Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 76298 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 381(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76298 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 381(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
“You’ve gone insane. Emilio, stop this, stop right now. You’re not like this. You’re not—”
“That’s where you’re fucking wrong.” Emilio snarls in his face and my hands fly to my mouth. “I am like this. This is who I was born to be. I tried to save Lucy that night because I liked her. But I don’t like you.”
“You can’t. You can’t do this. It’s murder!”
“I can and I will.” Emilio’s grin is blazing hot and massive. “Lesley’s writing your suicide note right now on one of your precious little vintage typewriters. Even though it’s not in your handwriting, everyone will believe it’s from you. A tragic suicide. A secret alcoholic. The weight of Lucy’s death, too heavy on his shoulders.” He laughs sharply, bitterly. “Don’t worry, the details about that night are in the note, and I’ll make sure to confirm them.”
“You’re insane. You can’t murder me. I burned down a house. I burned a boat. You can’t kill me! Emilio, stop this!” The dean’s pleading for his life now, scared tears rolling down his face, but Emilio doesn’t seem to hear him.
“You know the best part? The best part is now Kaye gets her revenge. When I said this is all for her, I meant it. You killed her sister, you destroyed my society, and now it’s time you pay. Goodbye, Walt.”
“No, Emilio, please, I’m begging, I’ll do anything, you can’t—”
Emilio shoves him, and Dean Wotherspoon staggers backward.
There’s a moment where he hangs. He stands suspended on the edge, his weight moving backward, too far to stop it, but he doesn’t release Emilio. Instead, he grips tighter, and Emilio’s pulled off balance, and both men stumble toward the edge—
I start running. My heart’s racing wildly. Emilio grunts in surprise, and they’re tangled together in the darkness, on the edge of the cliffs where my sister died, and I throw myself forward as Emilio reaches the edge—
I grab him by the arm and pull, throwing myself backwards.
Something releases, like an anchor breaking from a line, and we fall backwards onto the trail.
Dean Wotherspoon is gone. There’s no scream. There’s no shout. Only emptiness where the man used to be.
We stay tangled on the path together, breathing hard, not speaking. Emilio’s staring at the cliff, his face calm, a victorious grin on his lips.
“You killed him.”
He looks at me slowly and nods. “I killed him.”
“Emilio.” I’m trembling, shaking. I can barely believe it. I’ve done things I never imagined I would, crossed lines I never pictured before—but murder?
“I know this is hard,” he says softly and gently slides his hand across my cheek. He shifts his weight and I lean back onto my elbows as he kneels over me in the moonlight. The old Emilio is back, the confident, gorgeous Emilio, and he smiles as he wraps his fingers in my hair, his body so warm and strong above mine.
“I can’t believe you did that.”
“Everyone in Calico has a hand in it. Everyone, including you. We did this together.”
“You planned it from the start.”
He nods slowly. “I had to act like I was broken. Otherwise, the dean never would’ve made himself vulnerable.”
“How’d you know he’d take you out here?”
“I didn’t. I had several different plans, depending on the circumstances.”
“And what about Malcolm?”
“He’s busy planting evidence as well. He’s smart enough to know what’s good for him.” Emilio’s lips brush against mine. “Listen, my little pet.”
He kisses me gently, so gently.
“Listen, my Kaye.”
“Emilio.”
“I meant what I said. I did this for you. I saw the house burning and I wanted to give up, but when you held my hand, I decided to keep going. I decided to win and get the revenge you’ve been seeking in the process. I did this for you.”
I meet his gaze and shiver. He murdered a man for me—
All for me.
I tilt my chin up and he kisses me again.
“I love you,” he whispers. “I love you more than anything in this world. I’ll kill for you, Kaye. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you.”
“I love you too,” I say and it’s true, I love him so much it hurts me. Emilio’s the only person in this world that cares about me, and I’ll do anything for him, anything at all.
I’ll feel any pain.
Sink into any pleasure.
I’ll give him every part of me and more.
“What do we do now?” I ask, leaning my forehead against his. My Emilio, my love, my entire world.
There’s no going back from here.
There’s nothing else for me but him.
“Now, we rebuild.”
He kisses me again in the moonlight and I let myself tumble deep into his lips.
Chapter 30
Kaye
My shovel bites into the blackened ground. I toss it into a wheelbarrow and Dirk drags it off with a nod, adding the load into a waiting truck.
The remains of Calico House stand around us like a charred skeleton.