Page 97 of Caught Up

She took a step toward the door, snatching her purse from the floor and clutching it to her chest like a shield. “You just told me you did.”

I dragged in a breath, cursing myself for potentially ruining the only good thing in my life. “I know, and I’m sorry. I was angry that you thought I could have done something like that.”

She took another step, bending to scoop up her taser, immediately flicking it back on. “How do I know that’s the truth? How do I know you’re not just lying to me again to get me to drop my guard?”

I held my hands up to show I was unarmed and retreated even farther. “Because I’m about to let you walk out of that door without trying to stop you.”

She brandished the taser at me. “Don’t try to follow me.”

“I won’t,” I told her. “I know you don’t want to trust me right now, and I don’t blame you for that, Lo, but I would never hurt you.Never.”

She pointed to her neck. “Youjusthurt me. You’re hurting me even more, right now.” She dashed the tears away from her cheeks, but they continued to fall.

Fuck, she was right. “Lo, I need you to keep what you learned today to yourself. My father might do worse if he finds out you know what we do for Lorenzo.”

The blood drained from her face, turning her tan skin ashen as she reached for the door.

Panic swirled in my gut. She was leaving, and after how I’d handled this situation, she’d probably never want to see me again. “I’m sorry, Lauren,” I repeated. “Just...” I raked my hands through my hair, fighting back the urge to grab her, trap her here until she agreed to hear me out. But I’d already done one unforgivable thing today, and I didn’t know if she and I could survive another.

“Don’t,” she interrupted, gripping the doorknob. “I don’t want to hear anything else you have to say.Ever.”

“Lauren, please. Give me another chance.”

She laughed, an ugly, humorless sound. “I’ve already given you more chances than you deserve. I’m not letting the man who killed my father feed me any more lies.”

With a tug, she had the door open.

And then she walked out of my life.

30

Lauren

Ilay curled in mybed, curtains drawn, a cold towel over my eyes to reduce the swelling. Three days had passed since I’d confronted Nic, and I’d spent most of that time locked in my room, crying. Everything hurt. Not just my heart, but my throat from where he’d grabbed me, and my shoulders and back from getting slammed against the wall. Add to it the pain of betrayal, and I couldn’t gather the strength to get out of bed for anything besides going to the bathroom and showering.

My roommates had brought me food, but most of it remained untouched, carried away by them later. They’d been hovering, concerned, because they’d seen the marks on my neck and thought I’d been mugged or something. I couldn’t bring myself to tell them the truth, that I’d trusted the wrong man,again, and this time, he’d done the impossible: hurt me even worse than he had when we were kids.

I’d also kept my mouth shut because I didn’t want to endanger Ryan and Taylor. The one thing Nic had said that I wholeheartedly believed was that if word got out that I knew about his family, I might be the next one to go missing. So I held it all inside and suffered in silence. And, yes, I was scaring my roommates, but I’d rather have them scared than dead.

I rolled over, curling into Walter, who’d been glued to my side this whole time. He let out a low whine and wriggled closer, and I threw my arm over him and burrowed my face against his neck.

How had I not seen this coming? My instincts had tried to warn me, tried to get me to break things off with Nic every time he let me down, but I’d ignored them, because whenever I got around the man, my brain abandoned ship, and my hormones took over the helm.

I felt like a fool now. Nic had killed my father. Or, at the very least, had something to do with his disappearance. Hid his body, maybe. Cleaned up the scene where he was murdered. I’d imagined countless scenarios over the past several days, couldn’t stop picturing all the horrible, gruesome things Nic might have done. And, no, I didn’tlikemy father, had barely spoken to him over the past decade, but that didn’t mean I wanted the man dead. That I’d be okay with my...whatever Nic was, having something to do with it.

He’d been lying to me, thewhole time. Hiding so much. And I’d just blindly walked right into his clutches like the horny little idiot I was. I’d gone against all my better judgment and given him a second chance, and then a third. I’d begged him not to betray me, and he’d promised he wouldn’t. I’d started to trust him, started to feel hope that there might be somethingmorebetween us, that maybe I wasn’t as unlucky in love as I’d always believed.

I’d handed him my battered, bruised heart and told him to be careful with it, and instead, he’d crushed it in his fist.

God, he must have thought I was so stupid, so gullible, soeasy. Had he been secretly laughing at me? Toying with me? Having the time of his life while he strung me along?

I squeezed my eyes shut and rolled onto my back, trying to turn my mind off, trying to force it out of the constant loop ofself-doubtand recrimination it had been stuck in, trying to forget the fury in Nic’s face when he screamed at me that he’d done it, that he’d killed my father and then fucked me just to spite him.

As much as that image was burned into my brain, the one that followed was equally unforgettable. The way Nic’s expression had crumpled, shoulders slumping, regret replacing rage. I couldn’t stop replaying it in my mind. It was the one thing tripping me up. Because if he’d really done everything I’d accused him of, if he was really as big of a bastard as I feared, then why had he looked so distraught?

A noise came from downstairs. It sounded like the front door closing.

Walter bounded from the bed to go check it out. No doubt it was Taylor coming home from Jackson’s, or Ryan getting back after meeting with Ben.

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