All the Lies (Lies & Truths 1)

God…what have I done?

I lift my head, and my blurry gaze collides with Asher’s.

What…?

Did he follow me out of his father’s office?

The need to stand up and hug him burns inside me, and I can’t think of anything past that.

I don’t know when he became this important, but he…did.

This is some sort of syndrome. It must’ve started after he saved my life.

He stalks toward me until he’s standing above me. I look up, no idea what he sees on my face—sadness, chaos, or something else. I just hope he sees how lost I am right now.

How much I need him to not dig the knife in deeper.

He opens his mouth to say something, but I cut him off with a trembling voice.

“Stop.”

If he slices me with his words right now, I’ll just bleed to death.

His hand wraps around my throat. It’s tight, as if he wants to suffocate the life out of me.

My lungs burn with the need for air.

My nails claw at his hands, trying to shake him off, to get some oxygen into my lungs.

“You don’t deserve the life you’ve been given.” He’s angry—no, he’s enraged, but strangely, it doesn’t feel directed at me. It seems to be more about him.

“Ash…ugh…” No more words come out.

He’s stealing my breath and my air supply.

“Give back what you owe,” he snarls in my face.

It’s the first time I’ve seen him so furious.

So manic.

So out of control.

He’s shed his deadly calm exterior and is coming at me full force.

Tears stream down my cheeks, into my mouth, and onto his hands until all I taste is salt. I couldn’t stop them even if I wanted to, because not only am I crying for myself, I’m crying for everyone whose life I made hell in the past.

Asher is one of them.

He’s just one of them.

Second chance? I don’t deserve that. People who are monsters like me simply don’t deserve it.

“Fuck!” He jerks away from me as if he’s been burned. “Stop crying.”

A sob tears from my throat as I catch my breath, sucking as much air as possible into my starved lungs.

His fingers find my cheek and he wipes the tears away, a pained expression covering his face. “Why are you crying? Do you think you’re a victim?”