Page 66 of My Secret to Protect

‘Tell me.’

‘I know it was you,’ he shouts, but it’s not anger I hear. It’s hurt. ‘I know it was you who called the cops that morning. I knew you didn’t want me to do it. I knew what becoming a cop meant to you, but I never thought you would betray me that way.’

I suck in a shaky breath and stare, absorbing his words and the expression on his face.

‘You think I…hooo.’ Exhaling loudly, I press my palm against my stomach and step back against the wall. ‘You think I called the cops?’That’swhy he pushed me away?

‘Bree, I know it was you. You were the only one who knew.’

‘The only one, really? Nobody else knew the plan? Not one other person knew?’

‘Stop, just stop.’

Taking a few deep breaths, I stand from the wall and turn away from him.

‘Unlock the door, please.’ My voice is flat, steady as hurt crushes everything inside of me, and I just need to get away from him.

‘You can’t leave. I can’t keep you safe if you’re not here.’

‘Unlock the damn door, Arlo. I can’t look at you for another minute.’

‘The truth is out, short stuff, deal with it, but you can’t leave.’

I laugh now. Nothing is amusing, but it bursts out of me in place of heartbroken sobs. Laughter laced with rage.

‘The truth? Are you fuckin’ serious?’ I take a step toward him, but he stands still, huge hands still pressed to the marble. ‘Let me lay out the truth for you, honey, since you seem to be confused. Ididn’tcall the cops,’ he flinches but doesn’t say anything, ‘I wouldneverhave done that to you because I thought you were my soulmate. I truly believed that as long as I had you, I didn’t need anything or anyone else. I didn’t need to become a cop. I didn’t need my family or this town becauseyouwere my home. Whereyouwere, that’s where I wanted to be.’

He raises his head just to glare at me, but his expression is expectant. He wants more—needs it, I guess.

‘I spent years of my life wondering what I did wrong for you to cut me out of your life the way that you did, and now I know. I know that I wasted my time and energy on a man who didn’t even know me at all. Itwasn’tme, Arlo, but the fact you thought I was capable of that tells me we didn’t have what I thought we had.’

Turning, I leave the kitchen and head for the stairs, resigned to the fact that he isn’t going to unlock the door but unable to stand another minute in his company.

‘You were there,’ he calls out, causing me to stop, one hand on the banister as I feel him enter the room and turn to face him standing in the doorway. He looks broken, as broken as I feel, but I don’t have anything left to give him. ‘You were there, watching. I saw you.’

‘I know you did.’

‘Why were you there if it wasn’t to make sure they got me?’

A sob bursts out of me now, and I shake my head before starting to walk up the stairs, answering as I go.

‘Because I was coming with you.’

You Deserve Your Happy Ending Too, Sweetheart

Bree

Pressingmybackagainstthe bedroom door, I gasp for breath. I can’t believe after twenty years of wondering, I finally know why, but I still don’t understand.

What we had back then was perfect. It was beautiful, and yet when it came down to it, he believed me capable of betraying him. It hurts, and it taints the memories of us.

A little more aggressively than intended, I swipe my hands at my cheeks to get rid of the tears there, then head over to the bed, grabbing my phone from the nightstand and scrolling to the number of the only person I can talk to about this.

‘Bree,’ she answers softly, ‘are you okay?’

‘Did you know?’ I ask without context, and she waits, knowing it’ll come. ‘Did you know that he thought it was me who got him arrested?’

I hear her exhale, followed by a slow inhale.

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