A Hurt So Sweet Volume Four - Isabella Starling Page 0,9

me or hit me. But I see the pain in his eyes—the pain of losing one of us. Lai is truly gone and our group will never be the same, not without him.

"I know you didn't do it," Easton speaks up, his words making a gigantic weight fall off my chest. "But you need to start fucking talking, Booth. You need to tell us the truth."

I nod and motion to the car. "Can we go to my place?"

We all get in the car, with Caspian in the driver's seat. The drive to my house is thirty minutes, and we spend them sitting there in silence. I can't speak yet. I need to wrap my mind around what happened first.

Finally, the familiar sight of Booth Manor shows up in front of us, and I'm shocked when someone opens the gate for us. We park in the driveway and I see a figure I know all too well standing in front of the house.

Anders.

We exit the car and my butler and I face off. He looks tired, but determined. Anders was never one for showing affection physically, but when he pats my back, I feel as if he's letting me know everything's going to be okay.

"What are you doing here?" I mutter. "I can't pay you anymore, Anders. Haven't you heard? I'm fucking broke."

"I don't care," he shakes his head. "I'm here to help, Master Booth. I don't want payment."

Emotions threaten to break through my stone-cold facade, but just like always, I push them back down and give Anders a curt nod. The group of guys files into the house. If they're surprised by the state of it, they don't comment on it.

We all settle in the living room. Anders makes us some drinks, and I lean back against the couch, appreciating the comfort I haven't felt in months.

"You'd better start talking, Booth," Caspian says. "We need an explanation. We know you're not guilty, but we need to know who is."

I nod. The secret I've been keeping for many, many years weighs heavily on my mind and heart.

"It was Lily Anna," I get out through gritted teeth. The guys exchange glances, probably thinking I've fucking lost it, but I know I have Anders for backup. He knows she's alive—after all, he helped me take care of the girl. And he'll back up everything I'm saying.

Slowly, I regale the guys with the story of Lily Anna. Of wanting to escape Emilian Oakes, of her slow decline, of her breaking point. I don't hold back. I tell them everything and I don't skimp on the details. I walk them through the story up to my imprisonment, and the guys stare at me with shocked expressions.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Easton finally asks. "Why didn't you tell us she was still alive?"

"Be glad I didn't," I mutter. "Lai is the only one who knew, and look what happened to him."

We all sit there in silence, quietly mourning the loss of our friend.

"She needs to pay for this," Julian finally states. "Lily Anna can't get away with what she's done."

"I know," I mutter. "And I think she's going to go after Pandora next—if she hasn't already."

"Fuck," Easton mutters. "Do you remember... years ago. Before she disappeared. Do you remember what happened with Lily Anna and me?"

My hands form fists and I can barely contain the snarl on my face. "You mean when you forced yourself on her? You fucked her. She told me everything."

"And you actually believed her," Easton mutters, shaking his head. "You believed her this whole time."

"Are you denying it?" I hiss. This isn't a small matter—it's the reason I fucking hate Easton's guts.

"Yes," he replies with the same outraged expression. "For fuck's sake, Booth, don't tell me you still trust a word out of that girl's mouth. She's a goddamn liar, and you should know better by now. She hated me, she hated Lai."

"She hated all of us," Caspian adds.

"She did," Julian nods. "She hated that we were friends. Remember how jealous she used to get? She didn't want us around you. She just wanted you to herself. That's why she fed you all those lies."

"What lies?" I mutter.

"I didn't force myself on her, for one," Brantley gets out through gritted teeth. "It was the other way around. She fucking spiked my drink with something. When I came to, she was on top of me. Fucking riding me. She was delusional, Dex. She was fucking herself with my dick, at the same time