“Tell me!” Toni grunts, pain and hurt and desperationflashing across her face. “Tell me the truth!” Another step toward me. She’s five meters away, but I can feel her breath. Feel the fury that’s on the tip of her tongue.She’sangry at me?!She’shurt? Absurd. Completely baffling. “The truth, Emery Jones. Tell me the truth.”
“You already know the truth,” I say, breathing ragged as my own rage builds. “You knew the truth the moment you woke up that morning and I wasn’t in bed beside you.”
Her eyes darken. “Lies. Those are fucking lies!” Her hands tremble. “The truth, Emery Jones!”
Delusional. She’s fucking delusional. “What do you want me to say, Antonia? Huh?” My filter shatters, and I no longer have control. “Do you want me to say that I fell inlovewith you? That Ilovedyou?!” A manic laugh spills from my lips. “That I cared for you?” I shake my head, utterly perplexed by her broken psyche. “You kidnapped me. You chained me to a fucking mattress. I did what I had to do to survive. I did what I had to do to stay alive.”
“I wasn’t going to kill you!” Toni hisses. “Do you not understand?! You were never going to die, Emery Jones. I would never allow…”
I scoff. “You weren’t the one I was worried about, Antonia.”
She swallows. “Simone was only trying to scare you.”
I lift a brow. “Now who’s the liar?”
Toni shakes her head, eyes glossy. “I helped you. I made you tea. I let you shower. I kept you warm and…” She sucks in a sharp breath. “You used me. You manipulated me. You tricked me, and…” A tear rolls down her cheek. “You made me believe that?—”
I cut her off. “I didn’t make you do anything.”
“What?” she spits.
“You should take accountability for your own actions, Antonia,” I say. “It’s not my fault you were so easy to convince. All I needed to do was put on a sad face, and you ate it up. I think that says more about you than it does about me.”
Her hand shakes. “Stop it. Stop lying to me. I-I know what I saw. I know what I felt.”
“What you saw was an act,” I explain in a calm tone, needing her to let go of this fucking fantasy. “What you felt was, perhaps, a twisted version of desperation and lust.” Her eyes widen. “Does that surprise you?” She doesn’t respond. “Fine. I’ll concede to that. You’re attractive, Antonia. I-I thought you were attractive.” I cock my head. “Does that make you feel better? Does knowing that I enjoyed fucking you, make you feel better?”
Her jaw tightens. “No. It does not.”
“I don’t know what else to say to you.” I shrug, running out of options. “You wanted the truth. That’s the truth.”
“You liked my songs,” her voice trembles, gaze distant. “That doctor said you liked the songs.”
I narrow my eyes. How is this relevant? “I did.”
“We…” She swallows, a dangerous sparkle in her eyes. “We could listen to them together. I-I have so many songs I can show you.”
“Put the gun down, Antonia,” I whisper. “It’s over. It’s?—”
Toni rushes toward me, dropping to her knees, the gun still tightly grasped in her hand. “Come with me, Emery Jones. You and me. Let’s run away together. I…” She lifts her left hand up to my cheek and tenderly strokes my skin. Her eyes pierce mine, chaotic and wild. “You are scared, bella. I can see it. The fear. But you do not need to be scared of me. Together, we can go anywhere. Anywhere you want. We can start fresh. New. Just you and me. All of this.” She waves the gun haphazardly around. “All of this will be a funny story we tell our grandkids, huh? We will laugh, bella. Oh, how I want to laugh with you.”
Jesus fucking Christ.
She’s…she’s being honest. I can tell. She truly, truly believes in her delusions. Did I do this to her? Did I break her? Or…or was she always slightly damaged? Like me…
Guilt finds its way into my heart. Not just guilt. But empathy.
“Give me the gun, Toni,” I say gently, glancing down at the pistol. “Give me the gun and we can talk. I will talk with you.”
She blinks rapidly and frowns. “But we are already talking, bella. We are talking, and we are making a plan. Our plan. Our future plan.” She swallows, gaze flicking across my face. “So, say it to me, Emery Jones. Say the words I know you are too scared to say.” She nods feverishly. “Tell me. Tell me now.”
What the hell am I supposed to do? To say? Do Ifeed into her delusion? Go along with her fabricated version of reality? Of facts? Or am I supposed to be honest? Truthful?
“Toni…”
I peer down at her, heart beating against my ribs as I cup her cheek in my hand. She smiles up at me with so much hope that I almost regret my choice. But I’ve always hated fantasies.
Always.
