Page 130 of The Liar's Reckoning

“Frankly I don’t care what you say about that video, but the one thing you will not say is that it was you. No matter what, Graham.”

“It can’t come out,” I tell him. Not that I don’t trust my ability to lie through my teeth, but Silas… I don’t know what I’ll do if I have to publicly deny being with him. It’s spitting in the face of everything we have, and itcannotcome to that. I’ll doanythingto keep it from coming to that.

If I can’t satisfy Gibson and Marianne’s demands, then it’ll be up to my father to make sure they back off and keep the video from circulating. He’s rich enough. Influential and powerful enough. And I can tell by the way he sounds that he’s motivated. I’m utterly at his mercy.

I can’t believe it’s come to this.

“I agree,” he says. “No video is the ideal scenario. And we’ll be very generous with Avery to make that happen, but if it doesn’t work, if it ever comes out, you’ll deny it. As for the doorman—you need to stay as far away from him as possible or I won’t be able to guarantee…” He trails off and gives me a weighted look.

My heart thuds—a fear response. Is he threatening Silas?

“Dad, I?—”

“Graham,” he snaps, no longer calm and calculating, but at the end of his patience. “Stay the hell away from him. They are still watching you. Don’t think for a single second they aren’t. Until the ink is signed on the divorce papers, you’re a target. If the two of you are seen entering the same door in the next year, you’re fucked. We all are. I don’t give a damn what you do once you’re out of the senate, but until that time comes, youwillnotbegay. And you can bet your ass thatIwill be watching, too.”

I sit up straight. It feels like my soul is dying. I picture it like athin, ephemeral film inside me, once shiny and iridescent, now blackening at the edges and curling in, necrosing. Eventually it’ll dry up into dust and there won’t be anything. Ashes blowing in the air.

I have no money. I’m as defenseless against what’s happening as a dog left out in the cold, at the mercy of anyone who’ll take me in. It could be a kind, understanding home who accepts me with all my mangy spots, or it could be a kill shelter. I have no choice but to step inside and make this deal if I want to make it through one more day.

“I understand,” I say.

My father narrows his eyes at me, like he’s trying to read my mind. “I think I’m beginning to understand what I’m asking of you, and I’m sorry, Graham. You’re not gonna go and do something stupid are you?”

“Like what?” I ask, my lips numb.

He doesn’t say but continues to stare hard at me. I let him look. I let myself wonder what he’s thinking because it’s easier than having to reckon with everything else.

“We’ll have the housekeepers get your room ready. You’ll move your things back in tomorrow. No later,” he says. “Do I need to send Holden with you to make sure you get back here?”

Oh, I get it. He knows I can’t run away so he thinks I’m gonna kill myself. I almost laugh. Because why not? I’ve committed one mortal sin. Why not another? My soul is already doomed to hell, pending confession, of course, and fuck that.

It’s really too bad I fear death the way I do. It seems like a decent option—Gibson pointed out Idohave options, and I’m probably worth more dead than alive.

It would save me and everyone else so much trouble.

I gulp at the thought because for the first time ever, it feels vaguely doable.

My fear of death somehow pales in comparison to the prospect of living my life without Silas. Of breaking his heart.

“No,” I somehow choke out. “I can do it myself.”

“Okay. You’ll spend the night in the guest room. After that, you have until tomorrow night to break things off. I’ll be checking in.”

“Yes, sir,” I whisper.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to be alone now.”

I rise on wobbly legs and leave the den. Holden is standing just outside the door, and he stares down at me, taller by three inches. “Want a drink?”

I shake my head, trying to pass him.

“Hold up.” He grabs my arm. “We need to talk about this.”

“Why?” I ask flatly, staring straight through him.

“Because if we’re gonna get you out of this mess, I need to know everything. Dad can only do so much, and after what happened with Theresa, he’s not gonna let me allow anything to happen to you.”

I blink at the sound of my sister’s name. I swear no one’s uttered it in this house in at least ten years.

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