Page 64 of To All the Guys I Killed Before

My brain can only produce sputtering, speechless incoherence, which is the only thing that saves me from shouting, I knew it, I knew it, I always knew it; he’s hot under all of that. And how dare he parade around in slutty li’l sweatpants in front of anyone but me?

Instead of saying, I told you so, Fi lets my brain keep imploding for a few more seconds before she says, “He clocked that something was off in under thirty seconds, by the way.”

Every cell in my body shifts from flustered to alarmed. “He what?”

“He knew immediately that his beloved was acting weirder than usual.”

“He… he… how?”

Based on her evil chuckle, my sister is enjoying herself immensely.

“My darling, that boy has studied every facet of you like it’s his full-time job for over a year. You and I may look the same, but to him, I’m guessing we’re verrrry different people.”

Fi’s Hugo-is-hot trap was one thing, but this is a problem.

“So he knows?” I’m pacing a tight circle in front of the monitors. “We need to do something. I can⁠—”

“Nah, it’s fine,” she says. “Dr. Bore has no idea I exist, so why would he ever suspect an impostor? He’s just deeply confused and probably blaming it on his concussion.”

God, poor Hugo. He’ll hate feeling like his brain’s still not trustworthy.

“It’s fine,” Fi says blithely. “If he brings it up, which I doubt he will, just apologize for being tipsy from brunch. He’ll cling to that explanation like a life preserver.”

That’s… smart. “When did you become an expert in the care and feeding of my neighbor?” I grumble.

“When you refused to shut up about him after you moved in,” she says. “It’s also why I brought my white noise machine to cover my side of the conversation in case he’s eavesdropping. Now go in there and kill your ex so you can stop being weird about the weirdo next door.”

I snap my mouth shut. Not only did my sister crack Hugo’s operating system after one brief meeting, she nailed the real reason I insisted we go after Greg right now. Soft feelings blind me to reality and red flags. So I kill Greg tonight, kill the soft feelings, and keep Hugo far away from my mess. Then I can go after Lester Timms and all the other shitty men on my list with a clear head.

Calm sweeps over me as I pull on my gloves and pat the pocket where my knife is waiting.

Here we go.

We took Pell’s advice when we built this place and kept it old school, so the key that lets me in and out of the Chamber of Consequences lives in a zipped pocket at my waistband. I’m safe as houses, and Greg’s totally fucked.

Cameras are positioned in each corner of the all-white room, and Fi will be sitting cross-legged in front of my laptop watching everything through a VPN that taps directly into the barn’s hardwired, encrypted feed, earbuds in and white noise blaring.

I flash a jaunty thumbs-up at the nearest camera and saunter over to the man who’s slumped forward with his chin on his chest. I break a smelling salt capsule under his nose, and after a beat, he rolls his head upright with a snort.

“Wh…” His bleary eyes dart around the bright-white room before landing on me. His confusion shifts into a sleepy smile, the idiot. “Hey, sexy mama.”

“I never liked it when you called me that,” I say coldly.

“Really?” His voice is sluggish as his body shakes off the sedative. “It never slowed you down.”

He tries to offer me a suggestive smile, but he can’t make his face work quite yet, so it’s more like a jerky upward twitch of the left side of his mouth.

I cross my arms and wait for him to catch up with the circumstances. His body shifts like he’s trying to stand, and he frowns down, blinking his unfocused eyes at the zip ties securing his arms to the sturdy metal chair. He can’t see them, but his legs are trussed up the same way, knees to ankles.

His gaze travels up to land on my face before trailing down to my all-black outfit and my gloved hands.

“What are—” He looks around. “Where am I?” He shakes his head sharply and tugs at his arms. “Are you into some kinky shit you never told me about?”

The hope in his voice has me cocking my head and cooing in fake sympathy.

“Oh no, sugar.” I pause and tap a finger against my lips. “I mean, yes, absolutely, but that’s not what this is.”

I let the silence stretch before speaking again.