A woman could hope.
“Were you always this tiresome? I guess I was too young to see it.” Young and conned. Never again.
He shook his head. “We barely knew each other back then.”
“I have evidence that suggests otherwise.” I didn’t, unfortunately. He’d been too worried about his precious reputation all those years ago to let that happen. But if he could make idle threats, so could I.
He scoffed. “We didn’t even speak at family events.”
He was tryingthis?Really?“I guess we’ve reached the outright-lying portion of the evening. Interesting.”
Hanna’s maternal instincts kicked in, if that was even a thing. Her jaw tightened to the point of snapping. “It sounds like you have something to hide.” Her gaze wandered up and down Lukas. “That outfit doesn’t exactly sayinnocent.”
No one ever rode into danger to save me before. It was an odd sensation.
“That’s why you did all of this, right? Daniela. The fire. Roped deluded Isabel into helping. Kidnapped Jeremy. To cover your slimy little tracks.” I probably missed some of his sins, but I’d spell out the biggest one soon enough. “The last attack was a mistake, by the way. You managed to piss Hanna off. Look at her. I would not mess with Hanna.”
“This is insane.” He did that thing with his voice where hetalked softly, encouragingly, as if he was the good guy in this scenario. The savior sent to rescue the confused and sad damsels. “You know how dangerous she is, Hanna. You can’t believe a thing she says.”
“But I can believe my son. He was quite clear that Aubrey wasn’t at the café. She didn’t touch him.” Hanna leaned back in her chair, looking like a woman who enjoyed doling out revenge.
Lukas kept fighting. “You have the wrong person. It’s that guy who keeps showing up all over town. I’m sure Aubrey convinced him to help her.”
He was treading water. Not panicked enough but it was a good start. I’d love to see him actually drown. All the splashing. “Because men fall in line and do my bidding. Right?”
Hanna pushed the conversation in a different direction. “If you wanted to visit me, why didn’t you come to the front door? And why would you need to see me? We haven’t said fifty words to each other in a decade.”
Lukas didn’t miss a beat. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you. I’ve been following Aubrey.”
“That’s not new.” He had no shame. I didn’t either but then, I didn’t pretend to. That was him. Mr. Professional Attorney. Always yapping to avoid responsibility.
He kept his focus on Hanna. No doubt he thought he could win her over. Continue to use that smooth lawyer voice and pummel her with reassuring arguments. She wouldn’t be the first woman to fall for his bullshit. But I would make sure she was the last.
I crossed my arms in front of me. It was either that or strangle him. “Tell Hanna how you know about the secret passageways in this house.”
Lukas looked at me with pity. “Hanna’s too smart to let you fool her. Everyone knows these old houses have hidden halls. Xavier bragged about the winding hallways and how they were used to run illegal booze in the 1920s.”
“Very convenient storytelling.” My father would drone on about the history of the place. I ignored him, too. “Lukas is skipping over the part about how we used to run around in those secret hallways. Together.”
Part of the fun is sneaking around, Aubrey.
“That’s ridiculous. Stop talking.” His hand clenched the flashlight even tighter. I could see his fingers move through his black gloves. His other hand stayed in his pocket.
That promised trouble.
Hanna sat up straighter. Her gaze telegraphed a mix of hate and alarm. “Why were you with a fifteen-year-old girl in a secret passageway?”
“Fourteen. We started when I was fourteen.” Probably not relevant but still. Accuracy and all that.
It’s a number, Aubrey. I don’t care if you don’t. What matters is how we feel about each other. I have all this pressure, and it builds up. I get tired of doing the right thing all the time.
Hanna’s warm eyes turned stark and cold. “Started what?”
“No, that’s enough.” Lukas’s fierce control slipped a bit. He waved the flashlight around like a bat he intended to wield. “Don’t encourage Aubrey and her tales. She’s a liar. Xavier knew it. Her parents knew it. Hell, the police knew it.”
Now he was ticking me off. “They knew the lie you fed them. After. Once you realized I could talk about you, about us, andyou would lose everything. You talked about how unstable I was. How I couldn’t be trusted.”
He nodded. “You still can’t.”
