Page 88 of Free to Dream
This. This is what Keene was alluding to in his office. Caleb knew more of my history than I had told him. But if Keene knew, why didn’t he tell me either? I inwardly groan. Because I essentially told him not to.
In my mind, I can hear myself saying to him, “Then let us figure it out, Keene. Sometimes, blasting information in someone’s face isn’t the best way to handle something.”
The man I love and my…fuck, the bile starts to rise…my brother. And neither of them knew I was about to die unless someone was listening through the receiver still in my ear. And it was dead silent.
I swallow hard. I might die.
“Because, Riley, you bear the same birthmark.” She drags the gun down the front of my gown to just below my collarbone with unerring accuracy. “Right. Here.” She taps it with the gun. “In the same fucking spot both your mother and brother do. You look like that bitch—same shaped eyes, same shaped mouth. And speaking of that mouth…” Crack!
Her other hand comes up and slaps me across the face again. I feel another trickle of blood and reach up. She lifts her hand to show me how she turned her diamond inward, her face in a twisted facsimile of a grin. “Besides that, you have memories of her. Keene’s a smart man and has been piecing it together. He realized when you started humming your lullaby. When you recognized the picture in his office. When he saw the birthmark after you fucked my son!” She screams the last at me as she cocks the gun.
“I didn’t know they were memories, Mrs. Lockwood.” My voice is flat and lifeless. I’ve lost all hope. All chance.
“I don’t care.” That much was obvious. She pushes me back and I stumble, but I manage to stay on my feet. Barely.
She takes aim.
“Please don’t.” I’m begging, but not for myself. I’m begging for my family. For Phillip. For Em. For Ali. For Corinna. For Holly. For Jason. None of them deserve this.
I’m even begging for Caleb and Keene. Neither of them need this to end this way.
“I like you begging, Riley. It reminds me of when your mother did it. Goodbye, Riley Marshall and Cassidy Freeman. I’ll be happy to never see your face again.”
As the loud reverberation of a gun being fired hits my ears, I feel the fiery hot slice against the side of my neck. I stumble backward and fall into something.
And then there’s nothing.
Only darkness.
37
Caleb
Iwonder what’s taking Cassidy so long to change. I glance at my watch—it’s 10:15. She said it would take her ten minutes tops to gather up her stuff and change so we could get the hell out this place.
I’m standing in the foyer with Keene, Charlie, Phil, and Jason. Thankfully, my mother had already retired before the end of the wedding festivities or I would be a lot more antsy than I am right now, despite being given the third degree by the men around me about my relationship with Cassidy.
“So,” Phil drawled. “Do I need to ask your intentions toward my sister?” Jason buries his laughter in Phil’s shoulder. I also notice Charlie and Keene’s stances change as they wait for the answer. Huh. So, my love has a few protectors on her side.
“Endlessly honorable. I love her, Phil,” I respond without hesitation.
“Then when are you going to tell her you bought out Laskey’s company?” Phil shoots back. “Even if she’s told you the worst, she still deserves to know.”
My face goes blank. The air in the room stills. “How did you know?” I ask quietly. I’m not upset. I’m trying to gauge his reaction.
“Ryan mentioned it one night over dinner,” Jason offers, moving from behind Phil to stand next to him. Their hands lock. “He wanted to let us know about the initial background investigation and why you did it. That led to Phil asking questions.” No shock there. “And the rest came out.”
“I’ve been waiting for her to tell us about it, Caleb. It was our right to know.” Phil’s tone is both angry and hurt.
He deserves to be both.
I drop my head and run my hand across the back of it. There’s no good reason and there’s no good answer. “I have no answer, Phil. None that will satisfy anyone, least of all Cassidy. I thought I would tell her pretty quickly on in our relationship, but she surprised me by telling me the worst of it first. The rest of the details didn’t seem to matter. I didn’t go looking for the information.” Charlie confirms what I’m saying to be true by nodding. “I ran a check on the company for the wedding and it triggered warning flags Charlie had put in place to protect you all.”
Phil nods. “I can understand that, but I’m not in love with you. This is going to hurt her. She may not understand why you didn’t tell her, especially after all this time.”
The acid which has been burning when I think about the secrets at the foundation of what I built between Cassidy and I starts up. “I know. I just can’t figure out how to say what I need to.”
Phil, ever the smart-ass, taps his chin. “Yeah, I don’t think there’s a way to say it with flowers either.”
