Page 154 of The Piece You Stole

“Sure,” I say, because it doesn’t look like I’m going to convince him otherwise. “Anyway, why aren’t there any cameras up here, or Kade’s laptop. We could have used it to see what was…” I trail off because he’s already shaking his head. “What?”

“The attic is a dead zone for the Wi-Fi. No matter what Kade has tried, nothing has ever worked up here.”

Dead-zone. I really wish you hadn’t called it that.

Looks like I need another change of subject. “So you all moved in here, then?”

He nods. “We did.”

“From where? Did you always live together?”

Aden’s expression shutters, and he lowers his gaze back to the gun in my hand that we’re both holding. “We lived with each other before, but not always. I told you once before that I didn’t have the best life before I met Kade and Dariel. Let’s just say you had your monster, and I had mine.”

His voice is steady, but I still hear the pain, the anguish in it, and it makes me want to put this gun to good use. Right now.

“Did you kill your monster?” Because if not, I can see myself doing it. Easily.

He’s looking right at me, but I know it isn’t me he’s seeing. “Huh?”

My eyes go to the guns on the table beside us. “You shot him?”

He shakes his head. “Learning how to shoot came after I met Kade and Aden. They were the ones who took me to the range.”

“But he’s gone.” I know I shouldn’t push when it’s clear I’m bringing up something painful, but the need to know whoever hurt him is dead and buried is eating at me so badly that I can’t let it go. If they aren’t, then they should be. The sooner the better.

“He’s dead.”

Good.

“I wish my monster was easier to get rid of.” Killing Nathan was nothing more than luck. But a man like Rylan? It feels like he will outlive everyone on earth, including the roaches.

“All monsters seem impossible to kill.” Aden squeezes my hand reassuringly. “Until they’re lying dead at your feet.”

Once, I’d believed he had an easy past and present. But with the pain in his eyes, it’s clear I couldn’t have been further from the truth.

“My dad used to carry me up to our attic and spend hours making me laugh.” I stop. Swallow down the pain. The grief. “I don’t even know why I’m telling you this. He used to be such a good dad that sometimes I remember the things he did, and it hurts so much because of what he turned into.”

“Hold on to those good times.” He smiles. “You were lucky to have them. Mine never was.”

Now I’m the one squeezing his hand. “Yours hit you as well?”

As the last word leaves my mouth, I realize what I just said. Out loud. Something I don’t tell anyone.Ever.

I loosen my grip around the gun and tug my hand free because I can’t be this close to someone, even if that someone is Aden. Not with what I just told him.

But Aden doesn’t let me go. He gives me a sad smile. “No, he didn’t hit me.”

I see his sad smile and stop struggling to get free because he needs me. “How old were you when you killed your monster?” I ask because I can’t bring myself to ask the real question I want to: What did he do to you if he didn’t hit you?

“Eleven.” Again, he’s looking at me but not seeing me, and again, I wish I could do something with this gun that would make him stop hurting. “But it wasn’t me who killed him.”

Kade.

“So, Kade killed him?” Because there’s no way he wouldn’t have.

Aden shakes his head. “Dariel.”

I think of Dariel, and then I think of Kade, who, not ten minutes ago, swore to kill everyone who hurt me. “You’re sure it wasn’t Kade?” I ask, eyebrow raised.

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