Chapter 185

Cole glanced up. “I'm not. I mean, it wasn’t fun. But I trusts you. With the worst of me, as well as the best, and all the squishy ambiguous bits in between.”

“Thank you,” he said, unexpectedly grave. “I hope to always honor that trust.”

“As I will for you.”

He didn’t respond.

“So, y’know”—Cole nudged him gently—“your turn.”

It took a long time, but he did eventually speak. The words coming slowly and painfully, like razor blades from his lips. “If I tell you, you’ll know what Eleanor said about me is right. That I’m sick and twisted and I ruin everything that’s good.”

“She only said that because she was angry.”

He shook his head. “No, she said it because it’s true. You see, she learned who she was when she was fourteen years old.”

“What happened when—wait. When your father died?”

“After that. When she seduced his business partner. His best friend.”

Cole genuinely had no idea what to say. To