Page 115 of Rapunzel Is Losing It

“Cordelia, please,” he grit out.

“I know you’ve done horrible things. I know that. Whatever you’re keeping from me-”

“It’s not somethingIdid.”

I froze.

“Me?”

“Yes.”

“What did I do?” My voice was merely a whisper.

“Zhizn’ moya.”

“Victor, tell me.”

“You’re brilliant. You take on so much responsibility.” His placating words did nothing to stop the dread from souring my stomach. “You have big plans and even bigger ideas. And they all come from such a good and pure place. You play by the rules and it’s not your fault that there’s plenty of people out to exploit that.”

“I don’t follow.”

“You bought me a house for my birthday.”

“Because I wanted you to have your own space. I didn’t want you to feel suffocated.”

“I know. You see? Kindness.” He crossed the mattress, hands wrapping around my ankles, thumbs already drawing soothing patterns, when I still didn’t follow.

“I bought you a house.”

“Yes.”

I bought the house next door. No. I boughthimthe house next door.

“It’s public record.”

“Luka never told his father where I was.”

“I did.”

“Unintentionally, yes.”

There was no electric shock to my nervous system, no exploding pain in my chest. There was nothing at all. My body just ceased to feel. Numb and nonexistent as I realized what I’d done.

I hadn’t wanted to stifle him. I’d wanted to keep him in my life so badly that I bought him a house before he could find out that I was too much to be around. I hadn’t done that for him. I hadn’t done that out of kindness. I’d done that forme.

“Cordelia?”

Just like I’d hired Delilah forme. So I could stay at home. If I hadn’t hired her, if there hadn’t been two Cordelias, Julian Beckett wouldn’t have tried to kill me.

“Cordelia.”

“I caused all of this. First I put Del in danger by making her take on my name, and now you. I did that. I fucked up. If Julian Beckett- If you had- He could still be alive. He got in over his head with your family, and then I threw him for a loop with Delilah, and he could still be alive. He’d hopefully be in jail, but Brody would still have a father.”

“Don’t do that. His death is on my hands. Nobody else’s. I pulled the trigger.”

“Everything I did, every stupid decision I made, led to that moment. I come up with these stupid impulsive things. I cost Brody her father.”

“He made the deal with my uncle. He tried to take your father’s company away from you. He put himself in danger.”