"No, it doesn't," he said, walking over. He stood next to her and tipped his head at the view. "It's beautiful. Clear blue ocean to the left, dense jungle to the right, rocky cliffs in the distance. What more could you want?"
She could've stared at that view for an hour. But that's not why she was standing in Knox's room. She gave him what she knew was an I'm-ready-to-get-this-conversation-started look.
He rubbed his neck. Message received.
"Okay, Allie, look, I don't know why you felt the need to apologize earlier. Like I said, no one blames you for what happened. If anyone needs to apologize, it's me. I knew you'd probably show up that night, and instead of thinking through all the ways that could go wrong, I think I wanted you to come and see for yourself what your brother was doing. You didn't believe my suspicions about him, and I didn't want to keep trying to convince you. I knew if you saw . . ."
She grabbed his arm. "Knox, you don't have to apologize. That was—"
He gently removed her hand. "Please let me finish."
She couldn't stand the remorse on his face. He didn't owe her that. She was the one who hadn't believed him. The regret in his voice squeezed her chest.
He took a half step back but never broke eye contact. "If I'd had the courage to convince you earlier, you wouldn't have been shot that night. But I hated the way you looked at me when I tried to tell you about Leo's crimes, so, like a jerk, I decided to let you see for yourself."
Tears stung her eyes. "I . . . I didn't give you a choice. I didn't want to believe Leo could do those things. It's not that I didn't trust you; I did. I just . . . I didn't want to believe that about my brother."
He took a step closer with an intensity in his eyes she'd rarely seen. "Of course you didn't. I understand that." He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck again. "And on top of everything else, I hated that I couldn't be there for you after you found out about Leo and he fled the country. I know that gutted you."
"Yeah. That's one way to put it. But Knox . . . all that pain, that was Leo's doing. He betrayed my trust, not you. I don't blame you for what Leo did."
He gave a slow nod, but he still looked like he carried a heavy weight on his shoulders. "I wanted to be there for you, but I didn't want to make things worse by upsetting your parents."
Oh, that. Her parents added a whole other layer to her frustration and pain. She hadn't known how to deal with them while she was trying to heal, especially in those first few weeks. They provided the physical help she desperately needed. And she appreciated that. But their defense of Leo . . . and their backlash at Knox's involvement . . . all the drama still gave her a headache.
And then . . . there were the inconsistencies.
"I know. My parents were another reason I didn't try harder to see you. And you need to know . . . " Oh, how did she put this? It sounded so awful. She'd only said it out loud once before—and the words were painful to utter. But Knox deserved to know.
Oh dear God, please give me the strength I need. And please don't let this truth push Knox further from me.
Knox narrowed his eyes at her pause. "What's wrong? What don't I know?"
She took a deep breath. "I believe my parents were working with Leo. Maybe they still are. I don't know. I finally started picking up on things while I was recuperating at their house." She held up a hand. "And before you ask, yes, I told the FBI."
His eyes grew large. And his mouth actually fell open. "I didn't know that. We'd just started surveillance on Leo, then the FBI took over."
"I know." Her own voice felt small and distant.
She slumped onto the small sofa. This conversation was exhausting. And she hadn't told him everything yet.
He walked over and sat next to her. She faced him, wishing she could travel back in time and prevent some of this grief.
She took another deep breath. "You need to steer clear of them. The FBI doesn't have enough to arrest them—or maybe the FBI is hoping to glean more information from them first—but the point is, my parents have connections and money, and they do not like you. You don't want the full force of their resources against you."
His eyebrows hiked, but only for a moment. Concern, worry, and something else swirled in his eyes. "Thanks for letting me know, but I'm not worried about them. I'm worried about you."
"I appreciate that. But don't be." She shrugged. "I've made peace with the situation as much as I can." She prayed he wouldunderstand. "I just don't want them to cause you any trouble. Please don't let them think you're investigating them or Leo—"
"I'm not. It's totally in the hands of the FBI."
"I know. But they know I'm working with WhiteRock again. I don't think they trust me. They think you used me to get information on Leo."
"What?! That's crazy."
"Doesn't matter. I'm just trying to help you see the whole picture."
He stiffened. "Wait. Are you saying you don't want to be in a relationship with me because of your parents?"
