Page 46 of Billionaire Undeceived - Devon

I knew it was false courage…but it was something.

I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to look at the faces of the people who meant the most to me in this town and explain to them why I’d been lying to them since the moment I’d set foot in Crystal Fork.

“It looks like the gang is all here,” Anna commented as she surveyed all of the vehicles in front of Millie’s house. “I hope you don’t mind, Reese, but Lauren is here, too.”

I turned and sent her a weak smile. “She’s family. She deserves to know.”

Anna hopped out of the back seat as soon as the vehicle stopped and headed toward the house, but Hannah put a gentle hand on my arm before I could exit.

“Wait, Reese,” she entreated, not making a single move to get out of her car. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I want you to know that I’ll never stop being your friend. I know you. If you were hiding who you really are, there’s a reason for it.”

“There is,” I told her as tears filled my eyes. “But that doesn’t change the fact that I’ve been lying to everyone.”

“And it’s been eating you alive,” Hannah commented. “I suspected something wasn’t right, but I didn’t want to invade your privacy. I knew you’d tell me when you were ready.”

I swiped a tear from my cheek. “You’ll probably never know how hard it’s been not to share everything with the people I care about here.”

“Just tell me one thing,” she requested. “Was your life in danger?”

I nodded slowly.

“Then I really don’t give a shit if you told me a thousand lies, Reese,” she said adamantly. “Your safety comes first.”

“I really do have a business degree,” I blurted out. “I minored in business in college. I just don’t have the experience in business that’s on my resume.”

“You’ve saved my ass many times at Glam Anywhere. Do you really think I care about that piece of paper or your experience,” Hannah scolded. “You’ve help me a lot, Reese. Now let me help you. Let’s get the truth out, and then you’ll tell me how I can help.Shesh!No wonder you were an expert on pregnancy. I not only had a talented, creative manager, but a healthcare expert at my disposal. You’ve helped me a lot during this pregnancy.”

I shrugged. “It’s what I do.”

“This isn’t going to be an inquisition, Reese. I want you to know that. We just want to know how we can help. Let’s go before you make this out to be worse than it really is.”

As soon as we exited the vehicle, Hannah came to me and put her arms around me in a very reassuring, caring hug.

I hugged her back, closing my eyes as I savored the warmth of her friendship.

I felt so damn lucky to have a friend like Hannah in my life.

No questions asked about my situation, she trusted me, even though I’d given her no reason to do so.

When we entered the house, everyone was already seated around Millie’s large dining room table that she rarely used unless she had company.

My gaze locked with Devon’s almost immediately, but his expression was guarded, so I couldn’t read a single thing he was thinking at the moment.

Hannah plopped into a chair next to Tanner, and I took the only seat left between Millie and Devon.

Ralph, who was sitting directly across from me commented, “The first thing I’m going to request is that none of the information shared here goes outside of this group. I’ve already contacted Tim and told him that Reese’s life depends on him not sharing the information he got today. He’s grateful to Reese, and he promised they’d never say a word.”

I relaxed a little as I realized that Ralph was going to direct and lead the conversation so I didn’t have to do it.

He continued. “I’m going to tell you the situation, but I’m going to leave it up to Reese about how much she wants to share about her personal life with all of you. The two of us met in Spokane a year ago. I was the lead detective on the murder of her business partner and her own attempted murder. The perpetrator was a disgruntled patient who had lost his wife and child during a delivery. Reese was a labor and delivery nurse at the time, and her partner, an OB physician, was the delivering doctor. It was a tragedy, but they did everything they could do to save those lives during that delivery. The perp lost his mind over a year later, entered the medical office they were working in, and shot both Reese and the physician. Reese’s partner and friend didn’t survive the shooting. Apparently, when the disgruntled husband found out that Reese was still alive, he came to the hospital and tried to make sure she died. Luckily, she had around-the-clock protection in the hospital, and the man fled and hasn’t been seen since. Once she recovered, she needed to be protected and hidden until he was apprehended, but US Marshall’s are still searching for him. I’d already taken this job in Crystal Fork, so I suggested to a friend at the US Marshall’s office that this town would be a good place for her to lay low for a while. She’s not officially in the WITSEC program, but it wasn’t difficult to get her a new identity. We never imagined it would take us this long to find this asshole.”

“Has he made contact with her since he tried to kill her at the hospital?” Kaleb asked gruffly.

“He’s attempted to contact her several times via her old identity. We monitor all of her old digital information, and this asshole wants her dead. She needs to stay hidden. If he finds out her new identity, he’d kill her in a heartbeat. He’s out of his mind. We’ve gotten close to apprehending him, but he gets tipped off somehow and leaves right before we get to his location.”

“How badly was she injured?” Hannah asked in a tearful tone.

Ralph looked at me and I nodded. I had no hesitation about answering any of the questions people wanted to ask.

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