Page 300 of Evil Boys

“I didn’t want you to live with that guilt,” he says. “So I lied to shield you from the truth.”

“Lana …” Felix murmurs, and he approaches, wrapping his arms around us too. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

I wail loudly, crying out the tears I’ve kept buried deep down with those memories for so long.

“All those nightmares,” I whisper. “They were true. I’m a monster.”

“You’re not a monster,” Felix responds. “You saved me.”

My father leans back and cups my face, forcing me to look at him. “You are loyal. Honest. Smart. Ruthless. And your heart is full of so much love. You aremydaughter. And I am proud of you.”

More tears well up in my eyes, but they’re not tears of despair but tears of pride and joy. And we hug again, harder than we ever have before.

“Well, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more loving family than this,” Milo says, chuckling as he blinks away a few tears of his own.

“I’m jealous,” Nathan says.

“Hey, we make a pretty good family,” Kai replies, winking. “But it’s not complete without her.”

I turn to look at them and smile at my dad, waiting for him to nod before joining Kai, Nathan, and Milo and embracing them too.

“Are you okay?” Milo asks.

I nod. “Yeah. It was heavy. But I’m glad it’s finally out of my system.”

“You really killed your own mother, huh?” Kai says. “Savage. I like it.”

I snort and playfully punch him in the shoulder.

“So you’re gonna live with them now?” Felix asks.

“If it’s okay with Dad,” I respond, looking at my father, who just shrugs.

“The sororities and fraternities are normally separated … but I don’t see why I couldn’t make an exception for my own daughter.” He winks. “As long as you don’t go screaming it off the roofs so other students come begging me for the same privilege.”

I laugh. “I won’t. Promise.”

“And I need you to keep your grades up,” he adds, raising a brow. “No more slacking off. You want to go on a killing spree? Fine, but if you start to fail, you answer to me.”

“Okay, I get it,” I reply.

“No worries, sir. We’ll keep her on track,” Nathan says, saluting him.

“I doubt you will,” my father responds.

Kai laughs and pats a defeated Nathan on the back. “You tried.”

“I’ll make sure you keep your word, don’t worry,” Felix says, throwing them a warning look.

“Oh, I’m so scared,” Milo says, winking, which makes Felix growl out loud.

“All right, out of my office. All of you,” my father says with a sigh. “I’ve got work to do and messes to clean up.”

When we all exit the door, he adds, “Oh, and don’t kill anyone here at school, please. For your own sakes.”

“Not even them?” Felix says, pointing at Kai, Nathan, and Milo with his thumb.

Kai’s eyes become half-mast. “You wouldn’t stand a chance.”

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