Chapter 28

Goddamn.Lux came in here looking ready to straight up murder someone, and now she has a question.

This can’t be good.

“Okay,” I say, spreading my arms. “Ask away.”

“At the Preference Ceremony, why did you choose me?”

Fucking-A.

Tilting my head back, I rake a hand down my face. What the hell is this? She comes flying into the room in a fucking mood, and now she’s managed to zero in on the very question I don’t want to answer.

Pulling in a breath, I drop my gaze to her. “I’m not doing this with you right now, Lux,” I answer, but in a tone that should tell her to drop the subject. Any other chick would take the fucking hint and let it go instantly, but not Lux. Of course not Lux.

“Tell me, Roman,” she says, walking to the other side of the room as she waits for me to answer. She stops in front of the unlit fireplace, then turns around to face me.

I watch her carefully, my heart hammering against my ribs. Something is off about this whole interaction. Like she’s fishing or she knows something. She can’t know the truth about why I brought her here, though. I buried the paper trail so fucking deep, Indiana Jones couldn’t even find it if he tried.

I narrow my gaze at her. “Is this about the initiation ritual?”

Reaching down, she pulls the iron fire poker out of its holder and twirls it like a baton. The guys all look at me like, what the fuck? But I reassure them with a subtle shake of my head. Lux has never been violent. That’s my inclination, not hers.

She takes a few steps toward me, then stops, and taps one of the large porcelain vases with the tip of the fire poker. “This is pretty,” she says before pulling her arm back and letting the fire poker swing, smashing the vase with a loud crash that reverberates through the study.

We all jump back as the priceless vase crashes to the floor, shattering into a million little pieces.

“What the fuck?” Christian yells.

“Whoops,” Lux says with an unapologetic shrug. “I should probably be more careful.”

She takes a few more steps toward us, then with both hands gripping the poker, she lets it loose on another priceless piece of art. A statuette this time. The loud crash jolts the guys as sharp shards of porcelain spray across the room. We all recoil, staring at her in horrified shock. If we had pearls, trust we’d be clutching them.

“She’s lost her fucking mind,” Lucas whispers.

That comment catches her attention, and she faces us sharply, the poker resting on her shoulder.

“Oh, shit. She heard you.” Jackson this time.

“Oh, no, he’s right,” she says, approaching. “I have lost my fucking mind. But can you blame me? I’ve been lied to. Used. Manipulated.” Something on the desk catches her eye, and she pauses to take a swing at it. A bronze figure and a marble bust are violently swept off the desk, onto the floor.

A Tiffany lamp falls, too, and when it doesn’t shatter, she beats it brutally, bringing the poker down over and over, until it’s a pulverized pile of multi-colored glass that’s been ground into the carpet.

The guys and I just watch her, too shocked to move.

When she’s done, she straightens and pushes the hair out of her face. Then she continues her advance, her gaze locked on me. There’s a darkness in her eyes that I’ve never seen before, and fuck if it doesn’t terrify me a little.

“Why did you fucking choose me, Roman? Tell me now,” she screams the last part, using the poker to punctuate her words. She’s fucking lost it.

She wants the truth, but I can’t give it to her. She clearly knows something is up, but telling her the truth would set this whole thing on fire, and I can’t bring myself to do that.

“Lux, listen—” I say, but before I can even finish, she comes at me hot, lunging at me with the poker. The tip nearly catches me in the eye, but I manage to deflect it, then yank the metal rod out of her hand. Lucas takes the poker from me as I struggle to subdue her, but she’s clawing at me like a rabid she-cat. Jezus.

“You fucking asshole,” she screams, her blunt nails catching my face. White-hot pain streaks down my cheek, and I loosen my hold just long enough for her to break free.

She retreats several paces, the breath sawing from her lungs. There’s fire in her eyes, and I know for a fact, if she had a gun in her hand, I’d be so fucking dead right now. The hate in her eyes is visceral.

“Tell me what the fuck is going on,” I say, struggling to catch my breath. My face stings and I can feel blood dripping down my face.

“Yo, uh, Roman…” It’s Lucas. I glance over at him, but he’s not looking at me, he’s looking at the floor. I follow his gaze and see several papers scattered across the carpet. My brother’s booking sheet. The police report, outlining Lux’s attack. Her scholarship documents. Everything. It’s all there. Every dark secret I worked so hard to bury and keep hidden from her.

Fuck.

“You’re not the only one who can tear into people’s lives, and dig out their secrets,” she says, her tone dripping with vitriol.

When I look up at her, she’s staring at me, tears filling her eyes. The violent pain of my betrayal is written all over her beautiful face, and I’ve never hated myself more for doing this to her. I’m the coward my father always accused me of being, and the monster Lux always knew I was.

“Lux, let me explain.” There’s nothing to explain, I know that, but I’m desperate to make this right somehow. Even if that means lying to her one more time.

She takes a step back. “He’s your brother. James. My attacker. The man who tormented me for months.” Her voice is slightly hysterical like she’s seconds away from slipping off the edge of sanity. “The man who raped me. The man who nearly killed me.”

I take a step toward her, holding my hand out, like I’m approaching a wounded animal. “Lux, please…”

Grabbing blindly for anything within her reach, she starts throwing shit at me again. Priceless books, a bronze clock, another vase, they all whiz by my head, and by some miracle, I manage to dodge them all. Only when she’s run out of shit to throw does she seem to calm down a little.

“Tell me,” she says quietly, her chest heaving, the tears still falling. “Tell me why.”

Something inside me breaks. I feel fucking cornered, and I know nothing I say will take the pain away, and that, more than anything, fills me with rage. “Fuuuck!” I yell, shoving my fist into the nearest wall over and over and over until my knuckles are raw and bleeding.

It’s jackson who finally pulls me back. “Roman, stop, man.”

I shove him off me, turning to face the biggest mistake of my fucking life. “Fine,” I say, ready to fucking end this. “You want the truth, Lux? When my brother was arrested, he blamed you. He said you called the police to get back at him for breaking up with you.” I pull in a breath. Fuck. “So I designed a scholarship just for you, to bring you here to ExU. Then I chose you at the Preference Ceremony, so I could seduce you, and convince you to drop the charges against my brother,” I say in a rush. “That’s it. That’s all of it.”

She stands there in silence, just staring at me, barely breathing—and I swear to God, I’d give her the last breath in my body to know what she’s thinking right now.

“And Bree? Who killed her?”

I shake my head. “I don’t know. I swear.” But I’ve lied so much over the last few weeks, she’d be dumb to trust my word on anything.

“The plan was to get my brother out of jail. That’s it.”

Silence.

“I had to do it, Lux. Please…” I take several steps toward her, and she doesn’t move. “What would you do, huh? Tell me. What atrocities would you commit for someone you love?”

We’re close now, and she leans forward, pressing the tip of her finger into my chest. “What atrocities? All of them.” A look of pure hatred crosses over her beautiful face, tightening those pink bow-shaped lips. “And if I find out you have anything to do with Bree’s death, Roman, I will fucking destroy you and your entire-fucking-empire.