Page 134 of Heartless Beloved

“You can’t tell her, Xi.” The feminine voice brings me closer to the door. I press my ear against it.

“I don’t care what you all think I can or can’t do.” It’s his voice this time.

Are they talking about me?

“You’re not getting out of it.” I recognize her. It’s his best friend, Zara. “Vito will want something soon, and he won’t take no for an answer. If you fuck up now, we’re never getting any info. We’d all be fucked because of you.”

Vito? What info?

“You don’t understand,” he huffs, and I can imagine his hard face expressing how sick he is of the conversation. “I told her I wouldn’t break her heart.”

Said heart drops to my stomach. Theyaretalking about me.

“The whole plan is to break her heart!” she snaps, and this time it fissures. The kind that runs deeply. Just one more hit, and it’ll explode into a million pieces. “You kept telling us that you were taking your time so she would really trust you. So she’d invite you to her house.”

My house? Why would Xi ever want to come to my house? He hates Stoneview.

I hear his sarcastic chuckle. “I told you that because Iwantto spend time with her. Not for Vito Luciano. Forme. You all can’t fucking stand that for once, I’m putting myself first instead protecting all of you. No one bats a fucking eyelid when I burn houses to the ground and kill for NSC. But, fuck, I tell you I don’t want to break a sweet girl’s heart, and you all lose your shit.”

“It’s too late to not break her heart, Xi. How do you think she’ll react when you tell her you’ve been dating her to get dirt on her father.”

For a second, time stops.

No.

Without mercy, Zara continues. “The girl’s made of fucking glass. One hit, and she breaks.” There’s a beat before the hammer nails the coffin shut. “The worst is done. She likes you. Shit, she’s probably in love with you at this point. Do it the way you planned it all along. Say you want to meet her parents, go to her house and break into her dad’s office. There’ll be plenty to find in there. Get the fucking info and end it.”

No, no, no. This isn’t real. He didn’t…he couldn’t.

He had a plan all along.

None of it was real.

The fissure cracks some more, and yet I’m still holding on.

I wait. I wait and wait for him to say something. To defend our relationship. To snap back thathe’sin love with me.

Say that you won’t do it, I beg silently.

Tell them I’m more important than NSC.

Say something…anything.

Please.

It never comes. His silence is what kills us.

Happiness is such a feeble thing. If it doesn’t come from within you, anything can take it away. If you give someone the power to make you happy, to make you feel loved…you’re never in control.

I felt so safe that I chose to ignore every single sign that told me Xi would break my heart.

I’m the stupid, gullible girl he played with—the one he used to try and get dirt on my father.

I let it happen because I wanted to believe so badly that he would be the one to save me from my miserable life. With him, I didn’t have to put on a fake smile. I didn’t have to pretend everything was fine. I was just myself.

Simple Alex. Kind and naïve.

Sweet.

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