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

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

whatever the hell was happening in his chest and

for the door. “She’s probably gonna wake up soon anyway.

Luigi slowly approached the bed,

furrowed as if even in unconsciousness

cheek, but the moment they made contact, he yanked back as if her skin

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

finally opened her eyes, Luigi

cup of water. Seeing her awake, he leaned forward: “How’re

answer, just turned her head away, refusing to

few days, Larigi barely left the hospital, taking care of her

his face softened when he returned, a gentleness in his expression that she’d once mistakenly thought

now–those calls were

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

she understood that Leila had been on the other end all along.

different doctor came in to