“We need to talk. Now!” I tilted my head toward the bedroom and continued down the hall. What a fucked-up mess. I didn’t really even know where to begin. I paced my room and wondered why the hell he wasn’t at my heels.
Does he not understand now?
I stalked back into the kitchen and found Xander whispering aggressively with Ellie. They stood unusually close for two people who rarely spoke to each other, and Ellie kept shaking her head as Xander appeared to accuse her of something. Finally, Ellie spoke loud enough for me to hear.
“I didn’t tell her.”
“Didn’t tell me what?” I snapped.
They jumped apart and stared at me, wide-eyed and baffled.
Guilty looks?
“Ellie?”
Utter silence emanated from them both. No one ever wanted to speak up. I was always the one who had to pry things out. My profession seeped into every aspect of my life.
“Okay, I already know I can’t trust him. But you too?”
Xander flinched, a hurt look crossing his face.
Ellie gave me a glassy-eyed look. “I’m sorry, Avery.”
“What’s going on?”
Ellie was choked up. Xander took one look at her, sighed, then confessed. “I knew Ellie before we met.”
I looked at him suspiciously, then back at Ellie. “How?”
“I never wanted you to find out.” Ellie sniffled. “I didn’t want you to be disappointed in me.”
“What, Ellie? Just tell me.” Someone needed to come clean because the atmosphere was littered with lies, and I could almost smell the deceit in the air.
“I’ve been stripping at a club downtown.” She glanced down at her hands.
What is happening? It was the day from hell.
And why was I so fucking emotional? I didn’t like to feel out of control. I couldn’t even describe all the feeling that raged inside of me, and it just kept adding up.
“Stripping? Why would you be doing that?” Everything was falling apart. I woke up this morning happy, jubilant even, and now…
Now this.
“I’m sorry. I just wanted to make it on my own.” She wiped her eyes as she continued to hang her head.
“You don’t need to do that! You know I’d do anything for you. Give you anything.” My voice shook with my warring sentiments—betrayal, anger, and hurt.
“I know, I know. I’m sorry.”
Xander put a hand on Ellie’s shoulder to comfort her and she shrugged it off.
“And you?” I pointed at Xander. “You knew. You saw her there.”
He nodded, his lips forming a tight, straight line.
“And you said nothing,” I deadpanned.
“It was before we met. Before I knew she was your Ellie,” he explained.
“There’s more,” Ellie whispered.
Xander glanced at her like he wanted her to shut the fuck up, but I wasn’t going to have any more secrets.
“Talk, Ellie.” I kept my eye trained on Xander to make sure he wasn’t trying to intimidate her.
“I went home with one of the men at the club. It was stupid, but I thought he was different.” Ellie looked at Xander, and he had this devastated look on his face. Plus, he refused to look at me again.
I watched the looks that passed between them and prayed I was wrong. I hunched over, holding my stomach as a sick wave threatened my breakfast.
“You slept with her,” I whispered. Not a question. The truth was written all over their faces.
“I’m sorry, Avery. I wanted to tell you, but I didn’t know how,” Ellie said remorsefully.
“Listen,” Xander said as he approached me. He reached out to touch me, and I shoved him away. “It was before we met. Actually, she gave me your card, but I had no idea about the connection between you.”
I shook my head vigorously because I couldn’t stomach any more. “Get out.”
“Avery, please. Let’s talk about this.”
“No! Get the fuck out!” I stormed into the room, grabbed the clothes he’d placed in one of my drawers, and tossed them at him as he entered the room.
“Baby, I swear I never meant to hurt you.”
“You’re a liar!” He took a step back when he realized how dangerously upset I was. I took a calming breath. Tears threatened, but I defeated them, and looked into his eyes.
“I talked to Ian today.” My voice was calmer than I thought possible, considering the anger raging through me.
He took another step back, furrowing his brows.
“You didn’t just… fuck Ellie. You killed my parents.”
He froze, the color draining from his face as his mouth flapped open and shut. Speechless.
“Lie to me again, Xander.” I closed the distance between us, stomping over all his things. “Look me in the eye and lie to me. Tell me you weren’t driving the car that crashed into my parents’.”
He squeezed his eyes shut, then covered his face with his hands.
“Go.” It came out as a whispered sob. Before I completely broke down in front of him, I rushed out of the room, grabbed my keys, and left the house of liars behind.
Make it Stop
Avery
Matthew opened the door in a pair of black briefs, his brows furrowed and his hair astray. He looked like home. He was the only person left in my life who was genuine. He took one look at my face, reached out, and pulled me into a hug. The moment his arms wrapped around me, I crumpled against him.
I’d spent the day driving aimlessly and somehow ended up here at nightfall. I kept it together until this point, but I knew I could let my shield down here because Matthew would protect me.
“What happened, sweetie?” He pushed the door shut and led me into his living room.
“Everyone’s a fucking liar.” I wiped unshed tears from my eyes with my fingers. Matthew pushed my hair behind my ears, then rubbed along my jawline.
“Xander… Ellie… liars.” I dropped onto the couch, and he sat down facing me, his arm slung over the back of the couch.
“Okay… you’re talking in code. It’s like scattered pieces of a puzzle. What happened?”
“Xander killed my parents.” His hand dropped away from my face and confusion clouded his features.
“He what?”
“It wasn’t some drunken woman who slammed her car into my parents. It was her drunken husband, and the whole thing was covered up by the mayor—his dad.”
Matt’s eyes widened and he covered his mouth with a hand. “Oh my God.” His words were a bit muffled by his fingers. “He told you this?”
“No, Ian did. Apparently, he overheard Xander and Susan talking about it all.”
“This is unbelievable. What are the odds?” His eyes darted away from me, a faraway look crossing them as he thought about it.
“The odds have never been on my side. It’s the universe’s sick joke on me. I finally open up my heart and give it to the man who’d caused the complete shutdown to begin with.”
Matt opened his mouth, then shut it. Now he was utterly speechless—and in the eight years I’d known him, this was the first time I’d seen that happen.
I leaned my head back against the couch and groaned. “Fuck my life.”
Matt rose from his seat, left the room, and came back with a tumbler filled with golden fluid. The kind of liquid that wiped your memory for a few hours and made you feel like shit in the morning.
“Drink it or you’ll never sleep tonight.” He shoved the glass into my hand.
I hesitantly took the cup and sipped on it. The burn was fierce. I grimaced as it went down my throat.
“What does Ellie have to do with any of this?”
“Hmm…” I snickered at how ridiculously worse this situation got. “She slept with Xander.”