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

Chapter XLV

He glares at me. "You don't think I know that? Mason knew about my lie, but he did nothing about it! He promised me he'd fight for my sister and love her and other poetic bullshit, but he didn't do anything. He didn't do much about Malvada either even though he knew to what extent the harm that bitch could do."

"The day I told Penny the lie, she wanted Mason to come over, but he refused." Josh exhales loudly. "He didn't even want to try to prove himself wrong! I drove to his house right then to beat his fucking ass, but I didn't realize I was leaving Penny alone in the house with Malvada."

My heart sinks to my stomach, and I feel like crying, knowing exactly where he was going with this.

He starts taking shallow breaths as if he would burst into tears any second. "We both had a feeling something was wrong, but Mason refused to let me go and said an angel made of stone couldn't do shit, but I knew better, so I stormed out of there and drove home. But when I got there, fuck, I was too late, Rose. Malvada was choking her to death."

A tear fell from his eyes, then another, and then another. The pain in my chest intensified, a pit forming in my stomach. Josh was visibly shaking, his breathing ragged, his jaw hard, his nails digging into his palms. Feeling speechless, I knew what I had to do.

I immediately stand up and wrap my arms around Josh once again, but this time he doesn't reciprocate. He was silently sobbing in my shoulder, his impassive facade breaking apart in front of me; this is the first time I'm seeing the real Josh, and my heart deeply aches for him.

He gently pushes me away, roughly wiping the fresh tears that trailed down his cheeks with the back of his hands. He throws his high walls back up, the expression in his eyes unreadable.

"I'm sorry. This never happens." He mutters, trying his hardest to avoid making eye contact.

"It's okay to not be strong sometimes,"

Josh ignores me and sucks in a breath. "I broke that piece of shit to pieces with a sledgehammer. Penny was coughing up blood and was bruised, so I rushed her to the hospital and called Mason to get there, but that asshole thought I was lying."

"Did he show up?"

Josh narrows his eyes into slits. "Yeah. The asshole showed up seconds after we got the news that Penny was no more." The break in his voice slices through me, and a tear slips out of my eyes, but I quickly wipe it away before Josh notices.

Josh continues, "My parents were on their way, and Gabby and Ethan came as fast as they could, but everyone was too late. The doctors said she had a heart attack, but I knew otherwise. My parents didn't believe me, and Gabby and Ethan didn't want to pick sides, but I didn't give a fuck about that. When I saw Mason walking towards us, something dark came over me, and I found myself walking towards him to kill him."

Oh my god.

The image of an enraged Josh stomping towards a confused Mason comes to my mind, and what happens next isn't at all pretty.

Josh blinks back the tears, remembering the night at the hospital, "He looked worried and confused, but I knew it was a facade. He wouldn't give two fucks about this. The second he asked me, 'How's Penny?' I lunged at him once. Then again. And again. He didn't hit back or resist. I kept punching him until he was bruised and bleeding, and until Gabby, Ethan, and some nurses interfered."

I hold my breath, not wanting to visualize the scene in my head. Josh was consumed by hurt, pain, and anger, which encouraged him to beat the living hell out of Mason. He didn't even want to think of how Mason felt.

"He said he was sorry, Rose. I could hear the apology in Mason's voice, but I just- I refused to believe it. And then I called him a murderer," Josh whispered in a way as if he didn't want me to hear, but I did, loud and clear.

I connected the dots and figured that their relationship must've taken a wild turn from the night at the hospital.

Josh downs his glass of water, his lips curled into a frown. "I called Mason horrible names and said disgusting things to him until he dropped the sympathy act and punched me." Josh unconsciously rubs his jaw as if that's where Mason punched him. "He called me a disgusting deadbeat of a brother and friend, and I knew deep in my heart it was true, but I wanted to show him his fucking place, so I forbid him from coming to Penny's funeral."

I couldn't imagine how Mason felt knowing he couldn't go to the funeral of the girl he loved so much.

"I wanted Mason to pay so bad because it was his fucking fault my sister died. He bought Malvada into our home. He made my sister's life a living hell. He ignored Penny and fucking killed her!"

"Josh-"

He ignores me. "In a way, I'm also responsible. I shouldn't have left her alone that day. I shouldn't have been so controlling. Fuck!" Josh hits the kitchen island countertop with his fists, making me flinch again.

I stare at him wide-eyed, biting my lower lip, unsure how to help him and calm him down.

His blue eyes were dark, almost black and filled with fury.

"Mason still wouldn't believe me. It was Malvada who killed Penny. So, he challenged me, telling me he'll prove me wrong by taking Malvada to his house. I accepted his stupid challenge, warning him he better not be so ignorant and let someone die."

"Uncle Jay," I whisper.

Josh nods, his face hard, eyes throwing daggers. "I fucking warned him. I got my revenge, but it didn't make me feel like the greatest fucking man on Earth. All I knew was that I could never forgive him. I just couldn't."

I couldn't believe it; I was shaken to my core by his story.

Mason told me that after his uncle died, he tried to sell Malvada, and I bet ever since then, the tension between Mason and Josh escalated. Anytime they were near each other, they either got into a huge fight and dragged Gabby and Ethan into it or just pretended like the other didn't exist.

Josh looks at me in such a way that my emotions are jagged, and my insides tighten. His emotional pain seeps out of him through words, "Now you know everything, Rose. You know what a selfish monster I am. You know that I would hurt anyone to get what I want, and I know that I've done nothing but hurt you, Rose, and I'm sorry-"

I interrupt him by standing up and throwing my arms around Josh's neck for the third time today, hugging him close to me. He's taken off guard by my sudden move, especially after everything he's told me, but I just tighten my arms around him, listening to the sound of our hearts pounding heavily against each other.

His words hurt too much; I knew what was troubling him, and I wanted to take that away. I wanted to take his pain away from him.