Page 65 of Even if You Fall

“I’ve never thought that,” I told her honestly. “I think he’s good at what he does, and he set his sights on you.”

Her head bobbed as her gaze fell to where she was once again clinging to my hoodie. “And I fell for it,” left her on a chastened breath.

“We haven’t found a woman who hasn’t fallen for it.”

At the dejected sound that left her, I almost told her that, from everything we’d gathered, she’d been different for Vance. I would’ve told her anything if it helped her understand she had nothing to be ashamed of. Thankfully, I managed to filter myself that time.

But just as I swallowed the information, she asked, “What can’t I know?” as if knowing where my thoughts had gone.

My head slanted in question even though I worried I already knew what she was asking.

“Yesterday,” she prompted. “The meeting I overheard part of. You were the one who said I would fall for Owen’s lies and into something more dangerous if I knew. So, what can’t I know?”

When I just stared at her, she asked, “You can ask questions, but I can’t?”

“There’s a reason you aren’t supposed to know.”

“If it has to do with me, I deserve to know,” she claimed, but the words were soft with exhaustion. Almost as if she already knew I wouldn’t answer. Probably because I didn’t want to.

But I agreed with her.

Just because I didn’t want her to know didn’t mean she didn’t deserve to.

“If Vance was standing in front of you right now, asking you to give him another chance, would you?” I asked instead.

“No,” she said, the word leaving her like just the thought sickened her.

My head bobbed for a while before I asked, “If you found out his marriage was a marriage on paper only, that he’d only mostly flirted with all those other women, and you were his only real relationship in the past year, would your answer change?”

Hazel eyes widened with surprise and something else I couldn’t quite catch before she gently shook her head. “No.”

“You don’t seem sure.”

“I am sure,” she maintained. “But this ishim. This is what he does. He says things that make you want to believe him.”

“But this is actually true,” I reluctantly told her.

Chloe’s head shook wildly as she swiped a hand through the air, waving off my words, before she briefly rested her head in her hand.

I didn’t ask if she was okay. I didn’t expect her to be during this conversation.

“It doesn’t change that hands as cold as death start gripping my spine whenever I see him,” she claimed as she slowly lifted her head, words dripping with honesty and disgust. “It doesn’t change that I am terrified of how easily he can convince me of anything. It doesn’t change that I hate myself for every part of my relationship with him, and for being so easily swayed.”

I studied the obvious self-loathing in her eyes for a moment before taking a step closer. “Understood,” I muttered, “but what I just told you is the least of it. So, tell me now if you don’t want me to continue.”

“I deserve to know,” she maintained fearlessly, and I hated that I would tear away that boldness if we continued.

With a hesitant nod, I said, “You heard us talk about the Wrecker family this morning...”

Outright dread replaced everything else as she faced me fully, silently waiting for me to continue.

“The principal of the school you taught at?” I went on, my voice lower than before. “Vance’s wife? She’s a Wrecker.”

Chloe’s head snapped back as shock and denial burst from her. But just as the tiniest whisper of relief started creeping into her features, I continued.

“Vance is from another mafia family outside of Texas. They got married to form an alliance between the two.”

“No,” she said on a delay, the word sounding like a question and as if it’d been a struggle for her to form.

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