Page 45 of Lie to Me

“Is this okay?” I whisper against her hair, and she gives me the slightest nod between sobs.

I wish there was a way I could take her pain away. I wish there was some way of rewriting the past. That’s the thing, though. There’s no way for me to change a thing. There is no way to erase the lies that were once told. The only thing I can do is hold on tight and hope like hell that Sloane will give me another chance to show her just how much she means to me.

“How did you know?” I murmur as her cries quieten down.

“Finn,” she whispers, and I tense beneath her. How the hell did Finn know? Was he there and I just hadn’t seen him?

“He wasn’t there,” she says, as though she can read my mind. “My father must have seen how upset I was once I got home from your place, and he bragged to my brother about how he was responsible for it. He never told him what he did to make you break up with me, but Finn was still worried about my safety, so he persuaded our dad to send me to live with our aunt.”

“So when did you leave?” I ask. That was the worst part about it all. I never saw her again after that night. It was as though she just vanished, and it wasn’t as though I could just go ahead and ask anyone.

“The next day. I had no reason to stay here other than Finn, and he was getting more and more involved with the business at my father’s demand. So he begged me to just leave without putting up a fight, so that he knew I was okay.”

I nod along as she speaks. I always knew Finn loved his sister something fierce, but to send his twin sister away just so she could be safe, even though he knew he wouldn’t be able to seeher regularly for years, has a new level of respect forming for him.

“It really wasn’t a lie?” she asks.

I shake my head slowly. “No, Sloane. They were the truest words I’ve ever spoken,” I say softly and she whimpers in response, her fingers digging into the fabric of my shirt as she clings to me.

Suddenly, she tenses, like a switch has been flipped. She shifts backwards so she’s no longer sitting on my lap and scoots herself until she’s sitting in the corner of the couch while still facing me.

“Nothing changes between us.” Her voice is cold, but there’s a tremor that she can't hide, as though she’s trying her hardest to stay strong even though the words she spoke hurt.

“Why, baby? I just want a chance to prove to you how good we could be together again.”

“I know, Marco. I believe you,” she says softly. “But it’s not you that’s the problem, it’s me.”

“What does that mean?”

“I’m not good enough for you. Things happened after I left and it’s not something you could ever forgive me for. I wouldn’t blame you for that, Marco.”

What the hell could she have done that I’d never be able to forgive her for? She could cut off one of my limbs and I’d probably politely thank her.

“It doesn’t matter. Whatever happened or whatever you did, it doesn’t matter. It’s okay, Sloane.”

She shoots to her feet, her eyes spitting fire at me as she paces in front of the sofa.

“No!” she snaps. “It’s not fucking okay, Marco. It willneverbe okay. You think you were the one who broke me?” she asks, letting out a maniacal laugh that could rival Enzo for unhinged.

“You may have been the one who blew my world apart, Marco. But you were not the one who broke me.”

She finally stops pacing, turning to look at me as I stare up at her. There’s something in the way she’s saying the words, like she’s trying to avoid admitting the truth while also trying to be honest.

“If I didn’t break you, then who did?”

Panic flashes across her face before she can mask it, followed by a look of gut-wrenching sadness.

“Our baby,” she whispers.

Chapter Twenty-One

Sloane

Past – October 2014

“Are you doing okay?” my aunt Jen murmurs as she takes a seat on the edge of the bed. I’ve been here for a week and I’ve barely left this room. I know she’s worried about me, but what else am I to do when I lost the love of my life and my home all in the matter of hours?

“I’m fine,” I say, forcing a smile onto my face. She gives me a look that says she knows I’m lying.

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