Weeping Angel: Malvada (Book 1 of the Weeping Angel Series)

Chapter XLV

Josh exhales through his nose, seeming tired and defeated. "When I confronted Mason, he told me he didn't want to hurt Penny, which was why he was pretending to believe her. That was the first time I punched him."

I resist the urge to gape at him. He felt betrayed because Mason was playing around with Penny's feelings and being the protective and possessive brother he is, Josh couldn't trust him any longer.

Josh was shaking at this point, his hands balled into fists, his knuckles white. "Penny found out what happened, and she looked at me like she didn't fucking know me. She still ran to him for comfort after everything because she didn't believe me. Because I was too controlling."

The cold licked my fac, creeping its way under my clothes. My gut feeling said he had something much worse to say, something I wasn't ready for.

Josh purses his lips, his eyes staring off into the distance. "I had to break them apart somehow. He wasn't good for her, Rose. Watching that liar break her heart was the last thing I'd ever want."

"What did you do, Josh?"

Josh shuts his eyes for a moment and takes a deep breath. When he opens his eyes again, they're watery, filled with regret and pain. "I told Penny that I caught Mason cheating on her. I just- I had to. It was something we least expected of Mason, something that disgusted Penny, so it was the right thing to say."

My eyes almost bulged out of my sockets from how wide they were, my mouth slightly hanging open as my mind tries to wrap around his words.

"Penny hung onto the thin thread of hope, trying to get me to tell her that it wasn't true. I literally broke her with one lie. I was supposed to feel great because I got what I wanted, but the guilt was eating me alive. I'm a fucking monster." Josh's voice cracks at the end, and my heart shatters into a million pieces.

Josh buries his face in his hands, taking deep, shaky breaths to calm himself down. When he reveals his face again, his blue eyes are watery and red as if he was crying. The raw emotions in his intense eyes tugged at my heart, urging me to reach out to him, touch him, comfort him, anything but sit back and stare in shock.

Ignoring the throbbing of my heart, I slowly stand up from my seat and walk around the kitchen island to stand in front of Josh, who's watching me intensely. Without saying a word, I throw my arms around his neck, rubbing his back soothingly with my hands. His body was still rigid, probably taken aback by my actions, but I didn't care.

I tighten my grip around him, feeling his hard body slowly relax and calm down before his strong arms embrace me tightly, pulling me close to him.

"Even after what I told Penny, she didn't stop loving him, and I couldn't understand why. If someone you trusted more than anything breaks your heart or hurts you in any way, why would you still care and hold feelings for that person?"

Josh slightly pulls away but keeps his arms around me, his hooded blue eyes swirling with a strong emotion that made my brain stutter. "I realize that now," He breathes, his voice husky.

My heartbeat does the tango at his words, my breath caught in my throat when I register what he means.

I clear my throat and take a step back before turning around to walk back to my seat, but warm fingers wrap around my wrist, the sparks flying at his touch. I turn around and meet his pleading eyes that bore right into me, silently asking me to sit in this close proximity. I hesitantly nod and settle down on the stool next to him, and he sits down as well.

"They still had feelings for each other but obeyed what I told them, and I felt like shit."

I think of my next few words carefully. "You took their happiness away from them just because Mason brought you pain. You acted on revenge, Josh."