Page 182 of When Hearts Remember

“You fucking shit!” I yell at him. “You knew I couldn’t swim. It was you who ran me off the road that day, wasn’t it?”

“Goddamn it, Lexy. You saw too much! You saw what happened at the hotel lounge—you saw Archambeau, one of their top enforcers. You saw what the guys were doing to the girls. You interrupted an initiation for The Association just because you saw your uncle joining their ranks. You recorded it. You think you would’ve gotten away?”

“They were assaulting them!” I scream, thinking back to my memories.

Taylor was assaulted. Violated. By none other than Uncle Ian, the man I’d looked up to all my life. The man I thought died tragically while I was in a coma.

The person no one in my family would mention every time I asked about him.

It all makes sense now.

Everyone knows. The father figure I had, my father’s brother, was a monster. Just like the people in this shady organization called The Association.

“Trey got orders to get rid of you. But he didn’t want to get his hands dirty. He would’ve turned me over to the cops if I didn’t follow his instructions. I had to get rid of you.”

“You bastard!”

Dayton crumbles, his eyes glistening. “I-I’m sorry, Lexy. Goddamn it, I’m so sorry. I really liked you. You were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and now you’re in love with the wrong person. But in the end, I couldn’t go through with it…I couldn’t kill you.”

Trey scoffs.

What?My attention bounces from the two men—one with a crazed gleam in his eyes, the other looking like he’s seconds from collapsing onto the floor from guilt.

“The useless idiot fished you out of the water. Couldn’t hack it.” Trey snarls in derision.

“You’rethe Good Samaritan?”What the fuck?That’s why he didn’t stick around for the ambulance. That’s why no one could find this mysterious savior.

“All because of one terrible choice I made in college. And now I’m stuck in this shit forever,” Dayton mutters, rocking on his feet.

A thought occurs to me. “Is this why you wormed your way back into my life? To see if I remembered anything? What were you going to do if I remembered it all? Kill me?”

Dayton doesn’t answer, but his silence is a response by itself.

Suddenly, Trey claps, the sound drawing our attention back to him. “Story time’s over. Chop chop.” He drags Ethan up and shoves him out the door, his gun still pointed at me. “No funny business, Anderson, or she dies.”

Ethan’s face pales, the dark blood still dripping from the gash on his temple. He staggers out, following Trey’s directions.

“Come on, Alexis. You too,” Trey commands.

A minute later, he has us crowded against the cold railing separating The Delfina and the icy depths of the Hudson River. The waves crash against the ship, the sounds harsh and violent, and a sudden wind kicks up.

Ethan shoves himself in front of me, still intent on protecting me with his life. I shiver and inhale his reassuring scent of leather and amber.

I can’t let our story end this way. But what can I do? Where are the damn cops?

“Aw. How sweet. Gallant to the very end.” Trey lets out a deranged laugh. “I’m sorry it had to end this way.”

He cocks his gun and points it at Ethan’s head.No!

“I-I have evidence! A hard drive!” The words burst out of me, adrenaline fueling my bravery.

Trey freezes, a hard glint in his eyes. “What?”

“I-If we die, the contents of that drive will be released into the world. If you let us live, I’ll burn the evidence.” My heart quakes inside my rib cage.

“I don’t believe you.”

Stiffening, I jut my chin out, my fingers grazing Ethan’s hands tied behind his back. He clutches me and squeezes, as if letting me know he’ll protect me. I squeeze him back, telling him this time I’ll protect him.

---