Page 35 of Broken Minds

“She was trying to hurt you. She’d probably have killed you in the end—you know that, don’t you? Her mind was gone. I’m so sorry I didn’t see that in her. This wasn’t your fault, Jolie. I was the one who put you in that position.”

“But I killed her.”

He pulled me in for another hug. “You did what you had to do. Don’t torture yourself over this”

That was probably easier said than done.

Hayden was right about one thing, though—he was the one who’d put me in this situation. He’d kidnapped me and brought me here. I wouldn’t have even met Loretta if he hadn’t.

I pushed him away, tears welling in my eyes. “None of this would have happened if you’d just left me the hell alone. I was trying to get on with my fucking mess of a life, and you had to come along and screw things up for me even more.”

His jaw tightened, his nostrils flaring, and he pressed his lips together. “I’m not going to say I’m sorry, if that’s what you’re after. Loretta might be dead, but nothing has changed. I’m still going to kill your father, and you’re going to help me.”

It was like he’d reached into my chest and twisted my heart. He’d shown me such affection—tenderness, even—the previous night, and I’d been stupid and read too much into it. We’d had sex a couple of times, but it had been about lust, and nothing more. My emotions had gotten tangled and twisted, and I was already more messed up than I’d ever thought possible. I couldn’t trust my own emotions right now, and I hadn’t really felt something for Hayden. I’d clung to him when I’d needed someone to comfort me. It meant nothing.

“I can’t go back down there,” I told him. “I’m not going to run, but I’m not going to go back into that room. If you try to make me, I swear I’ll do everything within my power to sabotage your plans with my father.”

He shook his head. “Don’t worry. You’re not going back down there. You’re not even going to be staying in the house. It’s later in the day than I’d planned, but I’d always intended for us to leave today.”

I didn’t want to feel hope after what I’d done, but my heart lifted. “Leave? You mean on the boat?”

He nodded. “That’s exactly what I meant.”

Nerves and excitement danced inside me. I wanted to get off this island more than anything, though I was anxious for what would come next. I also felt guilty for daring to hope for a future for myself after what I’d done. It would be easy to just curl up into a ball and hope the rest of the world vanished. Perhaps it was the braver thing to keep going and fight for my survival. But did I deserve to be brave?

“You can do this, Jolie,” he told me. “The end is in sight. Help me lure your father into a spot where I can kill him, and then you’ll be able to get on with your life.”

I swallowed hard, unable to believe the lifeline he was dangling in front of me. “You’d let me go?”

He nodded. “Yes, as long as you don’t mess this up for me. If I see any signs of you playing games or signaling for help, don’t expect me to be so kind.”

He’d let me go, and then he’d go to jail for my father’s murder. I would be free to get on with my life, and that life wouldn’t include Hayden Vale. A strange hollowness expanded in my chest at the thought. How would life be without him in it? I hated him for what he’d done to me, yet the sight of his naked skin drew me in, and I wanted to press my body against it, to lick the sweat from his skin, and wrap my arms and legs around him. I hated that he seemed to have so much power over me, physically, but I couldn’t deny it.

He was offering me a future without him in it, and I discovered I was no longer sure if that was what I wanted.

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