Page 29 of Ugly Truths
I should’ve told Cillian to slit his throat and be done with it. I still could, but there’s more work to be done, and whether I like it or not, I need him. So he’ll be fed, given medical attention, and kept in one piece. No matter how much I want to feel the life drain from his body.
I inhale slowly through my nose, relaxing my jaw.
Natalie is leaning back in her chair now, arms folded across her chest as she probes Elena with questions. She’s keeping them about their friendship, which is what Davey and I expected. Still, I underestimated my sister. She’s handling this better than I anticipated.
I should give her more credit. Nat’s always been the most resilient out of all of us.
The few answers Elena gave about her childhood align with the information my team has found. It should be reassuring, but she’s smart enough to know there’s no hiding those details. What a convenient way to try to lull us into a false sense of security.
Without warning, Natalie’s questions shift. “Why did you come to Chicago?” Her words are sharp, and I expect hesitation, but Elena doesn’t flinch. “What were you looking for?”
The questions I was close to choking out of my ex just two days ago sit heavy between them, but Elena steadies her back against the wall, straightening her legs out in front of her.
Without thinking, I lean forward, elbows on my thighs. Beside me, Davey straightens up, crossing one ankle over the opposite knee. Our slight movement has Elena’s eyes flicking toward us for only a second before landing back on my sister.
The way Elena speaks is as if she’s rehearsed this story a hundred times in her head before saying it aloud. Maybe she has. She tells Natalie how she found her handler, Peter Lynch, when she was desperate in college. The jobs seemed harmless at first, and the money kept her afloat; however, before she knew it, she was trapped and blackmailed into compliance with no way out.
There’s something she isn’t saying. She pushes past certain details too quickly, fidgeting with her hands as if she’s trying to prevent herself from spilling another truth. Before I can demand an explanation, she moves on.
“This past winter, I was told to breach your cloud,” she says. “Your contract was vaguer than any other I’d been given. Peter gave me a list of terms and phrases to run searches with, but it never amounted to anything. Any file that might have had value was encrypted beyond my capabilities. When I exhausted all my resources, he sent me here.”
Davey and I exchange a glance. She was already inside, digging, before I even knew her name. I exhale slowly, frustration settling deep in my chest.
How the hell did I not see this sooner?
Elena shakes her head with a pitiful chuckle. “I don’t know why Peter didn’t just bring someone else in when I couldn’t get anywhere. He usually didn’t waste time when something wasn’t working, but he also loved to punish me. Sending me out on jobs was something he knew Istruggled with, and sometimes he did it because he could.”
“I knew who you were the moment we met,” she continues, casting her eyes down at her lap. “That night when you saved me from that banker who wouldn’t stop flirting with me… I saw an opportunity, and I took it.”
The words settle like a stone in my stomach. I already assumed this; I just never really thought about what it would be like to hear her admit it.
“I sought you out after that to see what you knew.” She runs her fingers through her caramel hair, drawing attention to the irritated skin at her wrists from the bindings. “But it got harder the more time I spent with you.”
Elena doesn’t let the quiet linger for long before clearing her throat. “I told myself it was just part of the job, but you made me feel normal, and the more time I spent with you, the harder it became to separate the two.”
Her body language is open, but I know better than anyone how easily she can mold the truth into whatever shape suits her best.
Andyet...
I shake the idiotic thought from my head.
“I started to question everything.” Her voice takes on a hardened edge. “Then, I was sent to the Gilded Sear. I didn’t even know why I was there other than to help Harrison with a job. It wasn’t until the end of the date that I realized Peter staged it as a way to upset Silas. He seemed to realize we were attracted to one another.”
I’ve already made peace with the fact that what I saw that night was staged. What doesn’t settle well is how she describes it.
Attracted to one another.As if it were that simple.
I suppose for her, it was. She’s the one who orchestrated it, after all. Played God with my life to make every chance meeting feel like fate. Like something bigger than us kept pulling her back into my path.
And Elena played the part to perfection. Gave me what I didn’t realize I wanted until I was drowning in it. Shepulled me in so fast and deep, I couldn’t imagine a version of my life where she wasn’t orbiting somewhere inside it. Two planets destined to collide.
She wanted me to feel that way. Shedesignedit.
“I threatened to kill Harrison and Peter for the way they used me,” she admits. “I knew I’d be punished for it eventually, and that’s why I was mugged. Everything I told you about what happened in that alley was true. I have no idea who that man was, but he was sent there to hurt me and put me in my place.”
Elena shakes her head in frustration. “At first, I thought they wanted to use you to punish me, but I learned later that was only part of it. Peter hoped I’d turn to you all for help and force us even closer. If I looked like someone who needed it, you would step in. And I… I accidentally played right into it.”
Davey stiffens at this news just as I do.
