Sawyer stops eating and turns to look at me. “Alicat.”
I force myself to meet his eyes.
“Whether you believe it or not, you are worth it. All of it. Whatever comes next, whatever we have to deal with, you’re worth it.” His voice is steady, certain in a way that makes my throat tight. “I promise.”
My eyes sting. I blink hard.How does he do that? Make me believe things I've never believed about myself?
“How can you be so sure?”Why aren’t you running? Why aren’t you exhausted by all of this?
“Because for the first time in years, I care about something more than just getting through each day. Because when I think about my future, you’re in it.” He pauses, and something flickers across his face. “In some way.”
In some way. What does that mean? But I don’t push it.
“Even with all this mess?”
“Especially with all this mess.” Sawyer looks out at the lights below, and his expression shifts to something more serious. “Alice, there’s something I need to tell you. About your mother.”
My stomach drops. “What about her?”
“I confronted her at Murphy’s Diner.”
“You what?” My voice comes out sharper than I intended.
“Chris found evidence. A lot of it. About Lance, about what your mother’s been doing to cover for him.” Sawyer turns to face me fully, and I can see the anger simmering beneath his calm exterior. “Ali, Lance has been doing this for years. Stalking women, harassing them. And every time someone tried to press charges, your mother made it go away.”
I stare at him, my burger forgotten. “What do you mean,made it go away?”
“Bribes, threats, whatever it took. She’s been the Carlston family’s fixer, cleaning up Lance’s messes so he never faced consequences for anything.”
My hands go cold. “How many women?”
“Six that we can prove. Maybe more.” His voice gets harder, angrier. “Including the mayor’s daughter, Jennifer Walsh. Lance was harassing her while he was with you.”
The words hit me like a slap. My chest tightens. “So he was cheating on me.” I try to keep my voice steady. From the corner of my eye, I can tell Sawyer is studying my expression.
I already knew about one coworker he was sending pictures to. I'd forgiven him for that. But other women? Women I wouldn't have even known about if it wasn't for Sawyer?
“Among other things. Alice, your mother has been covering up crimes for years. Witness tampering, obstruction of justice, conspiracy. She could go to prison.”
I feel dizzy, like the truck is spinning. I press my hand against my forehead. “What did you say to her?”
“I told her to withdraw her complaint against me and stay away from you. I told her if she didn’t, I’d take all the evidence to the state investigators.”
“And?”
“She refused. Said she wasn’t backing down.” Sawyer’s jaw tightens, and I can see the frustration radiating off him. “If anything, I made her more determined to destroy us.”
Us. He said us. “So this isn’t over.”
“No. It’s not over. But we have the evidence to fight back now.”
“And you did this for me?” My voice cracks slightly.
“I did it for us. And for Lance to rot in a cell for a long time.”
I feel tears starting and try to blink them back, but they come anyway. Don’t cry. Don’t fall apart. Not now.“I almost gave up. When my mom came over with that statement, part of me wanted to just sign it and make everything stop.”
“But you didn’t.”
