Page 74 of Devil in Disguise

“What do you mean, Danny?” Haizley asked, her eyes narrowed, assessing.

Looking at the doctor, I offered a weak, bitter smile. “I told the bitch she used to be a barista in some coffee shop in Chicago before she up and disappeared, and I hadn’t seen her since. Went by the name Bethany Norwood. That’s all.”

Haizley stiffened as my words felt like my last act of self-destruction, a desperate attempt to minimize the horror of my betrayal, to somehow diminish the terrible weight of my failure. The truth, however, remained a crushing burden I would carry for the rest of my days.

“Dante,” Haizley spoke up, her voice low and controlled as she glared at me. “May I please have a moment alone with Danny?”

Dante huffed, throwing his arms in the air. “Why not! He’s not telling me anything. Maybe he will tell you!” With that, Dante stormed outside.

“A barista in Chicago?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“Bethany Norwood?”

Frowning, I looked at the woman, wondering where she was going with this. “Yeah.”

“Amber is Dante’s sister!” the woman yelled, and I gulped.

Oh shit!

“How?” I sputtered, my eyes wide as the woman paced the living room. The tremor in my voice wasn’t just from shock; it was the tremor of a man wrestling with a decade of carefully constructed lies.

“He fucking knew,” she began, her words a slow drip of poison. “I told him she needed to know the truth. She needed to know the danger she was in. That son of a bitch knows how serious this is. And he still kept her in the dark.”

Getting to my feet, I grabbed Haizley’s arms, my grip tight enough to hurt. “You can’t tell her. She can’t know. The less she knows, the safer she is.” Safer? Was that even true anymore? My carefully built fortress of lies was crumbling, revealing the cracks of my own cowardice.

“Danny, you have no idea what that girl has been through. She has a brother. Family that will love her. She has the right to know. So does Dante. You have to tell them.”

Haizley’s words hit me like a physical blow. I knew she was right, intellectually. But the thought of facing Dante and Amber, of seeing the hurt, the betrayal mirrored in Amber’s eyes—her eyes—after everything she’d been through was like a blade twisting in my gut.

It wasn’t just the potential for their anger; it was the gut-wrenching fear of losing him. Dante, my husband, my rock, the love of my life... The thought of his condemnation felt like a physical wound. He’d never forgive me. That wasn’t a fear; it was a certainty. And the guilt? It gnawed at me, a relentless, festering beast.

“I can’t,” I whispered, my voice hoarse with emotion and something else... desperation. “They’ll never forgive me. I betrayed her trust and because of me, she’s in danger.”

I shook my head, my eyes pleading with Haizley, but also begging for a way out, a loophole, a miracle. I had to protect them. Even if it meant destroying myself in the process.

My logic was twisted, I knew that, but it was all I had.

Haizley’s gaze softened, but there was steel in her compassion. “Danny, you made a mistake. A terrible, hurtful mistake. But it’s not too late to make things right. Dante and Amber deserve to know the truth, and they deserve to have a say in their own safety. You can’t protect them by keeping them in the dark anymore.”

I wanted to scream, to lash out. To cling to the lie, the illusion of control, the fragile peace I’d built on a foundation of deceit. But her words, so simple, so true, chipped away at my defenses. The weight of my guilt was a crushing burden, heavier than any threat. My morals, the very core of my being, screamed at me to confess, but fear, a chilling, paralyzing fear, held me captive.

“I know it’s scary,” Haizley continued, her voice gentle but firm, “but this isn’t just about you. I’m here to help you get through this, and we’ll face the consequences together. It’s time to let them in, to give them a chance to help you carry this burden.”

I nodded slowly, the movement a physical manifestation of my surrender.

Not just to Haizley, but to the crushing weight of my own actions, my own failures. It was time to come clean, to face the music, no matter how agonizing the symphony of their anger and disappointment might be. To face Dante’s fury, Amber’s heartbreak, and the crushing knowledge of my own profound failure.

“Besides, wouldn’t you like to see your daughter?” Haizley’s smile was bittersweet, a fragile thing in the face of the storm about to break.

“What?”

“Let me tell you how shocked I was when my best friend showed up at the clubhouse yesterday with Danika. She’s in Diamond Creek, Danny. She’s safe, and so is Amber. All three of them are.”

Stumbling back, I gasped, the relief so profound it threatened to shatter me. “My daughter is safe.”

“Yes.”

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