Page 169 of River of Deceit

“Why are you lying for her, man?” Asch asks. “It’s not like she really cares about you. She was using you.”

“You broke up with her, right?” I poke him in the chest. “You went to her that night, after we told you it was a bad idea. So what happened? What did you do that turned her against you?”

“She’s the one who—” River grits his teeth, but he glances past me briefly before leveling his gaze on mine. “I said the same thing I did to get my finger chopped off. I called her a crazy whore.”

Asch’s brows shoot up. “You got your finger chopped off because you called her names?”

I don’t care about the past, though. I focus on what matters right now. “Just for fun, you called her that? You were crying your eyes out to her and decided to call her crazy?”

I remember that I’d almost called her that once, and River had stopped me before I’d been able to get the full word out.

It’s not something Pandora accepts lightly.

It’s something thathurtsher.

“No,” River snaps. “I didn’t do it forfun. I was upset, and she wouldn’t shut up about revenge, and she got Franklin’s name wrong, and like always, she makes it all about her because why would she take two fucking seconds to think about how I feel, or…” He trails off.

“So you did tell her about Franklin,” I say quietly. “And then she trampled on your feelings.”

“Yes,” River hisses.

“Like the last time,” Asch adds. “With your finger.”

River holds up his left hand, the missing finger starkly obvious. He blinks hard, and I don’t miss the tears threatening to spill.

I have one more ace up my sleeve that will push River over to my side.

“She kept it, you know,” I say casually.

Confusion crosses River’s expression, breaking into the anger and the pain written across it. “Kept what?”

Asch must catch on to what I’m doing because he’s the one to say, “Your finger. She kept it.”

River’s head snaps up, and his eyes lock onto Asch’s. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean? She keeps it in a jar or something?”

I smile cruelly. “Oh, no. It’s nothing but bone now. She has it all strung together and carries it with her. It’s her lucky charm. Every time you see her reaching into her pocket? She’s touching your finger.”

I half-expect him to accuse me of lying, but he doesn’t.

Instead, he falls silent and stares at his hand again, flexing the four remaining fingers on his left hand. “All right,” he says abruptly. “Whatever you’re planning, I’m in.”

Perfect.

Because I’m not a fucking coward.

I’m not Pandora’s toy.

And I’m definitely not letting Zayden run the show.

31

PANDORA

Cry Me A

I need to talk to you

Pandora