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.

glances, visibly relieved by his reaction.

you’d gone and caught feelings or something. Getting played by your own revenge game would be such a fucking waste. Leila would lose her

just tamped down whatever the hell was happening in his chest and stated. coldly: “I will never have feelings for Ariana Collins. Not in

they headed for the door. “She’s probably gonna wake up soon anyway. We’ll

the bed, staring down at

ghost–white, her brows slightly furrowed as if

fingers moved of their own accord toward her cheek, but the moment they made contact, he yanked back as if her skin

window, lighting a cigarette and taking a desperate drag, hoping

finally opened her eyes, Luigi

of water. Seeing her awake, he

didn’t answer, just turned her head away, refusing to

few days, Larigi barely left the hospital, taking care of her with an attentiveness that surprised even himself.

noticed how his face softened when he returned, a

knew now–those calls were to

back with clear eyes, she realized this pattern had existed throughout their entire relationship. The mysterious calls he’d

she understood that Leila had been on

different doctor came in to change