Page 57 of Toxic Obsession

“Wynter, then tell me. I’m listening.” His voice was soft and for a brief moment I thought Quinn might be sincere, then I remembered how he shared my past a few hours ago. There was no way I could trust him. He was just trying to manipulate me again, talk his way out of a knife to his neck.

I watched the small trickle of blood make its way down toward the hollow in his throat.

“Do you know what hurt the most? That nobody—not my teachers, not my parents, not my so-called friends—ever checked in on me after what happened. Nobody asked me if I knew anything, they just started making shit up. And for the record, I had no idea what Kyler was planning. We had been close at one time, but about six months before all hell broke loose, he stopped talking to me. He was moody and sullen, and I begged and pleaded with him to talk to me, but he refused. I tried to tell Mom. I tried to tell my dad. I went to a school counselor, telling them that something was terribly wrong, but I had no idea what it was. Do you know what they did? Of course you don’t because you never asked me either. You believed all of the lies too. You’re just as bad as all of the others.”

I mentally swore, angry at myself because I had done the exact same thing that I’d just accused Quinn of. I’d swallowed his lies, believing them as truth. I had stupidly allowed my loneliness to dictate who I trusted.

“Wynter. I’m so sorry. I won’t lie. After losing Bell, I didn’t give a fuck about you and how you felt. I lost my twin.” He gritted the last sentence out.

I blinked rapidly, wondering if I had heard Quinn correctly. “Your twin?” My hold on the knife eased up a tad.

“Yeah, Bell was and always will be my twin. When I lost her, not only did I lose my sister, but she was also the only human being that truly understood me. We had that twin bond. All the shit people say about twins is true. The day I lost her was the day I lost everything.”

A part of me wanted Quinn to suffer, but he already had. It didn’t slap a lid on my box of anger, though. My brain slogged down memory lane, reminding myself of all the evil things I’d wanted to do to people that hadn’t listened to me. I understood Quinn more than I’d realized. We were both angry at a situation that had stolen our lives, and if I’d had the chance to strike back, I know damn well I would have. In some ways, Quinn and I were a lot alike. My heart softened at the realization, but I wasn’t ready to forgive him yet.

“I’m sorry. I had no idea she was your twin.” The warmth of my apology filled the room like smoke, masking the pain that still lingered between us.

The air was thick with tension and my thoughts raced, smothered in panic and regret. My chest heaved with empathy for the pain he must feel. I had experienced the same for the loss of my brother. Kyler hadn’t always been broken.

“I lost my brother even before he ruined so many lives. And I wonder sometimes … I wonder how it would have turned out if one adult had listened to me and not blamed Kyler’s moods on puberty. One evening when he wasn’t home, I remember sneaking into his room and searching for anything he could hurt himself with. I was that afraid for him, but I had thought he would commit suicide before he hurt other people.” My gaze fell to the floor, then back to Quinn’s. “Even the police report and media didn’t mention how hard I tried to get help.”

Quinn swallowed, eyeing the knife still at his throat. “It was because the full police report was buried, and the cops needed someone to blame for Kyler’s actions.”

I stared at him in disbelief. “How do you know that? My parents and I are the only people aware of that fact. Maybe there were others, but nobody ever spoke out. Nobody ever stood up for me and realized that I amnotmy brother. I am Wynter Baldwin, a completely different person than my brother was the last six months of his life.”

My forehead creased, the memories rushing at me full speed ahead and threatening to drag me into a sea of despair all over again.

“After everyone’s world was turned inside out, I was beaten, chastised, and asked to leave school because I was adistraction.” Tears pricked my eyes, but I refused to let them fall in front of him. Quinn was now a pawn in the game called my life, and I was determined to tell somebody the truth even if it meant I was briefly holding them against their will.

He gulped as his gaze cut to the knife. “Wynter, I have a lot to tell you if you’ll listen. I ended up hiring a professional to help me dig into what happened. When you arrived at Whitmore, someone gave me some information about you, including pictures of your work with Dimitri, your home, who lived there, and more. It brought back losing Bell all over again and I hated you. I swore I would avenge Bell’s death. I couldn’t get to Kyler, butyouwere in front of me.” His expression filled with regret and compassion.

I could see straight into his tortured soul for the first time, and for a second it felt good to see him hurt after what he’d just done to me.

“Right before the video was set to play tonight, I received a phone call.”

I tilted my head and smirked. “I know. We were dancing, remember?” My tone was sarcastic, unfriendly, but I didn’t care. All I wanted was to be heard.

“Yeah, so I went outside to take the call. It was the person I hired to look into you and the shooting. Something in the back of my mind kept poking at me, probably because of who my original source was. I questioned if they were feeding me bullshit, if I could trust them. My own initial research proved that the documents in the file, including the police report, the information on the school shooting, and the media articles were accurate. By that time, I didn’t have any reason to not trust what I was being told.” He cleared his throat and pressed his body against the wall as much as he could to avoid the dagger at his neck.

“When I started hanging out with you, I began to question who you were, the smart, beautiful girl I was falling for or the person the media portrayed to the public.” His voice cracked and he blinked rapidly. “Right now, I see the girl the police forced into hiding when they buried the fact you tried to get Kyler help.”

I searched his face, wondering if he was being honest or filling my head with more lies so that he could hurt me even more. What he had done with the video had burned me, but I’d been hurt so much worse. My logical side said run, but my heart said something else. Oddly enough, my pulse had settled down and my breathing was normal as I processed what he’d told me. Quinn’s actions had been born from anger and the horrific pain of losing his sister. My brother had taken her from him, then took his own life. I was well aware of the need to lash out at people, force them to feel my agony and darkness with me. As fucked up as it was, I understood why Quinn played the video. Not only had he been manipulated, but someone had pinpointed his weakness and exploited it. My anger began to shift from Quinn to whoever had fed him lies and hate about me.

“Were you really falling for me, or are you just feeding me more bullshit?” I lowered the dagger to my side but kept it in my hand. I had never intended to hurt Quinn, I just wanted to scare the crap out of him, but that didn’t mean I fully trusted him yet. Now it was time to see if he would turn on me without a knife to his neck.

“Her name is Sutton.”

My defenses slammed into place, realizing that I’d misunderstood him. “Oh nice. You fuck me in your bed last night and now you’re gonna tell me about some girl you’re serious about and most likely met at the Black Widow Society. Make up your mind, Quinn. You’re giving me whiplash.”

Quinn frowned before he continued. “Sutton’s the person I hired to help me find out the truth. She called me right before the video started and told me the documents I’d been given had some accuracy to it. However, there was another police file that included the real story that the media never shared. I practically hung up on her and tried to stop the video, but I was too late. By the time I was able to get through all the people to turn it off, it had played in its entirety.” He shoved his fingers through his hair, his eyes pleading with me. “Wynter, please understand that I did try to stop this, to make a different choice. I’ve been lying to myself, and I do have feelings for you. I want to protect you but at the same time, I’m still angry about losing Bell. I’ve been confused, but after I talked to Sutton this evening, I’m clear about a few things.”

I knew firsthand about confusing feelings. “And those are?”

“I fucked up, and I can no longer deny that I’m falling for you. I also realize it might be too late. I know I can’t take back what I did.” His gaze traveled to the floor and his shoulders slumped from the weight of his words.

I waved my free hand as if I was swatting away his confession. “You now have proof that supports what I just told you? And you know that I’m not lying when I say I tried to help Kyler?”

Quinn reached up and his fingertips trailed down my cheek to wipe away the tear that had slipped free. No one had believed me before, and that single moment had stitched a part of me back together.

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