Page 129 of A Smile Full of Lies
I leaned in closer.
“Butyou’rethe one who bled for it. You’re the one who risked everything, and I’m never letting you carry that weight alone again.”
Her lashes fluttered. Her lips parted. She looked down at her hands, wringing the edge of the blanket between them.
“I didn’t know how else to keep you safe and out of prison.” Her voice cracked. “Don’t leave me… please.”
My whole fucking world stopped spinning.
I took her hand — gently, so fucking gently, like she was made of fine spun glass — and brought it to my lips.
“I’m not going anywhere, sweetheart.”
Her eyes filled again, lashes sticking to the tears.
“But I lied to you.”
I shook my head, thumb brushing over the curve of her palm.
“You protected me.”
“I still should’ve told you.”
“Yeah,” I said, voice low. “You should’ve.”
She choked on a breath.
“I was so scared.”
I looked her dead in the eye.
“Of me?”
She didn’t answer fast enough — and that silence did something savage to my chest.
“Ros,” I said, the word rough and soft all at once.
Her fingers curled around mine. Weak, trembling.
“I was scared of what you’d do. Of what it wouldcostyou, and worse, what it would cost me.”
I stared at her, throat closing.
“What it would cost you?”
“I couldn’t survive it if I handed you the truth and it turned you into a murderer,” she whispered. “You’d go to prison. Or get yourself killed. And I’d — I’d lose you.”
My breath caught.
“So I took the risk instead. I wore the wire. I said the right things. Iplayedhim. Because I knew if anyone could stop Thayer from hurting someone else, it had to be me.”
“Ros—”
She kept talking and her voice broke on a sob.
“But if I lostyoubecause of it…” Her fingers tightened weakly. “Please don’t leave me.”
My voice barely held.
