A Hurt So Sweet Volume Three (Elite of Eden Falls Prep 3)

I take a step forward, making her back up against the wall and caging her body beneath mine. Pandora lifts her eyes to mine expectantly, but I stop just inches away from her lips, taunting her with my answer.

"You can never run again..."

14

Pandora

That night, Dexter and I lie in bed together. I'm tempted to move closer. Maybe put my head on his chest. But his body language is closed-off, and he seems de

ep in thought. I flip through the pages of the book he picked out for me, my heart beating nervously with each page I turn.

"I wanted to show you something." The words slip from my lips before I can stop myself. Fuck. I'd hoped I would've been able to keep the secret for longer, but I need to talk to him, can't stand the silence, need his attention with such eagerness and desperation it thoroughly embarrasses me. Dex turns to face me, and I pull out my most prized possession from the handbag I've left on the nightstand.

Dex's eyes widen at the sight, and he asks, "Is that what I think it is?"

"It's a diary." I open the front page where the owner's name is proudly displayed in my predecessor's pretty handwriting. "Lily Anna's diary."

"I always knew she kept one," Dex mutters. "But I never found it after she... Can I see?"

Something fiercely protective takes over then, and I snap it shut, shaking my head.

"You know I could just take it from you, right?"

"But you won't," I say firmly. "Minnie gave it to me, not you, for a reason. And it has a lot of dirt on everyone, Dex... Like, a lot. There's stuff in here that could ruin some of the people of Eden Falls."

"What does it say about me?"

"Are you really so self-involved that's your first thought?" I can't help but laugh. "Weirdly, you're not in it. I think she ripped your page out."

"No," Dex mutters. "I did."

I watch, fascinated, as he gets up and picks up a book from the bookshelf in his room. He flips it open and reveals a page that perfectly matches the ones in the diary I'm holding. Dex hesitates, as if he isn't sure whether or not to show me the page. It makes me wonder just how damning the words are.

"Show me," I say lamely, and he ponders my words, then, surprisingly, offers me the page.

I take it.

The paper is covered from top to bottom, both sides scribbled on furiously. A drawing of a boy takes up most of the page. I didn't know Lily Anna was an artist, but it shows talent, and my fingertips glide over the pen lines, Dexter's name on top, a cigarette dangling from his full lips on the page.

"She was talented," I mutter.

"Very." His answer is matter-of-fact, devoid of emotion. "Aren't you going to read it?"

There isn't much text on the page. There are a bunch of lines of Lilly Anna writing her name down as Mrs. Oakes though, and the sight of them sends a jolt through my spine. I'm jealous, I realize. I'm jealous of the dead girl again.

Then, finally, I see the words. I don't know how I hadn't noticed them before. Right there, in the upper left corner.

Dex's best kept secret is... that he killed his parents.

I pass the page back to Dex, unable to comment on what I just read. He takes it, and our fingers meet for a split second, sending sparks flying.

"How could she say that about you?" I finally whisper. "Did she actually believe it?"

He shrugs. "I saw her writing here one day... Couldn't resist the urge to go through it when she wasn't looking. We got into a huge fight about it."

"That's horrible," I whisper. "You're not responsible for their deaths, Dex."

His mouth sets in a thin line and he refuses to reply. I want to reassure him, tell him that the lie is vicious and horrible, but he shuts me out with his body posture, refusing to let me in an inch closer. I don't know how to help. It gets me thinking about my own situation, about finally being free from Father. On an impulse, I reach for Dex's hand, and his eyes find mine.