Page 182 of Hexed
The remnants of my fractured heart shatter from what feels like a Judas kiss.
He won’t look me in the eye, though.
That fucking bastard.
I swallow around the painful lump in my throat, well-versed now in the feeling of when tears are going to come. Now that I’ve started crying, it’s like a faucet, and I’m trying to figure out how to shut it at will.
I keep them at bay, barely. Neither of them deserves my tears.
“Still a sucker for a pussy, huh, Gup?” I let out a sardonic laugh.
He shakes his head and scuffs the floor with the toe of his worn shoe.
“Can’t even look at me? Coward.”
Aria smacks me across the face again, which is getting incredibly annoying, and my head slaps against the metal table.
“That’s for fucking my fiancé,” she snarls.
“Ex,” I correct, turning my face back to her and grinning.
Her brows rise, her hand on the knife growing more agitated. “What did you say?”
“I think you heard me.”
“E and I are just in a fight. It happens to every couple. But he’s still mine, and we both know it.”
“Huh,” I reply.
She stops. “What’s that mean?”
I glance down at the knife again, and it’s really not in my best interest to rile her up right now, but sometimes, I just can’t help myself.
“Nothing.” I shrug, but since my wrists are chained over my head, it doesn’t do much other than bring back that ugly clanking. “Just that he must have forgotten while he was fucking me all over New York.”
“He can have his fun. Everybody knows we belong together.” Her eye twitches, and she smiles at me. “Besides, if he wanted you so much, where the hell is he now, Urch?”
My heart spasms, the broken pieces throbbing like salt poured in open wounds. “Probably staying as far away from your psycho ass as possible.”
She scoffs. “He loves me. I saved him. We’re meant to be together.”
I stare at her, my eyes widening because she has truly lost the plot. “You didn’t save him, you lunatic. I have half a mind to believe you were the one there trying to kill him in the first place.”
She lunges toward me, the knife nicking the skin on my arm and making me suck in a sharp hiss. “And thenyoucame along and fucked everything up, and plans changed. You just couldn’t leave well enough alone.”
Her admission is a concrete boulder crashing into me, but I should have seen it coming. After all, I’ve been truly blind to what’s been going on for years; it was just an illusion that I was part of the bigger picture.
“Sorry, but you did a shit job, Aria. He was still alive becauseyoufucked everything up.” A sharp laugh escapes me at thesudden realization. “It’s no wonder Uncle T sent me out to check on you that night. Heknewyou’d fail and need my help—he just didn’t want to tell me why.”
Aria scoffs, her nostrils flaring. “Well, I didn’t need it.”
“Clearly,” I deadpan.
“The backup plan worked out better anyway, and we have you to thank for it. Marrying E was a much better option, and once we convinced his father that we’d keep him under control and report back everything we found, it was easy to get that ring on my finger.”
“This whole time, you’ve been a shady bitch. I should have known.” I adjust my wrists, the metal chafing against the skin.
Aria’s staring down at the blood slowly dripping from my arm onto the table. It’s a shallow cut, but she seems to be weirdly affected by it.
