The Black Swan's Final Revenge Pirouette: The 99th Game Was Mine All Along by Kylie Homme

Chapter 5

A heavy silence fell over the hospital room, as if time Itself had stopped.

Luigi, who’d been in the middle of ripping into his friends, froze at Derek’s words echoing through the

“Holy shit, man. Tell me you haven’t actually fallen for her.”

Tall for Ariana? What the fuck?

He rejected the thought with almost violent immediacy, as if the speed of his denial could erase the strange emotion crawling through his chest.

He had always been in love with Leila–what was Ariana in comparison? Nothing but collateral damage in his revenge scheme. A means to an end.

But the logic didn’t track. If she meant nothing, why had he lost his goddamn mind when he saw those men on top of her?

Even when drunk frat boys hit on Leila at parties, he’d never gone nuclear like that.

His mental wrestling match cast the room into uncomfortable silence.

visibly relieved

Getting played by your own revenge game would be such a fucking waste. Leila would

and stated. coldly:

door. “She’s probably gonna wake

cleared out, Luigi slowly approached the bed,

as if even in unconsciousness she couldn’t escape the nightmare,

moment they made contact, he yanked back as if her skin had shocked

the window, lighting a cigarette and taking a desperate drag, hoping the nicotine might

finally opened her eyes, Luigi

sat beside her bed, holding a cup of water. Seeing her awake, he leaned

head

hospital, taking care

he returned, a gentleness in his expression that she’d once mistakenly

now–those calls were to

entire relationship. The mysterious calls he’d always step away

understood that Leila had been on

came in to change her