Page 68 of Hidden Lies

“I know you all care for me,” I went on. “I care for you too, a lot. But, I’m not that special. There has to be another reason why you let me in.”

“You—” Devan started, but I cut him off. I’d had a lot of time to think over the weekend, and I had to get this all out.

“Not to mention the barrage of texts I received the moment I was out of your sight for more than five minutes. And the fact that you kept tabs to check if I actually went to Chicago over break, and then lost your shit when you found out I didn’t. And one last thing—” I glared between them. “The fact that when I told you all what happened in that alley, you were all angry, and upset, and outraged. But not one of you was surprised.”

There was a long, long silence then. Micah was gazing down at his lap, his expression unreadable, and Garrett looked like he was a millisecond away from exploding, but Devan had the slightest smirk on his face, which he tipped toward Garrett.

“I told you she was smart,” he said. “I told you she needed to know.”

Garrett hissed out a long slow exhalation as he tried to get himself under control. His fingers clenched against his leg so hard his knuckles turned white. “If she hadn’t gone back to L.A., none of this would have happened,” he ground out between clenched teeth.

I opened my mouth to object, but Devan beat me to it. “And how could she possibly have known that if you didn’t tell her anything?”

“Tell me what?” I demanded, but Garrett stubbornly shook his head.

“It’s not our place, you know that,” he said to Devan.

I raised my voice, sitting up straight. “You know something about me, something that makes you think I need your protection, something that got me attacked in California, and you won’t tell me what it is?”

“It’s not that easy, sweetheart,” Micah said, recapturing my hand in his, but I yanked it away.

“Why not? How is it not that easy? If it involves me, I have a right to know, don’t I?”

Devan shrugged, still looking at Garrett. “She has a point, man.”

Garrett glowered. “I never said she didn’t have a right to know. But we don’t have a right to tell her.”

“Tell me what?” I demanded, and when no one answered, I changed tactics. “What changed that night?” I asked. “The night you went into the water. It was right after that happened that you all started looking out for me. Why? Was it something Drew said to you on the beach? Does he know something?”

That got a rise out of them.

“No,” Devan said quickly, glancing over at me.

“Sweetheart, stay away from Drew,” Micah said.

Garrett let out a sigh. “It wasn’t about you, Camilla. But Micah’s right. Stay away from Drew.”

I closed my eyes, pressing one hand into my eyelids. My other hand was still immobilized in the sling, which only served to irritate me further.

“Look, I know you guys mean well.” At least, I thought they did. “But if you can’t tell me what’s going on, tell me who can. Who do I ask? I don’t even know who or what is a threat. How can I stay safe if I don’t even know what this has to do with?” A thought occurred to me. “They grabbed me right outside the tattoo studio, so does that mean they were watching the place, waiting for me there? Does that mean Ian is in danger?”

Micah shook his head. “That doesn’t make sense. He’s been there the whole time. If he was in danger, they already would have come for him.”

I groaned. That made sense, but it didn’t ease my worries. How could I make sense of anything when I didn’t know what was going on? I looked to Garrett, who was clearly the ringleader here, for reasons I also didn’t know.

“Can you at least tell me who I should ask? The guy in the alley said they’d be watching me. How do I know who I can trust?”

“You can trust us,” he said firmly, his voice a growl but his eyes were pleading.

“I want to,” I whispered.

“You can,” he said firmly. “You’re safe here at school, I promise. No one is watching you, no one will hurt you here.”

It was nice to hear, but it wasn’t enough. I leaned forward. “And will you tell me what’s going on? Why people are targeting me? What they think I know?”

He hesitated, his clear green eyes willing me to understand. “We can’t. I’m sorry, I—”

Devan cut him off, looking at me directly. “We will, I promise. As soon as we can.”

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