from his lying lips. “As soon as possible. It’s time to kick this thing into overdrive. I can’t wait to see my parents’ faces when they hear the news.”

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