Page 198 of Wicked Brutal

“I’m devastated.”

“You should be. It’s the closest you’ll ever get to interesting.”

Iz laughs once. No humor. “You know what’s interesting? That you spend your whole fucking life acting untouchable when anybody with the right last name can make you perform on command.”

Kaiden straightens. Penny’s head snaps toward Iz.

Bella doesn’t move. Not at first. Then her chin lifts. “Say that again.”

“You heard me.”

“No.” Her voice is terrifyingly calm. “Say it again, Isaac.”

He takes another step. “Why? Hit too close?”

“You really want to find out?”

“I’ve been waiting years for you to do something that wasn’t for an audience.”

Her palm cracks across his face. Hard enough to turn his head. Cat inhales. Nobody else moves. Iz stays like that for a second. Then slowly turns back. His cheek is red. Bella’s breathing harder now.

Iz smiles. Dark. Wrong. “Better?”

“I barely started.”

“Then stop fucking disappointing me.” She shoves him. He comes right back. “Hit me.”

“Don’t tell me what to do.”

Her fingers knot in the front of his shirt. Iz looks down at them. Then at her. “You always grab men you hate this much?”

“I’m deciding where to bury you.”

“Your backyard. Then you can keep watching me through the window.”

“I’d put you somewhere your family couldn’t find the body.” His smile disappears. Bella smiles. Her turn. “Maybe then your mother could finally stop spending her life fixing whatever the fuck is wrong with you.”

Penny says her name. “Bella.”

Bella doesn’t look at her. “You think playing everyone’s fucked-up little savior makes you good?”

“I’ve never claimed to be good.”

“You don’t have to.” She smiles. “You need everyone else to do it for you.” Iz goes very still. “You need people bleeding. Crying. Breaking. Because if everybody around you gets healthy, what the fuck are you for?” Something changes in his face. Bella smiles wider. “There he is.”

Iz’s voice drops. “At least people come to me because they trust me.”

“They come to you because you make yourself useful.“

Iz looks her over. “Pretty dress. Pretty face. Right family. Right parties. Right boys. You’ve turned yourself into exactly what everybody wants, and you’re still pissed nobody gives a fuck who’s underneath it.”

Bella’s face empties. Then she smiles. “You know what your problem is, Isaac? You think because people hand you their broken pieces, it means they love you.”

That one fucking lands. I see it in the slight tightening around Iz’s eyes. Bella does too.

She steps closer. “They don’t. They need you. And you’re so fucking terrified nobody would choose you otherwise that you’ve built your entire personality around making sure someone always does.”

Iz doesn’t say anything. For one beat. Two. Then his mouth curves. Mean. “You done projecting, Isabella?”