Page 154 of F*ckboys

"He knows I'm down here, Fallon!" screams Harvey, slashing any possibility she'd believe my story about air circulation. Fallon's mouth drops open and she narrows her eyes at me.

"So you're lying to me already? You went down to the basement and lied about it?" She folds her arms tightly, pissed, waiting for an explanation. I scramble for something—anything—to say, but my mind is blank.

But then I realize the hypocrisy. "Fal, you have an actual man trapped in a cage in your basement. You have some explaining to do yourself."

She examines my face for a moment, trying to read my intentions, and then sighs. "Fine. Come back down, with me this time. I may as well tell you everything."

We descend the stairs together, and once again I'm face to face with my fiancée's captive. But this time she's here with me, and she really does owe me an explanation.

Fallon

Harvey grins at both of us from the cage. I feel defeated, confused. I was worried enough about letting him out. My fiancé being here is just adding another layer to the mix.

I ball my hands into fists, rage and frustration warring inside me. Then I make my choice.

"Aksel" I say quietly. "There's something I have to tell you."

His eyes widen. He can sense this is something big. The large man chained to the basement wall covered in bruises and lacerations is probably a giveaway.

I take a deep breath. "This man here, Harvey Maxwell, has been in my basement for the past several weeks."

All the color drains from his face. "What? Forweeks?"

"Yes, weeks. And I'm sorry," I say, my brow knotting together. "I should have told you the truth from the start. But I couldn't risk you turning me in for kidnapping him."

"Turning you in?" His voice rises. "Fallon, this is insane! You can't keep someone prisoner in your condo."

"I had no choice!" I shout. "He destroyed his wife's life, Aksel. He took everything from her. He deserved to suffer for what he did, and I have an obligation to help her!"

"So you were just going to keep him here forever?" He looks at me like I'm completely insane. "On someone else's behalf? Like some sick pet?"

I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear and frown. "I don't know, okay? I wasn't thinking straight. I was figuring it out, how to let him go. All I could see was my chance for revenge, and this seemed most equitable given the awful things he's done."

He stares at me with a mix of horror and disbelief. I've really done it now. I've lost him for good.

The thought makes my chest ache, but I don't regret my choice. At least now he sees me for who I really am, although I'm sure he doesn't understand the full picture yet: a woman haunted by the need to exact revenge for the good of others.

"He had it coming to him, Aksel. He kept his wife a prisoner in their home and completely brainwashed her. He was abusive, narcissistic, and completely controlling."

"That's awful, truly!" he sputters. "But what you did is perhaps just as insane. Kidnapping him in return! There are ways to deal with people like him like, you know… the legal system?!"

"Men like you," I look him up and down and narrow my eyes, my voice ice cold, "are naïve to think the justice system works in the favor of most victims, especially when they're female."

He quirks his brow. "So what, then? You're like some vigilante justice system? And you kept this from me this whole time?"

Harvey's eyes shuttle between us, enjoying what's undoubtedly the most exciting interaction he's witnessed in weeks.

"Well I can't exactly go around telling everyone about this part of my business, can I?" I roll my eyes.

"It's an actual branch of your business? No wonder Grave has been working out so well for you, given his background."

My blood turns to ice in my veins. "Excuse me? You know Grave?"

"I, uh—." He fumbles his words and looks down.

"Aksel? How do you know Grave?"

"I, um... I kind of made sure he was hired by your company."

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