Page 90 of Trust Me

“I-I never meant for it to go that far between us.”

Another derisive laugh that makes me sick to my stomach. God, how I wish the ground would swallow me whole right now. I can’t stand the way he’s looking at me.

“Bravo.” He slow claps, and the sound reverberates around the room. “My brother could learn a thing or two from you. You deserve a fucking Academy Award.” He pauses, a muscle in his jaw ticking. “But I wouldn’t let you within a mile of anyone in my fucking family.”

His voice is so resolute. He’s looking at me like I’m the shit on the bottom of his shoe.

This is what heartbreak feels like.

“Look, I already know you’re not going to believe a damn thing I say, but this is the God’s honest truth. I never asked for any of this. Dean Walsh appeared in my life one day like the fucking rat he is and demanded I do this or he’d send me to jail.

“I don’t know if he and Brendan are working together or what, but I’ve never slept with either one of them. Yes, I’m guilty of conning Chastain, but that was a long time ago. I regret it. It was the only life I knew back then, and I had …” I trail off.

“I had to do what I had to do.” I won’t go into detail about living in a homeless shelter for over a year at that point. Then suddenly discovering I had a five-year-old niece who I desperately needed to get away from her father.

“If I could go back in time and change my actions, I would. But I can’t change the past.”

He makes a huffing sound and turns away from me. I take a tentative step farther into my condo. The tension in the air is so thick I feel like it’s going to suffocate me.

“Were you behind that article?” he asks, his back still to me.

“I don’t know,” I answer honestly.

He whirls around, with eyes sparking in anger all over again. “Don’t fucking play with me, Riley.”

My shoulders slump in defeat.

“I’m serious. Dean asked me to find out whatever I could and I …” I know what I’m about to say next will implicate me in any number of crimes. I confess what I did to access the accounting files and that I passed it along to Dean.

Kyle remains silent as he listens to my confession. Yet, his body remains rigid.

“You never spoke to any reporter yourself?”

“No,” I answer adamantly. I move closer with an urgency to make him understand. “I never spoke to anyone atThe Dailyor anywhere else. I would never.”

He scoffs but I keep going.

“This is not a con that I wanted or asked to be a part of. Dean has a vendetta against you and your family. He found out about me through Brendan and decided I was his perfect pawn. I never wanted this. I’ve recorded almost every phone conversation I’ve had with him. Here, listen.”

I pull out my phone and bring up the recordings I saved on it. I play the last conversation I just had with Dean before I arrived home.

Kyle listens intently, hearing me tell Dean that I would do his bidding for the last time. I flinch as I hear the desperation in my voice while Dean laughs.

The only reaction from Kyle is a slight flaring of his nostrils.

I thought I would experience some level of relief once Kyle found out the truth. That’s not the case. All I want is to go back to the way he looked at me that weekend. The one weekend we shared together.

“I called you,” I say once the recording ends. “Right after this phone call, I called you to tell you the truth.”

His eyes narrow but he doesn’t say anything.

“I left you a voicemail. Here’s the thumb drive he gave me.” I pull the thumb drive out of my purse.

He looks from me to the thumb drive and back again.

“So, to save your ass you wanted to tell me the truth.”

God, the way he’s twisting everything makes me sound like a horrible person. Maybe I am one.

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