Fraud (Antihero Inferno #2) - Lily White Page 0,135
his voice, the air caught in my lungs ice cold.
“No,” I beg, “that’s not true. You wouldn’t do that.”
Tears finally leak from my eyes, and Gabriel’s stare tracks one before he catches it with a finger and flicks it away.
“I would. And I have. And the only choice you have now is to accept it.”
All I feel in this moment is pain. It clenches my chest and clogs my throat. It tears at my muscles and locks its steely hands over my bones.
Pain.
Undiluted.
So fucking raw that I’m drowning in it.
He wouldn’t do this.
Despite the refusal whispering in my head that he wouldn’t is the doubt I now hear screaming that he would.
The door opens behind us, and Tanner’s voice breaks the silence.
“You two ready for this? Or are you planning on having an hour-long discussion on my front porch, which, by the way, I’ll film and upload to some porn site online because I might as well make money on the giant waste of my fucking time.”
Gabriel’s eyes don’t leave mine when he pushes away and answers Tanner.
“No worries. Ivy and I are done here.”
He says several different statements with those last few words.
We’re done here.
Done pretending.
Done being on the same side.
Done moving toward each other instead of being the opponents we always were.
The war is over.
And the broken prince won.
Stepping back, Gabriel extends a hand for me to walk inside ahead of him. It doesn’t matter that my heart is crushed and broken at his feet. And it doesn’t matter that he practically ripped my soul in half with words I never believed he’d say.
He just stares at me and silently waits for me to walk past while accepting what he’s done.
When I don’t move, he gives me a gentle reminder. “You have nothing left. Don’t make it worse for yourself.”
I stare at him for several seconds waiting for the mask to crack and let me see past it. Except there’s nothing to see. This is the truth of him, I realize. And the weight of it breaks me.
“Fine,” I hiss as I push away from the pillar and walk toward the front door.
Tanner has gone back inside, and I hesitate at the threshold, unsure of whether to walk to my execution or run like hell.
Gabriel’s heat impacts my back as I stand still, his mouth dropping to my ear on a whisper.
“Ladies first.”
A tear rolls down my cheek to slide along my jaw.
“Always the gentleman,” I say, my eyes clenching shut.
“Only for you,” he reminds me, trashing what’s left of my heart.
Gabriel
It had to be done. Nobody can blame me for what happened and I refuse to back down now.
Walking behind Ivy, I keep my eyes trained straight ahead, my fingers curling into my palms as we round the corner into the living to see all the guys sitting in wait.
Tanner’s stare finds me first, his brow arched in question when I direct Ivy to sit next to Luca for the interrogation we need to complete.
Rather than staying near her, I cross the room to stand in my usual place, ice clinking into the glass before I pour another drink. I bring the rim to lips and swallow down the liquid bullshit I need to ingest in order to finish this game and get it over with.
My eyes close for a brief second, and all I can think is that she knew. She fucking knew what I was doing to her, and yet she tossed herself out like some damn sacrifice with the hope of what?
That I wouldn’t destroy her?
That I wouldn’t hide behind the mask when all was said and done?
What the fuck was she thinking?
Rage rolls through me with the rumble of thunder, pain striking down with an electric spark. But in the end, the truth is that I’m what ruined her, and what’s best for Ivy is to run.
It’s time one of us faces the grim reality that the war isn’t good for us, and if I have to be the one to fire the last shot, I’ll do what’s necessary to end the war
Regardless of what it does to me for protecting her.
Tanner casts me another quick glance, a question written in his expression. Rather than explaining my sudden standoffish behavior, I lift my glass to tell him to get on with it.
The sooner this is over, the better.
Quickly glancing Ivy’s direction, I see silent tears rolling down her face that can’t matter. Luca watches her with concern, that blue stare sliding my way