Page 114 of F*ckboys

Silence falls, thick and cloying. I hold out a hand, rage simmering in my veins.

He hesitates only a moment before surrendering the file, his voice softening. “Sorry, Fallon. I didn't mean to make you more upset." He pauses and places a comforting hand on mine. "For what it’s worth, we’re here for you. All of us.”

I don’t grace him with a response, my attention already consumed by the details within the folder. He lingers a moment before retreating.

For the rest of the afternoon, I feel his gaze heavy on my back.

Shadows of the past linger in moments of solitude. Aksel's name, though unspoken, echoes in the quiet corners of my mind.

The ache of missing him is a hollow void, an endless chasm stretching between the woman I was and the one I’ve become. Our last conversation plays on a loop, the memory an open wound refusing to heal. The one commonality between then and now: Aksel's propensity to hurt me, to callously shatter my heart.

I loved you, Aksel. God, I loved you so much. And you betrayed me… trampled on my heart—twice. Shame on me.

Aksel King broke me in ways I’m still discovering. But he also made me. Molded me into something hard and sharp, a weapon honed for a single purpose.

Vengeance.

As the days and then weeks go by, my work becomes my everything. Details of cases, the intricacies of revenge, and the web of connections I navigate become all-consuming. Victim after victim shares their story with me, mirroring the complexities of my own shattered world. Grave is growing distant, I can feel it, but I don't have the emotional bandwidth to worry about that right now. All of my energy is focused on my work.

I won't allow myself to miss Mia, her betrayal clawing at my spine just another catalyst for me to focus on my clients. She's no better than the ones we seek revenge against, after all. And as for my budding relationships with Raine, Roxy and Wren, well, they were always conditional, attached to my being with Aksel. Fuck it. I don't need them, anyway.

But in the quiet of night, darkness wraps around me like a familiar but uncomfortable cloak. It’s in these moments the past emerges to haunt; specters of what might have been. A life of love and laughter with a man who held my heart.

Aksel thinks he’s won, humiliating me with my own best friend and trampling my heart a second time. He probably thinks that when they're over, I’ll crawl back to him, broken and begging for forgiveness.

He has no idea what’s coming.

Chapter 64

Fallon

The silence between us stretches endlessly, broken only by the scrape of Grave's knife against the cutting board. His eyes stay fixed on the task at hand, slicing vegetables with sharp, efficient movements. I watch him from across the kitchen, studying the set of his jaw and the tension in his shoulders.

Something has shifted between us. The air feels heavy, laden with unspoken words that neither of us dare give voice. We dance around each other, careful not to make contact, afraid that a single touch might ignite the fuse on this ticking time bomb we call a partnership.

I scrub a hand over my face, exhaustion seeping into my bones. The revenge business was supposed to be straightforward—an eye for an eye, a life for a life. Now the lines have blurred."Grave, thank you for coming over. I figured we both needed to eat, and of course, Henry's right down there." I nod my head in the direction of the basement stairs.

"Yep," Grave nods, monotone. His knife pauses for a fraction of a second before resuming its rhythmic slicing. I wonder if he's thinking about the man chained in my basement, contemplating his fate.

Guilt twists in my gut at the thought of what I've become, this monster capable of unspeakable violence. I cling to the memory of why we're here, the events that set our path on this collision course. Anger flares, hot and familiar, chasing away the shadows of doubt.

It's not like we're out there attacking innocent women and children. We're hunting people who destroy innocent lives. And we explore every legal avenue first. We're the backstop for those who can't otherwise be helped. If it weren't for us, these people would be lost souls who'd never get retribution. We'd be letting the fuckboys win.

I harden my resolve. Justice will be served, no matter the cost.

When Grave finally meets my gaze, his eyes are troubled. "Fallon," he starts, his voice rough with uncertainty. I brace myself for the confrontation I know is coming, steeling my nerves against the battle of wills ahead.

The knife slips from Grave's fingers, clattering against the cutting board. In the silence that follows, I glimpse the truth reflected in his stare—that our partnership is fracturing beneath the weight of impossible choices. The foundation we built on vengeance and justice is crumbling, and I'm not sure if there's anything left to salvage. Hell, if I'm going to blow my life up I may as well do it all at once.

A muscle ticks in Grave's jaw. He clenches his hands at his sides, his knuckles whitening. I stare back at him, unflinching, and wait. The next move is his.

Grave drags a hand through his hair, his eyes flickering shut for a brief moment. When he opens them again, resolve hardens his gaze. "We can't do this, Fallon. Keeping Harvey captive, contemplating murder—this isn't justice. It's vengeance, and it's gone too far."

Anger flares in my chest, white-hot and blistering. "You don't get to make that choice, Grave. Not after everything they did." My hands curl into fists, my nails biting into my palms. The familiar ache is grounding, anchoring me against the maelstrom of emotions threatening to overtake me.

"I won't be party to another murder." Grave's tone leaves no room for argument. "I've been involved in enough of that sort of a thing. We always said an eye for an eye, and now we're starting to cross the line."

Betrayal cuts deep, a jagged wound torn into the fabric of our partnership. The foundation of trust we built lies in ruins, crumbled beneath the weight of Grave's doubt. This man, willing to murder and torture countless others, but won't do it for our cause. Won't do it for me. What a hypocrite. They say when someone shows you who they are, believe them, and maybe this is Grave showing me who he really is for the very first time.

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