Page 62 of Carnival
My jaw clenches. “What the fuck were you thinking when you brought her here, you absolute idiot?!”
He raises his hands up in mock surrender, taking his feet off the table and leaning in. He’s not wearing his police uniform, but he’s on high alert, knowing that we’re being recorded.
“When I heard about your little stunt, I thought she’d be the only one to convince you to behave. But clearly, given the distressed state she left the prison in, I’d say it wasn’t successful.’’
My brow twitches in annoyance, and I can’t help but wonder how the fuck I’d been putting up with this son of a bitch for years now. I take a deep breath to calm and collect myself, but it does little to undo the grating nerves.
“Listen to me,’’ I hiss, struggling against the chains around my body. If I could, I’d jump over the table and knock his teeth out. “Don’t you fucking dare do anything like that again.’’
He sighs, a bit dramatically, only provoking me further. “Alright, got it. But what happened?”
I lift a brow. “You mean with Rose?”
He nods.
“Did she tell you anything?”
“Just that you told her something that changed everything she thought she knew about herself.’’
I sigh. “More or less, yes.’’
“Why did you do it, though?” He asks, tilting his head to the side, as if trying to read me. It’s useless. I learned how to control my emotions long ago — not that I had much choice in it.
“Why did I do what?”
“Rose could’ve been a great support to you; she does care about you, yet you pushed her away. Why?”
“None of your fucking business.’’
Casper’s silent for a few moments, not saying a word. He isn’t stupid, and I fucking hate it. I hate how he’s able to figure it out so easily, and the moment his eyes slightly widen in realization, I know that he put the pieces together.
“You… you’re a diagnosed psychopath.’’
“I’m aware,’’ I draw out.
“You don’t actually feel anything. I mean, you’re obsessed with Rosalie, but that’s beside the point. Every emotion you ‘feel’ is what you learned by watching, observing, and mimicking. You can recreate them perfectly. From fear and anger to love and passion.’’
“Your point?”
“You pushed Rose away on purpose. Whatever you told her, you told her because you wanted her to hate you and for her to stop trying to help you.’’
He’s staring at me, eyes wide as if he just solved the biggest mystery of the universe. He stops talking for a while, just observing my stoic expression. His eyes dart all over me, trying to gouge out a reaction from my body language alone, his mind going into overdrive while he’s thinking.
He isn’t wrong, either.
“Oh my fucking God,’’ he whispers.
I lift a brow.
“You… you knew, didn’t you? You knew you’d get arrested. You got yourself arrested, you sick bastard.’’
“Yes.’’
“Why?”
It was Hudson’s idea. I didn’t want to do this, not at first, at least. But when he presented me with information that changed the trajectory of everything I thought I knew about the organization I worked for and the lengths they’d go to get rid of me, I realized that Rose will be much safer with me out of the picture.
All I did was to keep her safe; everything I will do onward will be to ensure her safety.
