Page 106 of Atone

“What are you doing here?”

Marco climbs to his feet, tucking his phone into his pocket. “We had a deal. I gave you the week to yourself, and now I’m here to chat.”

“That wasn’t an actual bet we made at the carnival. Although clearly you have a hard time taking a hint.” My gaze drops to the spot where Alex’s knife landed in Marco’s shoulder.

“Is that any way to apologize for what that asshole did to me, baby?”

“I’m not your baby.” I shove past Marco, searching my purse for my key. “And you’re not getting an apology from me or Alex.”

Marco slaps a hand on the door beside my head, leaning in so close from behind that his body presses flush with my back as he drags my hair off one side of my neck.

“Your psychotic boy toy stabbed me, Mila.” His breath tickles my neck. “It’s going to take months to heal. The least you can do is make it up to me.”

I spin around, trying to push him back a step, but he doesn’t budge. “You deserved it.”

“For doing what? Wanting you to forgive me? For admitting I care about you?” He brushes his thumb on my chin, and I tug my face away. “Why can’t you see I’ve been doing all this to try and get you to realize that you miss us?”

“You wish.”

The tick of his eyebrow hints at his irritation, but he doesn’t drop the sadistic grin. “I’ve been patient because I was in the wrong. I should have waited for you, and I shouldn’t have been with those other girls. But this is ridiculous. Aren’t we done playing these games with each other?”

“This is my life, Marco. Not a game.”

“You sure about that?” He spins my hair around his finger, slowly trailing it down my arm.

I remember when Marco’s touch used to make my skin tingle. But as his fingers trail a prickly path over my arm, a quiet warning waves in my mind.

“Stop touching me.” I shrug him off.

Marco cages both hands on the door behind me now. “Or what? You gave it up to Alex. Why shouldn’t I be allowed to touch what’s mine?”

“I haven’t been yours for months now.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. You were mine first, and that never changed.” He grips my chin between his thumb and finger. “I made a mistake, and you got back at me with your psychopath boyfriend. But we’re even now. Let’s just call it good and pick back up where we started.”

“This isn’t a scoreboard.” And even if it was, there’s no world in which Marco and I would be considered even.

Marco tilts his head. “Don’t tell me you’re actually hung up on that fucker.”

“It’s none of your business.” My teeth clench. “What’s your deal with Alex, anyway?”

“What’s my deal with Alex? Besides the fact that he’s a fucking psycho who just got out of an insane asylum.” Marco grabs my hand and places it on his chest where Alex stabbed him. “I’m pretty sure you know what my deal is with him.”

“That was an accident,” I lie.

Like Patience said, there are no accidents when it comes to Alex, and I’m only now seeing the depths.

“We both know it wasn’t.” Marco seethes, leaning closer so we’re almost nose to nose. “And even if it was, it doesn’t explain all the other shit he did.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Liar.” Marco lowers his mouth to my ear. “You’re pretty, but you’re not that stupid. We both know what Alex was up to when he was supposedly locked up at Montgomery. What he did to Oxy. How he sent you those messages that broke us up.”

“He sent the video?”

Marco pulls back. “Interesting. You knew about Oxy but not the texts. Who did you think would care enough to let you know about my little mistake? Didn’t you wonder who sent you that video?”

Of course I did, but I didn’t think it was Alex. He’s been manipulating me longer than I realized.