Page 141 of Tangled In Lies

With Ben behind bars, I thought things would just be easy sailing from here on out, but I’ve quickly learned in thelast two weeks you can’t just undo years of fear and paranoia at the drop of a hat. It’ll take some time for all of us to truly believe the threat is gone.

At least they’re letting me go inside by myself. Baby steps.

“Fine, I’ll keep you updated.” I climb out of the car and blow him another kiss.

The moment I shut the door in his grumpy face, the door to the café flies open.

Ruby almost tackles me to the ground. “Evie, fucking finally.”

I laugh and squeeze her tight. But something, or rather, someone, is missing, and I look around. “Where’s Mase?”

She groans. “He’s sick.”

“What?”

“Yeah. He just texted. He left this morning to go shopping and to the gym and was supposed to meet us here after. Apparently, he puked, so he said he’s heading home but to give you a hug.”

“Well, that sucks.”

Ruby keeps her limbs wrapped around me and pulls me toward the door. “It does, but I’m here, and I want to know everything.”

Although my chest aches because Mason isn’t here, I can’t stop the happy smile over seeing Ruby.

Once we’re inside and in our favorite corner booth, Ruby starts talking so fast, I laugh and wave my hands around to make her stop.

“Slow down. I didn’t understand a single word you just said.”

Tyler’s arrival distracts me as he crosses the café andputs two drinks on the table.

He leans down and gives me a side hug. “Hey, stranger. Good to see your face. Ruby was worried Phoenix and you might have killed each other after all.”

“Nope. No killing anyone.” I shake my head.

He grins at me. “I had to promise Ruby to help kidnap you if needed.”

Ruby groans. “Oh, come on. I wasn’t the only one who was a little worried when she suddenly canceled our coffee date, our first real chance of properly seeing her after the explosion. It was a tiny bit suspicious.”

I lift my finger to interject, but she waves me off to continue.

“No, seeing you at your engagement party doesn’t count because we only got to see you for like two minutes, with Phoenix and Holden sending us murderous glances the entire time. And then boom, he’s dragging you on his private jet to take you to some faraway island. And all we got was a ‘Don’t worry about me. I’ll call you when I’m back’ message. Not cool. That sounded like something he would send us in your name if he decided to finish the job and throw your body out of the airplane somewhere.”

She delivers the last line with a glare, and the intended guilt swirls in my stomach. I lift my hands in surrender, not even mentioning the daily pictures I’ve been sending. “You’re right, you’re right. I’m sorry. A lot happened, and I know I haven’t been around much.”

“Fine, you’re forgiven.” She leans forward with an eager smile. “But only if you tell us everything.”

My smile slips a little, and I grab my drink to cover it up. I’ve talked to Phoenix about this exact scenario and havedecided to keep my friends on a need-to-know basis regarding Freddy and my sister. I hate keeping them in the dark, but it’s better this way.

Before I can say another word, the bell rings, and we all glance at the group of older people that walks through the door.

Tyler groans. “Figures.”

Ruby waves him off. “Don’t worry. I’ll tell you all the gory details later.”

They share a meaningful look, and he takes off with a sigh.

I tell her what we decided is safe information. Most of it is public knowledge now anyway after Ben’s arrest, and the witnesses who have come forward to confirm his hatred for us and the scheming against our families. I keep things vague about what happened with Phoenix and me since so much would be tangled in lies and connected to Freddy. I don’t want to lie to my friends, but it’s too much baggage, and I don’t need more people I love to have to shoulder it.

Ruby leans back and sips her drink. “So you basically just hung out at the house together? Both here and on the island?”

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