Page 54 of North

“I’m saying,” Aiden exhaled sharply, dragging a hand through his hair, “that we were all drinking that night. All of us.” His throat bobbed. “I got behind the wheel, even though I shouldn’t have. I was drunk. Not just a little tipsy—wasted. We all were, even Lila. Robert might not have been paying attention on the road, but I caused the accident that killed Lila.”

He let out a bitter laugh, shaking his head as he continued, his voice thick with something close to self-hatred. “I don’t even remember what happened next, not really. Just the sound of tires screeching. Lila screaming. The impact.” His jaw tightened. “By the time I came to, Robert was trying to get me out of the car while he phoned my dad and Mark. Lila was on the side of the road, I made him help her first, but she was already gone. So Mark decided to make the call.”

My breath caught.

“What call?” Evie asked, her voice sharp.

“The call to cover it up,” Aiden muttered. “To make sure no one found out the truth. I was just some dumb teenager who made a mistake, and they weren’t going to let that mistake ruin my life. So, they did what rich, powerful men do. They buried it. Robert was the easiest one to take the fall, and they knew there wasn’t enough evidence for him to get away with it. My dad made him swear he’d keep his mouth shut, and in return, they made sure he didn’t go to prison for life. That’s why the case was handled so quickly. That’s why he didn’t fight it harder. He knew what really happened. And he let them protect me.”

Silence.

I couldn’t fucking breathe.

I felt like I’d been punched in the gut, like all the air had been sucked from my lungs.

Quinn.

I finally looked at her, really looked at her.

She was staring at Aiden, her lips parted slightly, her face pale.

Aiden’s expression softened, his anger draining just slightly as he turned to her. “I told you I’m sorry for it; this is why,” he admitted, his voice quiet.

She let out a shaky breath.

All this time, I had blamed her.

I had taken everything out on her and made her feel like she was responsible for something she had no part in.

And all this time, I had been the one who was blind.

This was why Aiden had never gone after the Harleys the way the rest of us had. Why did he never feed into the same hatred? Because he had known—he had always fucking known.

And instead of seeking revenge, instead of pointing fingers, he had carried the guilt of it alone.

Connor was shaking his head, his face pale, his hands clenched at his sides. “How were we supposed to know any of this?” he muttered. “They didn’t tell us.”

“You didn’t need to know,” Aiden said flatly. “You just needed an excuse to be cruel. And you took it.”

My stomach twisted.

He wasn’t wrong.

We hadn’t just gone after Quinn because of what we thought her father did.

We went after her because it was easy.

Because we could.

Because it gave us a villain to blame, someone to take our anger out on.

And I was the worst one of all.

I had seen her walls breaking down. I had seen the way she was starting to trust me. I had seen her—really seen her—and I still went through with it.

And for what?

For revenge that was never even fucking real?

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