Lies (The Circle Welcomes You #2)

Chapter 1

ONE

Gigi

I have plans to kill my mother, and no one is getting in my way.

I’m teetering on the edge of breaking point, haywire emotions dangerously close to tipping the scales of my sanity. I refuse to bring forward anything other than unmistakable rage as I narrow my gaze on the doors of my family home.

I can’t think of anything. Nothing other than the fact every person who’s supposedly cared for me has lied. That’s all they do. They always fucking lie.

A single tear slips from the corner of my eye, burning my iris with white-hot pain from the wound that hasn’t fully healed since Richard’s brutal beating.

Richard.

My father.

The thought alone is absurd, but the signs were always there, so disgustingly obvious that I’m embarrassed by how blind and stupid I really was.

Taking me under his wing. The insistent subject changes whenever Jack was brought up in conversation. The near mirroring features Jack and I share with our mother but not our “dad.” I don’t know what to call him now.

Who is the stranger who’s been living in my home, posing as the family man who never shared an interest in either mine or my brother’s childhood?

I subconsciously rub the area of my heart as it pounds harder with thoughts of Jack. And to think Richard isn’t the only secret Harry kept …

Harry.

I shake my head, refusing to allow the thought of him in even momentarily.

Pushing open the front doors of the detached house, I whisper, “I’m home.”

I tread through the entry hall. Dark lights give way to tall shadows as I silently make my way upstairs.

The floorboards creak beneath my feet with my next step, and I freeze, awaiting the next moment, but no sound or presence follows.

I straighten, inhaling a deep breath before stopping outside my mother’s bedroom and pushing the ajar door open all the way.

Empty.

Fuck.

I curse and drop my head, but something to my immediate right causes me to hesitate. Jack’s room stands just a few short paces away. I look towards the sealed room as if I’ll be able to see straight through the door.

The answers I’ve been searching for all these years are ingrained in these very walls, but after my time with the Circle, I’m left only with endless questions.

How long did he know?

Did he never once consider telling me the truth?

What else was he keeping from me?

It isn’t long before I’m charging into his room. I drop to my knees beside his wardrobe, tearing through the array of belongings in search of something—anything. Fuck, just a sign.

Only once was I ever brave enough to step into this room. At the calling of a dark, mysterious stranger who sealed my fate and destined me for danger. Now I’m kneeling on the beige carpet ripping through the paperwork with fiery determination.

A singular footstep sounds behind me. I wrap my hands around the baseball bat propped up against the inside of Jack’s wardrobe and spin towards the door, my breath catching in the base of my throat.

Harry barely moves. Standing in the same fuck-off casual pose, with his legs slightly parted, hands pushed into his front trouser pockets, as if the world will simply stop and wait for him.

I fell for that only recently. Now, as I hold onto the bat with arms too shaky to be considered confident, I imagine smacking him around the head with it.

Past his striking exterior – the captive gaze, tousled black hair, and arms that once provided comfort – I just see a man. Someone who claims to love me, promises me the world, and yet still betrayed me. And after the descent I’ve suffered in recent months, perhaps I deserved it.

But that doesn’t mean it hurts any less.

I drag my eyes over the length of his body, locking gazes with the piercing green stare that strikes me through the moonlit room.

“You don’t want to do this.”

“Where is she?” I ask, but Harry turns his head away.

My heart thumps furiously, making it a struggle to keep my emotions at bay. I hesitate, giving in to what I really want to know. “Was it really worth all the lies?”

“Listen to me,” he pleads.

“You have no right to tell me what to do anymore.”

“Killing your family, Gigi!” He scoffs. “Are you insane?”

Family. The word grates on me.

“Possibly.” I shrug, repositioning my grip on the weapon if only to give myself the confidence not to drop it between us. “What?” I taunt, trying to evoke the authority that was once comforting, though everything just feels faulty now. “Are you offering to take her place?”

He chuckles low. “You couldn’t lay your hands on me even if you wanted to, sweetheart.”

Sweetheart.

That. Name.

The name both my parents call me.

The name used by my mother and Richard, a reality that still only seems plausible in the very depths of hell.

At the reminder of the evil spoiling my blood, I act on pure instinct.

Swinging the bat from my left hand to my right, I tighten my grasp and aim straight for Harry’s side.

But he responds just as fast. He catches the end of the bat in his strong hands, and the sudden jolt of the force sends a ripple through my body, screwing my thoughts momentarily.

Harry charges forwards, the length of the bat impaling my stomach as we slam into the wall behind us. The air whooshes out of me, and I barely have a second to catch my breath before he rips the bat from my hands and drops it to the ground.

He lays his palms on the wall behind me, his hands cushioning the sides of my head. “You don’t want to do this.”

Crying out in rage and frustration, I withdraw my head before launching it forwards and connecting with his temple. My skull screams with pain, but I was prepared for the attack, and he wasn’t. Harry stumbles back, hovering his hand near his head.

I retrieve the bat from the floor, toying with it between my fingers. “I don’t think I want anything more than this.”

He backs up a few paces. “Listen to me!”

“The last time I did that you lied.” The words tumble out of me. “Say it. Tell me the other secret you’ve kept for years. I want to hear you admit it now.”

Harry pulls himself to his feet slowly, subtly shaking his head, but I manage to catch the movement.

Tears cloud my vision, and I barely have control over my own actions as I lift the bat behind me.

Elbows bent, I charge the bat downwards with hard intent, straight for Harry’s skull.

Darting forwards, he catches it again, his hands shaking as he holds it a few short inches from himself.

Our eyes meet, and I witness the mix of emotion swarming him.

My posture weakens.

Yanking the bat away, he twists it parallel, pinning it to my neck as we tumble back against the wall again.

“Hate me,” he pants breathlessly. “Fight me.” Through the heavy expression drowning his face, I barely notice the distance that’s shortened between us.

“I’m the one who lied to you. Hate me enough that you want to kill me—if only to spare her life.

That’s what you want, right? For me to tell you I betrayed you?

” Tears swarm my vision so viciously I can barely see him through it.

“I. Betrayed. You. Gigi. And I’d do it again. ”

An outcry slips from my throat, and I shove at his chest. Harry stumbles backwards onto the floor, catching himself on his hands. I slide down the wall slowly, trying desperately to catch my breath.

His breath falters, chest heaving. I have no doubt the push barely weakened his stance, yet he looks utterly defeated on the bedroom floor, watching with a heavy expression through his dark eyes.

“How …?” I stop myself to catch my breath. “How long have you known?”

Harry blinks once, twice, before bowing his head. His eyes close as exhaustion seems to sweep over him.

I laugh weakly. This isn’t a recent discovery.

“You knew when you met me, didn’t you, Harry?” I press.

The only indication he heard is the tick in his jaw.

“You knew before we met at Greg’s house …”

The vein in his neck starts to jump.

“Just tell me the truth—”

“Yes.” He whips his head towards me. “I knew Richard was your father before you met me.”

“Say it.”

He finally meets my eye. “That night at Greg’s was not the first time I met you.”

I tear my face away, blinking back the traitorous tears that flood my vision.

Harry’s voice wavers. “I thought I was doing the best for you.”

“Tell me. Tell me what happened.”

“It’s not that easy, baby,” he all but whispers. “I’ll have to tell you everything. From the beginning.”

I nod, barely trusting my voice.

There’s no question about it. I need to know the truth.

With the moonlight streaming in through the window, I’m still swept up by his captivating eyes as he whispers, “But you might not look at me the same.”