Page 48 of The Lies We Believe

“I’m sorry, that came out wrong.” River blinked glassy eyes at me as he waited for me to continue on bated breath. “Everything I said before was true.” My eyes fluttered closed, and I focused on the sensation of my skin on his, trying to ignore the intrusive thoughts every time I touched a fresh scab. I’d never admit to having them, but oh, how I wanted to fuck up those who hurt him. My phone buzzed in front of me, drawing my attention.

Just ask me so we can go home.

My brain froze from shock as I read and reread his message.Home?I wanted to jump up and wrap my arms around him as waves of joy and humility washed over me. It was amazing the impact four little letters could have on my mood, but they made me feel like I was soaring above the earth.

A beatific grin spread across my face. I felt more settled and solid in my skin than I had in hours. Days, even. It wasn’t an outright declaration that he felt the same way as I did, but it was a beginning. It was a start that I would hold close to my heart and nurture every day until he saw in his reflection what I saw every damned day.

Time seemed to pass in a blur as he answered every question I threw his way. I couldn’t escape the feeling he wasn’t being completely honest again. What he said was plausible, and most would have accepted it without question. But like a monster looming over the hill, every word he typed was laced with regret. The way his emotions were displayed so openly on his face waseverything I’d wanted for weeks, but now it felt like I’d threaded a noose around my neck.

Even though he didn’t say a word to me, I could hear every husky one in my mind, along with all the ones he left unspoken. He said he’d left because I’d hurt him and that rang true, but that wasn’t the only reason. My notebook was filled with details about what had happened to him, but it was what he said when I drew our conversation to an end that rocked me to my core.

There’s something I need to tell you.

“Okay. You know I’m here to listen. Always.”

He gave me a wan smile that somehow seemed to intensify his sombre mood.

Just don’t get angry with me.

“I won’t. I promise. Just please…” I ran my hand through my coarse hair for something to do. My fingers twitched with the need to haul him back into my arms and kiss him until he forgot every ounce of his pain.

She sent someone to collect me. To take me to her.

“As much as I don’t want to think about it, that makes sense. She knows she’s under the spotlight. It wouldn’t make sense for her to?—”

Please just stop and listen.

“I’m sorry.” I shrugged as a wave of trepidation rolled though me and coiled in my gut.

It was a cop.

“Are you serious?” My stomach dropped through my feet. I jumped up, sending my chair flying backward and started pacing. Out of everything he could have said, I wasn’t expecting that. “Do you know who it was?”

He nodded and cast his eyes back down to his phone.

Davis.

Shit, shit, fucking, shit. “I hate to ask this, but are you sure?” I waited with bated breath, praying for an answer a part of me knew would never come. River had no reason to lie to me.

Yes. He came to the house with that other guy who did the security system. I recognized his voice from before. I didn't know his name until you introduced us.

Tears carved a path down his beautifully destroyed face as he looked up at me through eyes that were filled with shadows and fear. I sat on the edge of the bed, took his phone from him, and wrapped my hands around his.

“I know that can’t have been easy for you to say.” He shook his head, making salty tears fly, stained with his pain and fear. I leaned into him so my lips brushed his ear. “Thank you for trusting me, angel.”

River sucked in a stuttering breath. “Y-you believe… me?” Wonder coated his voice that I was only able to hear thanks to my proximity. My heart bled through its cracks for all he’d suffered and his honest confusion that I wouldn’t question something he said. He’d been led to believe his voice waspowerless. Inconsequential. But I would listen and hear him. I would believe him. Always.

There were layers to River, ones he tried to keep hidden. The more I thought about it, the more I knew he needed Joelle’s help. As much as I hated to admit it, River wasn’t just running from me; he was running from himself. Years of experience had taught me you couldn’t outrun the darkness inside your mind. It was relentless, waiting patiently for the smallest crack to slip through before it sunk its claws into you, leaving you unable to escape.

Right now, I was River’s only anchor, but I didn’t believe I was strong enough to keep him here on my own. I could protect his body, but his mind? That was beyond me. I hadn’t told him yet that I’d been back home, and seen the message he’d scrawled on the mirror like we used to when we were younger and shared hidden secrets. In a world where we had nothing, those secrets became everything.

I’d burst into his room, ready to tear into him, to lay my heart bare—and found his bed empty, half his clothes gone, and Shadow sulking in his crate in the kitchen. I’d checked the CCTV and, after finding no sign of him leaving, punched a hole clean through the drywall. Not my finest moment, but the thought of losing him, of not getting the chance to set things right between us, had left me untethered.

Montoya walked through the door, injecting some much-needed oxygen into the room. “Sorry it took so long, but when I got downstairs and smelled the burned crap they call coffee, I knew I couldn’t subject any of us to that. So, I went for a walk and found this adorable little place a couple of blocks away.”

“Amazing,” I grumbled and huffed a breath. “River’s brought something to my attention that we can’t ignore. I’m just not sure how Bower will take it.”

Montoya glanced between me and River, curiosity burning in her eyes. “What?”

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