Chapter Sixteen #2
My feet pounded down the hall, Riley just behind me. I skidded to a halt just outside the dining room. Most of the family still sat at the table, finishing their coffee.
The newlyweds were missing, but Jacob, Abigail, Charlie, and Lucas added to our usual crowd. Aiden caught sight of me and rose to his feet, his eyes moving between me and Riley.
Another piece of the puzzle fell into place, and nausea punched me in my stomach.
My eyes on Aiden, I whispered, “You knew. You did this, didn't you?"
"Annalise, come sit down," Aiden said in a commanding tone I was sure worked like a charm in the office. It didn't work on me. Not now.
My vision blurred with tears, I looked at Aiden and said, “How could you do this to me?" Riley's hand closed over my wrist as he tried to turn me to face him. I yanked it away shouting, "Don't touch me. Don't fucking touch me."
I stepped backward, almost tripping over my flip-flops, and wiped at my eyes with the backs of my hands. It didn't do any good. I couldn't stop the flow of tears. I couldn't pull air into my lungs. My stomach rolled, my mouth watering with nausea.
Riley stood only a yard away, his weight balanced on the balls of his feet, ready to move toward me. If he touched me, I was going to lose it.
I looked between him and Aiden, understanding flooding my mind, my brain putting together the pieces of the story my heart didn't want to hear.
I dropped my hands to my sides, my fingers curling into fists, driving my nails into my palms hard enough to draw blood. Hard enough to regain control and stop my tears.
I met Riley's eyes, steeling myself against the pain I saw there and said, “You were working for Sinclair Security. Aiden asked them to put someone on me, and it was you."
My voice cracked, and I stared at the ceiling, fighting for control.
I would not let this break me.
He was a liar and a fraud, and I would not let him break me.
"Lise, it's not what you think. I swear I never meant for you—"
“Stop lying to me," I shrieked. "Just tell me the truth. Please."
My knees wobbled. I could feel myself losing it. I couldn't do this. I couldn't beg for the truth.
Not from Riley.
Not from Aiden.
Not from these men who'd sworn they loved me and lied to me instead.
A voice cut in, ice cold with fury. Jacob.
"Is this true, Aiden? Did you hire Riley to shadow Annalise when she started college?" Aiden was silent, and Jacob lost patience. His fist slammed into the top of the dining room table, sending silverware and china clattering. "Answer me. Did you? Did you do that to her?"
"He wasn't supposed to date her," Aiden said, his dark eyes hard when they landed on Riley. "He wasn't supposed to talk to her at all. He was just supposed to keep an eye on her. Make sure no one was bothering her."
Across the table, Charlie said, “Fucking hell, Aiden."
I had to leave. I had to get out of there. I wiped at my eyes again and unclenched my fists, dully seeing the blood that smeared my fingernails.
I wrenched the diamond ring off my left hand, scraping my knuckle. Each burst of pain barely penetrated the misery surrounding my heart. Riley reached for me, and I batted his hand away, hurling the ring at his face.
Out of reflex, he caught it before it hit him.
His eyes wide, he looked from the ring in his hand, smeared with blood, to my palms and fingernails. It had been years since I'd had to work that hard to keep from crying. My aunt and uncle’s funeral when I was seventeen. It hadn't worked then either.
"For eleven years," I said, voice shaking, "my life has been on pause. I left you to keep you safe. Because I loved you. So much. I loved you so much. And I was so afraid I'd get you killed, so I ran."
"Lise, please," Riley said. He took a step closer, and I backed up. Jacob was on his feet a second later snarling, “Don't fucking touch her."
I ignored them both. "I thought I was protecting you.
I thought the reason I couldn't move forward, the reason I was living half a life was because of him—the psycho who put you in the hospital, who won't stop sending me those fucking flowers.
All these years, I thought it was him, that he was the one who took my life away.
But then I came back, and you were here, and I realized—"
My voice cracked, and I swallowed hard. I had to finish it. I had to say this. "I realized that it wasn't him. It wasn't running that put my life on pause. It was being without you."
Riley made a choking sound, shifting as if to move, but Jacob blocked him. The words bled out of me in a hot rush.
“You were here, and I thought you hated me. And then you didn’t, and I thought maybe we could do this. Maybe we could beat him and have everything we always talked about. A life. You and me."
I couldn't do it. I couldn't hold it together. Tears came so fast and hard I was blind with them. "And now I know it was all a lie. I don't even know who you are. You're a stranger. You’re a stranger, and I'm a fool."
"Lise, no. I—"
That was all Riley got out before Jacob swung a fist into his jaw, sending him to the floor.
I squeezed my eyes shut, vaguely hearing Charlie in the background yelling at Aiden and Jacob murmur something I couldn't make out.
He slid his arm around my shoulder, pulling me close and pressing a gentle kiss to my temple as he said, “You're coming with me. "
I nodded into his shoulder and let him lead me out of the house.