Don’t forget anything they did to me.
Play my part of the broken idiot, so they can’t save themselves as I implode every part of their business and lives.
Attacking them from the outside won’t solve anything when they’re too organized. There’s no one better to learn from than the very people who fucked up my life. I’m going to do it better than them because I’ve learntfromthem.
I manage to claw the tears back before I go back to him, wincing and whimpering as I do. He’ll need to get Helene to play a recording of us to pinpoint where the cameras are. Once we know, we’ll be able to find a blind spot other than the ledge.
But when I pull the curtain aside to climb through the window, I freeze. Kane has his ankle balanced on his knee, the hem rolled up to reveal a patch of skin between his calf and the top of his boot. There, on his skin exposed to the elements, aredeep cuts. He pushes his foot so his injured leg is dangling over the edge. “What do you need?”
“What are you doing?” My knee hits the windowsill as I climb up, still staring at him. He hunches his shoulders forward as he grips the edge of the stone with white knuckles. His eyes are fixed on the rocks below, so I have to crawl over the bag to sit beside him. Our fingers brush as he quickly looks out of the corner of his then back to the rocks.
“Did she do that to you?” I ask, afraid of what he’ll say.
“No one did anything to me.”
If he tries to say I’m crazy again, I’m pushing him off this fucking ledge.
“How did you get those cuts?” I ask.
“I didn’t.” His lips tremble and he bites the inside of his top lip to get it to stop. It doesn’t prevent me from hearing his breath stuttering in his chest or how red his eyes become as he remains unblinking, still watching the rocks.
Then his tears drip in a line straight down to them.
“What happened, Kane?” I don’t think he can hear me over the sound of the waves, the wind, or his heartache. I always thought someone would fight to breathe if they were drowning. Yet as we sit here in silence, that’s what he’s doing. Each inflation of his chest is easy but there’s a pause before he exhales, like he’s afraid of losing air.
“You can tell me,” I say softly.
He shakes his head, causing more tears to drip without touching his face.
“How did you get the cuts?”
Silence.
“Was it Helene?”
No answer.
“My parents?”
He sits there, silently crying. I don’t even know if itiscrying when he’s like a haunting statue brought to life. The screeching caws of the birds circling above the water are eerie as fuck, but I don’t look away from him as I lightly place my hand over his. I wouldn’t be surprised if he manages to pry the stone off from how hard he’s gripping it.
I don’t know how long we watch the rocks, but he finally makes a noise as he forcefully pushes all the air out of his lungs. His lips tremble when he does it again. Then his teeth chatter before he brokenly whispers, “Nothing happened to me.” He finally looks at me, his face pinching as he repeats, “Nothing happened to me.”
“Okay,” I whisper.
He violently flinches as his own tears hit his cheek. “Nothing fucking happened to me.” Bringing our joined hands up, he hits his temple as he says, “Not on one, two, three…” He continues counting until he reaches eighty-eight. “Not on eighty-nine.” His body crumbles around a sob.
“Okay, nothing happened.” I slowly bring his hand down to stop him hitting himself before wrapping my arm around his shoulders. “I won’t ask you again, it’s okay.”
He lowers his head, falling against my chest as he sobs, his tears soaking into my naked skin while he keeps repeating, “Nothing happened, it’s eighty-nine.”
