Page 73 of The Invite (The Massacre Ball #1)
“I looked it up today,” he confesses boyishly, making every organ in my body work overtime.
“One definition caught my attention. It says love is irrational, an explosive chemical reaction, and it comes when you least expect it and with in the most unexpected person. Being obsessive to the point of being in their arms and making your demons dance with theirs. If that’s love, then I have fallen for you, Nessa, from the moment I met you. ”
Oh, how he’s breaking my heart and piecing it back together at the same time.
“You love me?” I say in between hiccups. My emotions are all over the place. His sweet confession repeating in my mind. While the intense passion in his eyes threatens to drown me.
“I know you’re worried I’m incapable of it.
But you’re wrong.” A sad smile laces his mouth and his expression is lost. “I simply don’t know what love is, Nessa.
The only kind I’ve experienced is fatherly love from my dad and those memories are fading day by day.
I wish he were alive so I could ask him what it’s like for a man to fall in love with a woman.
He had all the answers. Internet was the next best thing. ”
“It’s not always right,” I murmur.
Nuzzling his nose against mine, he kisses a stray teardrop. “Then I’ll make my own version of love for you, little prey. To show you you’re the only woman for me.”
“You have shown me, August.” I trace the tattoo on his neck. “I feel your version of love in every action of yours. It’s the most beautiful and perfect kind. I believe it when you say you love me. And I love you too, with every fiber of my being.”
He swallows. “All of me?”
“All of you.”
“Even the monstrous me?”
“ Especially him .”
***
Later that night, Augustus and I are lying in my bed when he passes me the familiar black envelope. “He’s pitting us against each other.”
“What do you mean?” I act confused, even though I know the answer.
“The plan backfired but not in the way we wanted.” Sitting up against the headboard, he stares down impassively. “Unless I uncover Kenny’s secret or kill him, he will blast mine to the public.”
Playing my part by wearing an outraged and scared expression, I gasp, “By when?”
“Before The Massacre Ball.”
Believing it to be the perfect opportunity, I ask, “Do you think he knows your secret?” A tight nod. My gut knots. “Are you sure?”
“Read it.” He flicks his chin to the letter. “Then I’ll tell you the whole story.”
I hesitate, looking at him. “You don’t have to if you aren’t ready.”
“You told me your past. It’s my turn.”
Folding my legs in a crisscross pattern, I flip open the envelope and take out the letter. Augustus’s expression is sealed when I glance at him before focusing on the message.
The mighty Augustus Grayson,
Teaming up against me?
How you’ve disappointed me.
All of you have.
I really thought mean little Scarlett would be the one to fuck up.
Yet she turned out to be a good little girl.
Take some tips, won’t ya?
Then again, she’s alwayyysss been a good girl, hasn’t she?
You’d know.
You buried her last mistake, after all.
Having trouble remembering?
Missing a memory?
Missing! See what I did there?
I know the skeleton in your closet and its name is Matthew.
One tap of my finger and the rats will come sniffing.
Is that what you want?
Is it?
Unlike all of you, my secrets aren’t fake.
So, let’s try this again, shall we?
Don’t ruin the game.
There can only be ONE winner.
Kenny or you.
The choice is simple.
Expose him or kill him.
Do neither and I’ll expose you at The Massacre Ball.
Xoxo, A
My throat is dry as I question in an ominous tone, “Who’s Matthew, Augustus?”
“My uncle.”
The air whooshes out of my lungs. The uncle that’s been missing for years. Bit by bit Anonymous’s words begin to fit together. Especially as Augustus’s admission replays. “Is he who you killed?”
“Yes.” Pinning me in place with a remorseless gaze, he emotionlessly admits, “I killed him when I was fourteen.”
My world tilts on its axis. “Why?”
“I caught him raping Scarlett.” The hand resting on his knee curls into a fist while his features darken. “It wasn’t the first time.”
I can’t shake the fury attacking my veins or the despair for what Scarlett suffered. The poor girl. They were both kids to suffer something this horrific. Kneeling beside him, I clutch his hand. “I’m so sorry, August.”
His fingers squeeze mine. “He came to live with us after my mother remarried him a year after my father’s passing.
He worked under my dad and was elected as the new mayor.
I hated him even before I found out about his proclivities.
I hated my mother more. She expected us to accept him as our new father like my dad was a toy she could replace. ”
I ache to hug him as silent tears drip down my face. I feel his pain like it’s my own. “I’m glad you killed him. He deserved to die.”
“You don’t want to run from me?” he asks low. “Most women would.”
“No,” I reply in a heartbeat. “You protected your sister and it makes me love you even more.”
A rough exhale shakes his chest as though my answer lifted a heavy weight off him. “I haven’t told a single soul about this. Only you.”
I feel disgusted with myself. He’s trusting me and here I am, digging the knife deeper into his back.
“Where did you hide his body?” I need to know so I can keep Michael and Arjun’s attention away from it.
His lips curl in an evil smirk. “My mother was getting the house renovated and a big construction crew was working. They had taken the weekend off and she was out of town. Scarlett and I buried the body in her office. It wasn’t easy and took us all night.
Luck was on our side because we didn’t get caught. ”
I’m speechless for long seconds. “She has no idea?”
“She does now.” I frown, making him explain, “I confronted her today.”
“Why would you tell her after all these years?”
“Because she threatened you,” he grits out. “She wanted me to end it with you because you’re distracting me from my goals.”
“Becoming the mayor.”
“I told her it won’t happen because I’d much rather rot in jail than live without you.”
My shoulders slump, while my eyes lower in shame as I sigh, “August.”
A possessive hand wraps around my throat, bringing my face up to his. His blurry face fills my vision. “You’re worth it, Nessa. She realized my love for you and backed off. As long as I do what is expected of me.”
“What if she goes back on her word?”
Dread paralyses me when he says, “I don’t know how Anonymous knows about my past, but I can’t risk it getting out because it’s the only leverage I have over my mother.
If there’s even a whiff of the authorities investigating us, which they will if he puts this out, then she wouldn’t hesitate to put me or Scarlett behind bars to save herself. ”
It’s too late for that. The detectives are after them and they have it all wrong. I need to make sure it stays that way. But how do I do it?
“She may use it to separate us,” Augustus says quietly.
“No!” I vehemently shake my head and crawl into his lap. “I won’t let it happen.”
“I won’t either,” he vows. “Because we’re going to catch Anonymous.”
“How?” I heave. “He’s always two steps ahead of us. Always slipping by.”
“You didn’t notice it, did you?”
“Notice what?”
His arm reaches out to grab the letter, and he points at a few lines.
Teaming up against me?
All of you.
When I catch on to it combined with the lines floating to the forefront of my brain from my own letter, it’s like seeing a ray of light.
The needle has been found.
My eyes flash to Augustus, who figured it out before me, and we both say it out loud at the same time. “Anonymous is one of us.”