Our world

11

This chapter contains emotional conflict, jealousy, mature themes, alcohol use, and brief segment of sex.

Chapter 11

Richard had hesitated that night. The weight of his secret lingered on his lips, but he couldn't bring himself to say the words. It clawed at him, demanding release, yet fear held him back. Fear of losing her. Fear of her seeing the full extent of the darkness he carried.

When they reached the beach, the night air was thick with unspoken tension. They had walked along the shoreline, the waves brushing against their ankles, the sound of the ocean masking the silence between them. And though he hadn't revealed the truth he buried so deeply, Richard had said enough; just enough to tear a crack in their fragile bond.

It wasn't the confession she might have been expecting, but it had been devastating nonetheless. He'd admitted something else, something that left Luna needing time to process, to breathe, to decide if she could stay with him after all.

He'd confessed to killing the three men.

Luna had stopped mid step, the sound of the waves suddenly drowned out by her heartbeat thundering in her ears. The same three men who had harassed her at her job, who had taunted Richard with jeers and insults until he'd left, fuming. She had brushed it off back then, thinking little of it. But to hear him calmly admit to hunting them down in an alleyway and to hear him say their deaths were his doing broke her to pieces. The same night, he attempted to give her boss a hard concussion, or perhaps brain damage.

She'd barely spoken after that. Her breath had caught in her throat, her mind whirring with the weight of it all. Part of her wanted to run, to tell someone, to scream. But the other part of her that loved him couldn't move. Couldn't speak. Couldn't bring herself to betray him, even as her stomach churned with unease.

"I couldn't let them get away with it," he had said, his voice low, steady, as if the lives he'd taken were nothing more than dust swept away in the wind. He admiringly called it a 'triple kill', "They deserved what they had coming to em."

That night had marked a breaking point. The hours they spent at the beach afterward felt like a blur, and the vibe in the air was unrelenting. When Richard had finally dropped her off at home, Luna had told him she needed space and exited his car, leaving him speechless and frozen in his seat.

Now, a week later, Luna sat at the edge of her bed, staring at the notebook she had on her lap. Her pen hovered above the page, but no words came. She attempted to write and rewrite the words that came to her head a dozen times over and over but none of it felt right. It was overstimulating. How could she love someone so deeply and yet feel so terrified? Worse yet, how can she love someone so deeply and feel the need to dismiss their wrongdoings?

She closed the notebook with a sigh, pressing her palms against her temples. She couldn't tell anyone. She wanted to, but she couldn't. It was as if his secret had lodged itself in her throat, a heavy weight she couldn't swallow or spit out.

She would think so wrongly; why wasn't she fazed by his remorseless actions? His features were extremely luring and made her forget everything else. He was the man she wanted to be around, a man she could find once in a lifetime.

She missed the way he looked at her like she was the only thing that mattered, the way his voice dipped low when he teased her, the way his touch made her feel alive.

She shook her head, trying to banish the thoughts. You asked for this space. she reminded herself. You needed this. But no amount of self reassurance could quiet the ache in her chest or the longing that twisted deep in her stomach.