Page 111 of Please Open Me
“I fucked up,” he said, eyes locked on the floor.
Part of me wanted to sayno shit, but I didn’t feel like my cynicism would do either of us any good.
“We both did,” I sighed, perching myself on the couch arm by Cameron’s feet.
I draped a hand down and rubbed his calf through his thick jeans. Cam snored, and my nose wrinkled.
“Do you think she’s going to forgive us?” Lucian asked.
For the first time in his life, my brother seemed scared.
And, because of that, for a moment I thought about it.
In my sleep-deprived, angry, heartbroken mind, I wanted to call her reaction excessive. We’d been together for over a year, and I mostly treated her like a queen. But, in the past, when I was at my lowest, I’d been slightly... guilty of stalking her.
But that’s only because Iknewhow much better my life would be with her–and I was right. Plus, she was a celebrity. Stalking her was like reading a coloring book–far too easy to be considered anything other than a joke.
But… she didn’t knowwhoI killed. And perhapsthatwas what scared her most. The mystery of Sophia's eight murders certainly hadmeon edge.
I could have killed someone trying to get to Mason, I could have killed someone for looking at her wrong, I could have killed for fun.
Little did Mason know, the first drops of blood on my hands came from defendingherfrom evils she’d hopefully never know.
“You?” I looked him over once and assumed their falling out had something to do with him showing up high and her finding out.
If it were me, I wouldn’t forgive him. He'd done the dirty work; he got clean, and he relapsed for what? Nothing that mattered, I’m sure. But if Lucian got clean once, he could do it again.
“She’ll probably be pissed for a while, and then maybe you can save your marriage,” I mumbled.
“And you?”
Lucian’s question caused me to look away. Slowly, I shook my head, unable to vocalize the consequences of my own actions. All I could hope was that Mason would let Cam keep at least partial custody of Rosie. That is, if Cam chose to stay with me instead of breaking apart the family he desired for so long.
“Jesus fuck, what the hell did you do that’s worse than M30s?” Lucian pulled no punches.
I’d rather he’d have just sucker punched me than asked that. At least, physical pain fleeted quickly. With this, I had no idea how to answer, and that killed me. Police hadn’t shown up at our door, which meant Mason hadn’t contacted local authorities.
That was good.
But something about telling Lucian about my homicidal past didn’t sit right with me. A deep-seated burn grew in my stomach, clawing up my throat. My shoulders rounded as I fought to stay upright, and just before I could collapse under the strain, light footfalls headed our way.
I looked back, expecting to see Sophia, but her fat orange tabby headed our way, waddling with each step.
I didn’t know she’d released those things yet, and she’d better have a fucking litter box set up. My floors were brand new, and if those things pissed on them, I’d have a cat-skin rug to decorate my foyer.
My eyes narrowed as Richard watched me, his face splitting in half with a massive yawn.
“Here, kitty, kitty, kitty,” I called, wiggling my fingers near the ground.
He plopped over, showing his belly and rolling back and forth.
Dumb ass cat.
Lucian looked over at the creature.
“Pspspsps,” Lucian tapped his fingers on the armrest.
This caused Richard to spring into action. He jumped to his feet with all the grace of a beached elephant seal, green eyes wide, pupils large.
