"No way in h.e.l.l are you going there." He leaned back, face stern.

"Please." My eyes began to sting. "You can wait for me. If what you say is true, it won't take long, but a decade ago, I allowed my father to send me away when he gave me this same story. I believed it then. This time, I need the truth. I need to look into his eyes."

His lips pulled to one side and after several, heart-wrenching moments, he finally nodded.

Without removing his eyes from me, he reached over and pressed a b.u.t.ton. "Change of plans. Take us to Latham Hills."

He arched a brow at me and I quickly rattled off Tyson's address. As soon as I was done, he let go of the b.u.t.ton and faced me.

I felt small.

I felt stupid.

If Tyson really had betrayed me, lied to me in this way, I should have been smart enough to suspect something wasn't right. Looking back, he had certainly left enough clues, I had just been too blind, too nave and hopeful to see them.

- The trip probably took twenty minutes.

It felt like hours.

Silence filled the car. It seemed as if Malik hadn't moved an inch while I repeatedly tapped my fingernail to my tooth. By the time we pulled up in front of Tyson's house, I still had no idea what I was going to say to him.

"I will wait for you out here," Malik said, his face a blank mask.

I reached for the file, needing the proof in my hand when I confronted Tyson. With a dip of my chin, I acknowledged Malik's words. Then I waited until the rear door opened, and I climbed out. Lead filled my feet, making every step feel painful and take longer than it should have.

With growing trepidation, I rang the doorbell and took a step back. I had never done that before, but I no longer felt like I could just walk in, even though I knew Tyson was expecting me.

He'd told me to come to him after. Made me promise.

I was beginning to understand why, and I hated the unease swirling inside me that thickened with every breath.

"Hey," he said, his eyes wide as he opened the door. His shock quickly evaporated as he noticed the limo on the street behind me. "What's going on?" He pulled his shoulders back and narrowed his eyes.

I stood there, speechless, wavering in my certainty that I could believe Malik despite the proof in my hands.

This was Tyson. He wouldn't betray me. Not like this. Would he?

I shook my head when he asked, "Blue? What's going on?"

"Um." I licked my lips and held out a file. "You told me to come to you."

"What's this?" he asked, looking down at the file in my hands. Then his head snapped up and he glared over my shoulder. "I think we need to talk. Come inside."

I shook my head and the backs of my eyes began burning.

"Did you lie to me?" I asked, tripping over the simple words.

My knees trembled when Tyson's lips twisted and he heaved a deep breath.

"Blue...come inside. Please." His eyes focused on me, his voice softened. I wanted to fall into the arms that were now hanging loose at his sides.

I shook my head and then held out the file. "Tell me, Tyson. Because ten years ago, I believed c.r.a.p when I apparently shouldn't have, but now I'm asking you to tell me the truth."

"It's not what you think," he said immediately and s.n.a.t.c.hed the file from my hand.

He didn't open it though, just stayed focused on me. His chest moved quicker than normal as he breathed, but his posture stayed relaxed. I couldn't fathom how he could look at me like that, like there was nothing wrong, placating me with his softened voice when I felt wound so tight I could snap.

"You're not with the FBI?" I tilted my head to the side and saw him flinch. "You're not trying to get revenge for your dad's death?"

Another flinch.

The tears burning the backs of my eyes moved to the front and he became blurry in front of me. Tyson's lips pursed and he reached for me, but I jerked my shoulder back.

"Come inside and talk to me. I told you I needed to talk to you tonight. There are things you don't understand."

I shook my head. "You haven't answered my questions. Any of them." Ever...I realized. He was so quick to change the subject, barely giving me any of the information I sought about what he'd done after college.

"G.o.d. You didn't even go to law school, did you? All this time..." Unable to finish, I let my voice trail off. "Was any of it true?"

He took a step out of his house until he was on the front porch with me. Behind me, I heard the sound of a door opening and slamming shut. Tyson's gaze snapped to look over my shoulder but I refused to take my eyes off him.

"Did you use me to get close to my family?"

He blinked and looked back at me. A muscle moved by his nose. I got nothing but silence.

Anger began rolling through me, pouring out of me before I could stop myself.

"Did you use me, Tyson?" I shouted, leaning in.

"That was what I came here for, yes," he whispered. "But-"

"f.u.c.k you," I hissed. Tears rolled down my cheeks.

"You don't understand the full story."

I stepped back, swiping tears off my cheeks, and watched him step closer to me.

I shook my head and held out my hand. "Don't come closer."

"I'll give you tonight," he said, "because I know you're upset, but you have to know, Blue...you have to know that what we have between us is real. You know the man I am, and that man wouldn't do what you're a.s.suming right now. Give me a chance to explain it to you when you've calmed down."

I didn't believe him. I couldn't, as much as I wanted to.

"The man I thought you were turned out to be a liar who has tricked me for the last month," I stated, taking another step back.

From my purse, my phone began to ring.

I ignored it.

"That's not who I am and you know it. You'll know it when you search deep."

My phone continued ringing.

More tears fell down my cheeks and I shook my head again. "I don't know anything. Not anymore. Not when it comes to you."

"I love you," he said and walked to me until his hands curved around my shoulders. He stared me straight in the eyes and repeated, "I love you, Gabriella Bluejay Galecki. Do not leave here tonight without knowing that...without hearing this."

"You don't," I croaked and shook him off.

My phone rang again.

This time, Tyson looked at my purse. "You better answer that."

"Goodbye, Tyson." I turned to walk away, but when I did, Tyson reached for me and pulled me back to him so my back was close to his chest, his mouth at my ear.

In front of me, Malik was walking up the lawn. His hand was on his phone, holding it to his ear, and he was glaring at Tyson.

Tyson whispered in my ear. "We need to talk, though, and soon. That case I told you I was wrapping up this week? Think about that, Blue. There are things I need to tell you about. Things I need to warn you-"

"We need to go," Malik stated, cutting off Tyson.

My phone beeped in my purse.

Ice slithered into my veins.

"No." I shook my head rapidly and stepped away from both of the men who were staring at me.

Malik nodded and Tyson cursed.

"That was your father," Malik stated. "It's your mom. We need to go."

"f.u.c.k," Tyson cursed again and stepped toward me. "Blue."

My name rolling off his lips sounded tortured.

I held my hand up and glared at him. "I can't do this. Not tonight. Not now."

Not ever again.

Malik held out his hand for me to take, but I brushed him away too. If someone touched me, I'd crumble.

I turned away from both men and walked toward the limo, but paused when Tyson called my name again. I looked at him over my shoulder and saw his expression twisted into pain and regret. It was clear.

It was also too late.

"I do love you, Blue."

I'd wanted to hear those words for so long, and now, it was too late for those, too.

I said nothing but turned around and climbed into the waiting car, sliding to the far end and kicking off my heels.

Then I pulled my feet up onto the bench, dropped my head to my knees, and sobbed.

Chapter 19.

"Where is she?" I shouted as soon as I ran into my family's house, still shoeless. Desperation clawed at my throat, making me feel wild and feral.

My vision blurred as Clarissa shuffled out of the kitchen and headed straight toward me with her arms open. "Bella," she whispered, tears already falling down her cheeks.

"No." I shook my head and took several steps away from her. "She's not-" The word "gone" clogged in my throat, unable to escape.

I knew it had been coming. I knew it was here.

I still didn't want to accept it. I continued walking away from Clarissa. Her hands fell to her sides as I backed into the wall. It jarred my spine and I sank to my knees.

My head fell into my hands as more sobs escaped my throat, making my shoulders shake. "She can't be."

"I'm so sorry," Clarissa whispered. Her gentle voice felt like needle p.r.i.c.ks along my arm, and I flinched away from her touch. "She went in her sleep."

As if that was any consolation.

Tears soaked into my dress as I curled into myself. I couldn't stop the tears from falling even as I heard the door open and Clarissa moved away from me.

Malik crouched next to me and pulled me into his arms. "I'm sorry, Gabriella," he said. "This is not what I wanted for you tonight."

For the first time since he threw the file folder at me in the car, he didn't sound angry. I sank into his arms, unaware I was doing it until his hand slid down my back. Then he was moving, up and on his feet, carrying me along with him.

"I need to see her," I mumbled into his chest. I didn't want to. G.o.d, I didn't want to see her now.

"The car is on its way for her."

My hands curled into Malik's suit coat as he headed up the stairs. I held on tighter as he turned the corner at the top of the stairs and walked directly into my parents' bedroom.

"Thank you for bringing her home," my father said. His voice sounded thick with emotion, perhaps the first time I'd heard it that way.

"She's not handling this well," Malik replied, guiding me to a lush chair in the corner of their room. "We also had a run-in with Agent Blackwell." I flinched in his arms and heard my father curse. Then Malik set me in the chair and crouched down, moving his hands to my own, which were still gripping his coat. He peeled away my fingers and set them in my lap. With gentleness I hadn't expected from him, his thumb pressed against my chin and he tilted my head up to look him in the eyes.

"I am sorry for your loss," he whispered. "You have had a lot thrown at you in a short time. Will you be okay?"

I stared at him blankly, unable to answer.

"We can call a doctor," he continued, "get you something to help you sleep."