Page 81 of Perfect

I blew out a breath. “Yes. I’m sorry.Reallysorry.”

He remained silent for a while before replying partly to himself. “So am I.”

“Why did he come here?”

Connor dashed a hand across his jaw.

“He was looking for my mother,” he paused momentarily and I saw a flash of annoyance cross his face at what was obviously an unsavoury thought. “Thank fuck she was out with Mike. Fuck knows how he found us again. He probably followed her from Gran’s.”

As I digested his words, a strange thought occurred to me, my hand flying to my mouth as realisation kicked in.

Connor’s eyes followed the movement. “What’s wrong?”

Panic chewed into me as I recalled the strange telephone call with ‘the bank’.

Tom had said in the car that Carter had made a fake call to their house in the past to find out their address. The memory of pulling the letter towards me and giving the address out over the phone jumped to the forefront of my mind.

I suddenly felt sick.

Connor sat forward with another grunt, obviously concerned by my now stricken face.

“Harlow?What is it?”

There was no way around it, Ihadto tell him. He would hate me. I could feel it.

I had led his father to the farm!

Regret bounced off me in waves and I couldn’t control my reaction.

I had to come clean, the knowledge was like a huge burden sitting on my shoulders. I took a deep breath.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry Connor. It was me! It must have been me. I gave him the address of the farm,” I reeled, my hand now clutching at my tender throat in desperation.

I shot to my feet. “I didn’t know it was him of course, but I remember his voice from the call.”

Connor’s expression shifted and his eyes bore into mine, the confusion on his face twisting his features. “What are you talking about?”

“I took a call on the phone from a guy saying he was from the bank. It must have been him—he asked for me to confirm the address and, I gave it to him,” the words literally spewed from my mouth in one big whoosh.

Blatantly frustrated, Connor dragged a hand through his hair, shaking his head. “Are you sure?”

Moisture appeared at the corner of my eyes, I felt like such a failure. I had let them down, both Connorandhis mother. Now they would hate me.

I assessed the damage to his face as he went silent, obviously trying to process the full extent of what I had confessed.

Suddenly he straightened and then drooped back against the pillows, the discomfort he felt by sitting up was written across his face.

“Motherfucker,” Connor released with a sigh and my heart dipped. He was right, I was. I let the numbness wash over me. I knew he meant Carter but I decided I should take that particular label. It still probably wasn’t a strong enough thing to call me anyway.

We sat there in silence and I toyed with the idea of leaving to tell Rachel but his words stopped me.

Connor was watching me again.

“It’s not your fault Harlow, you weren’t to know.”

I shook my head, totally in disagreement. I had been so stupid. “No, you’re right. Call me any name you want and I’ll accept that. I let you down.”

Connor’s eyes shot to mine. “Not you, never you.He’sthe motherfucker Harlow. The bastard has done that before. You should have been warned instead of all the cloak-and-dagger shit. Then you would have been more prepared.”

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