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.

exchanged knowing glances, visibly relieved by his reaction.

something. Getting played by your own revenge game would be such a

chest and stated.

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

approached the bed, staring down at

face was ghost–white, her brows slightly furrowed as if even in unconsciousness she couldn’t escape the

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 quiet whatever the hell was happening in his head.

opened her eyes,

a cup of water. Seeing her awake, he leaned

head

the hospital, taking care of

to take calls, and she noticed how his face softened when he returned, a gentleness in his expression that

calls were to Lella.

back with clear eyes, she realized this pattern had existed throughout their entire relationship. The mysterious calls he’d always step away to take, claiming

by her devotion. Now she understood that Leila had

came in to change her