My heart dropped to my feet, and I went cold. My stomach seized up, and bile rose in my throat. Frantically, I knocked on the next door. She had to be in there. She has to be.
Riley opened the door, her face pale, her brows creased with worry. “Oh, Maddox. You’re here! Something is wrong with Lila.”
I pushed past her, not even waiting for her to finish her sentence. Lila had to give me a chance to explain, even though I didn’t deserve it. Didn’t deserve her forgiveness, but I’d beg for it for the rest of my miserable life.
If only she’d give me a chance to explain. If only…
Lila was standing in the middle of the living room, looking so sad… so lost…
She picked at the feathers in her olive tulle dress.
I had never gotten a chance to tell her just how beautiful she looked tonight. Exquisite. Gorgeous. Beautiful. Stunning. Lovely. Angelic. Breathtaking. Ravishing. Elegant. Bewitching. Alluring. Heavenly. So. Fucking. Exquisite.
I wanted to tell her all of it, wrap my arms around her small frame and kiss her red lips. I never got a chance to kiss her before our world collapsed and shattered into fragmented pieces.
“How long have you known?” Her voice cut through the air and sucked all the oxygen out of my lungs. I knew the question was coming, but still hadn’t been ready for it.
“Lila.”
She raised her hand, cutting me off. “I asked a question, Maddox. I want an answer, not your excuses. How. Long. Have. You. Known?”
I couldn’t meet her eyes any longer, couldn’t look at her anymore. My head lowered, my eyes shuttered close, and I struggled to breathe, as my lungs squeezed.
Lila let out a warlike cry, and my head snapped up, just in time to catch her, as she flew at me. She gripped my collar and hissed in my face. “Answer me, goddamn it!” she screamed. “Stop standing there like a fool, like an emotionless statue. When did you find out about Christian? How long have you been lying to me? HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN LYING TO MY FACE?”
Her carefully layered walls came down, and I watched as she snapped, right in front of me. Her eyes blazed with fire and hurt.
My secrets had caught up with me, and I was drowning in the aftermath.
“Eight… months…” I croaked.
“Eight months,” she repeated carefully. “Eight months.”
My hand came up but stopped a hairsbreadth from her cheek. “I didn’t lie.”
Lila let out a humorless laugh. A dead, empty laugh. She laughed until her laughter turned into a loud sob.
“A lie by omission is still a lie, you fucking bastard.” Her gaze shone with unshed tears, but she didn’t let them spill.
My little dragon. She was breaking on the inside, but she refused to cry. “All this time…you knew,” Lila said. “He is your friend. Your childhood friend,” she gritted through her teeth. “Your friend is a killer. Your friend was drunk that night. Your friend got away with murder. Your friend scarred me for the rest of my miserable, fucking life. Your friend should be in jail. Your friend KILLED my parents, and he got away with it! YOUR friend played god, tried to pay for my silence. He held my whole future in the palm of his dirty, filthy, rich hands, and he destroyed me. YOUR friend.”
My stomach churned, and I felt sick. Bitter nausea built in my throat, and I worried I was going to throw up.
Lila slammed her fist into my chest. It didn’t hurt. I almost wished it did. “Say something, Maddox!”
“I’m sorry.”
“Oh, that’s rich.” She laughed, almost manically. “That’s fucking rich. Go ahead, lie to my face, and then say you’re sorry? Sorry for what, Maddox? Are you sorry for keeping this secret? Or are you sorry you got caught? Are you sorry because your friend murdered my parents that night? Or are you sorry that you destroyed me and trampled all over my heart.”
She stabbed a finger into my chest, punctuating every word with a sharp stab. Again and again. Right over my beating heart. “What exactly are you sorry for, Maddox Coulter? For being a shitty boyfriend or for hiding the secrets of your dear childhood friend, Christian?”
If only you knew…
But the truth wasn’t always easy or simple. The truth held hidden layers, like an onion. The more you peeled it, the harder it made you cry. The deeper you peeled it, the closer you got to its core. The truth. The reality of