Page 96 of Before Eve
“Go on, read it,” he hoarsely whispers.
I flip back to the first page reading the headline:A Lifetime of Mental Illness.
The words blur as I read my life story:Grayson Kader hides the true story of his daughter. But through prayer and support, his arms are open for her safe return and rehabilitation.The paragraphs continue, twisting every detail of my life.
That I locked myself in my room, refused to eat, to bathe. That I was deceitful and had brought bodily harm on myself. That I had scarred my back with a belt.
Fury gathers in me as I read a direct quote from Grayson, “I’m ashamed to have lied to everyone about Laura’s Lyme disease and whereabouts when in reality she’s run from home and has recently hooked up with West Wolf, lead singer of Bus Stop. I fear for her life with the sex, drugs, and alcohol. Despite the tragedy of her mother’s past, Laura was raised in a loving, Christian home. My arms are open for her safe return.”
A harsh laugh scrapes across my throat. Grayson has effectively covered all his bases. Dragging Brynn on the electoral tour, bringing charges against West for rape, explaining away my injuries and disappearance. Poor Grayson will come outlooking like gold with a dead wife, mentally fragile daughter, and this widow he’s dating with a daughter of her own.
He’s left me no choice butto go back, and he knows it.
My hands fist around the pages, and I hurl them across the room. “Lies!”
“Of course they’re lies.”
I level him with an icy stare. “This is what I wanted to tell you last night. But you didn’t want to hear them. Your exact words were, ‘Something tells me it might change our course, and I’m not as ready for that as I thought.’ Well, guess what, you were right. Here it all is, whether you’re ready for it or not.”
Tears cloud West’s eyes.
My voice hardens. “What’s wrong? You don’t want to be falling for a mentally unstable girl?” I’m saying things I don’t mean, but they still come. “You don’t get it, do you?”
West just looks at me.
Blood rushes to my extremities, making me both hot and cold at the same time. “You and me? What was I thinking?” I walk over to where I threw the pages and pick them up. “I want to know who I pissed off in this universe.”
He wets his lips. “What are you talking about?”
“This.” I shake the pages at him. “My whole sad, pathetic life.” I narrow in on him. “Who?” My voice rises an octave. “Who did I piss off to have dealt me this life? What did I everdo to anybody to deserve the hell that happens to me? WHO?” I shout.
West takes a step toward me. “Eve—”
I throw the pages at him. “Shut up. Just shut the hell up.”
His eyes widen.
“Oh, now I’m scaring you? Well, GOOD!” I scream. “I’m glad someone else is scared for a change. God! I wish Grayson had just given me to Noah because that’s the life I was supposed to have, right?”
West swallows. “What are you talking about?”
“It doesn’t matter because I have no proof of ANYTHING! And you!” I jab my finger in his direction. “I would’ve already moved on if it weren’t for you.”
Pain flashes across his face. “What?”
I point toward the door. “Get out,” I blurt, aching with my words.
Gone are his tears to be replaced with a flash of anger that clenches through his jaw. “Fine!” He wrenches the door open and then turns back. “All I ever wanted was your trust and honesty.” His words seep into my anger, stinging. “All you’ve done is lie to me. Yeah, I might have stopped you telling me last night, but you know as well as I do you should’ve come clean way before then.”
I take a step toward him and stop when he shakes his head. He’s right. I’ve done nothing but lie to him. I’m a coward.
He slams out the door, and I stand alone in my hotel room, panting for air, so consumed by pain I can barely think.
The pain flashes to anger, and my teeth clench. I’ve got to get out of here. I wrench my door open, and West whirls on me right as the elevator dings.
It all happens in a sort of slow-motion fog. West and I both turn. Grayson steps out, followed by two men, one I recognize from that hotel back in Chicago. Beneath my feet, the floor shifts. From down the hall, Grayson pins me with an eerily calm stare, and his lips curl up into a satisfied smirk.
He moves toward me with his security trailing behind, and the closer they get, the more locked my muscles become. I take a step back and come up against the wall. Grayson stops feet from me, his cool hazel gaze never leaving mine, and I stare into the wicked face of the man who’s haunted my whole life.
