Page 114 of Loving the Tormentor

"Read it," he orders before sitting across from me and fastening his seatbelt.

The take-off isn’t as horrible as I expected, just new sensations a human body should never have to experience. We're probably half an hour in, and I'm submerged in his concerto. Chills are running down my body, my muscles twitching every few notes, my hands desperate to play them. My heart skips several beats when I recognize memories of us within the music, and I've never hated being deaf in one ear so much in my life. Because the day Achilles Duval plays this, some lives are going to change. People will be impacted forever, and I know I’ll miss some details in it. It's so unfair it almost brings tears to my eyes.

I'm a little over halfway through when I sense him shifting, annoyed, something bothering his usually imperturbable self.

He's focused on texting someone, eyebrows pulled together.

"Is everything okay?" I ask.

Without even looking up, he answers honestly. "No. Do you think you could recognize the man who broke into your house?"

The question comes out of nowhere, and it takes me a second to understand what he's talking about.

"Do you mean themaskedman who assaulted me when I wassixteen?" I ask with a cocked eyebrow. "Can you hear your question?"

He finally looks up, narrowing his eyes at me.

"What are you doing?" I insist, now wanting desperately to look at his phone.

"I'm trying to find him. What else would I be doing? I have a few options, but I don't want the wrong person to pay."

I'm speechless for so long that he waves a hand in front of my eyes. "Nyx?"

"Who are you messaging?" I rasp.

"Val Brolik."

How…howcan he answer so casually? My heart tenses, jumping in my chest and blocking the back of my throat.

"Are you insane?" I hiss on a breath. "Does he know you're close to me? Achilles, you have no idea the kind of money my father owes this man."

"Yeah, I do. Nothing."

My hand automatically goes for my bag. I pull out the pack of bubblegum in there and pop one in my mouth, gritting my teeth on the hard sweetness until it turns chewy. By the time I can talk again, my jaw hurts.

"I don't owe himnothing. Trust me. Fuck, I feel sick."

"Nyx. You owe him nothing. I settled your debt the day I told Chase about us. You haven't owed him anything for weeks."

The news is such a shock I can't feel my limbs anymore.

"What?" I pause, looking around to make sure I'm not dreaming. "What? How do you evenknow him?"

He shrugs. "Brolik is a small player in a big game. He works for a big criminal organization called the Wolves, and they’re tight with the Circle. He doesn't want to get on my bad side, trust me. But in case he had the wrong idea that coming after you doesn't mean attacking me personally, I settled your father's debt with him."

The mention of my dad twists my stomach. In the last few weeks, all I've done is practice, enjoy my time with Achilles, live a life that isn't mine. As if I don't have real problems waitingfor me on the North Shore. I don't have a home anymore. My father has disappeared. I've only been in touch with Lena when at work, and even that, I've asked for people to take over my shifts many times. She asked questions about what happened to Bennett, knowing full-well what happened. She didn’t receive the video, but most people did. She was testing me, and when I refused to brush the subject, she warned me against my boyfriend yet again.

And she’s not wrong. Achilles provides for me because that's what he knows. Because money means nothing to him. But the day he realizes who I really am, I'll have nothing. Not his money, not his love. Nothim.

I wonder what my betrayal will inspire for his music. Without a doubt, something beautiful.

"I can see the wheels turning behind your eyes,mon trésor.Take a breath for me, will you?"

"My dad," I rasp. "I haven't seen him in so long."

"Your dad is fine."

"You might have a lot of influence, but you're not God, as far as I know. You don't know if he's fine."