“I thought I was supposed to be distracting you?”
“You are.” Only I was now hanging by a thread and on the verge of spinning out thanks to this new distraction. “Please.”
His arms dropped, and he studied the phone on the table. “This relentless woman is going to find a way to involve herself in our mission no matter what, so when you see her—ifyou go to New Zealand with us—then she can tell you herself like she demanded we let her do.”
Sounds like a Hollis thing to say and do. Then again, maybe everything I thought I knew about her is a lie, so what do I know?“And how in the world would Hollis help on a mission? She doesn’t even work—and while I adore that woman, her biggest problems are which city to choose to visit and what designer handbag to buy.”
A hollow laugh left his mouth. “That’s a front. Not real.”
“Who the heck in my life is real?” I spat out, fighting tears. “And does Trevor know the truth?”
“I asked Trevor if he knew the truth about her. He said when he went fishing into the background of all your friends, he accidentallykicked a hornet’s nest when it came to her family, forcing Hollis to tell him the truth.”
“And that means?”
“That yeah, he knows she’s been keeping secrets from you.”
Seriously?“Does no one trust me with the truth? Everyone just thinks I’m some fragile woman that can’t handle it.” I wanted to scream, but I somehow managed to keep it together.
“I don’t know what to tell you. Hollis convinced Trevor it was safer for you not to know.”
“I’m really getting tired of everyone deciding what is and is not safe for me without my input.” I sank onto the couch, prepared to throw a few walls up again and be mad at the whole world.At least Alejandro didn’t hide this from me.“You let me look at your phone,” I murmured a beat later when it hit me. “That was your way of letting me know without telling me. A loophole.”
He lifted one shoulder. “I fuckin’ hate being left in the dark, so ...”
“For a non-people-y person, you’re not so bad at it.” I gave him a lopsided smile. “Thank you for being honest. Well, as honest-ishas you’re allowed to be.”
He sat next to me. “She’s not a threat. More like an asset. But don’t tell her I said that.” He tore a hand through his hair. “I guess the second she learned about the attack at the lodge, she began working the case herself.”
Working the case. How was any of this real?
“She’ll tell you, I promise. I’ll make sure she does.”
Something told me he would. Happily hold her down and force the truth from her. “Yeah, now that she has no choice.”
Before I could ask him another fifty questions, my brother joined us. “Alex is about to get on the call with Beth. He’s in the den.” He hung back by the fireplace, and as if picking up on the tension, cut right to it and asked, “Everything okay in here?”
“Hmm.” I pushed up to standing. “Where do I start? How my ex-husband wants to risk his soul to kill Mitch? Or the fact my best friend has been lying to me, and you and Trev chose to keep this from me?”
“Oh,” was all I got from my brother. More like,Oh, shit. I could hear it in his tone despite the lack of a curse.
“And Hollis is going to be a pain and demand she join the op. Just an FYI,” Reed added. “Not sure if there is anything we can do about it. She did offer us a ride, though. And we may have to meet Echo Team in Queenstown, so we can’t borrow their plane to get there.”
“You want to work with her?” Ryder asked, eyes narrowing on him. “I thought she drove you nuts.”
“She does,” Reed grunted. “And when Gwen floated the idea that Hollis be my plus-one at the auction ten minutes ago, I told her absolutely fucking not. But—”
“Y’all are talking like I know who the heck my best friend really is,” I said, cutting off their back-and-forth and about to lose it.
I couldn’t believe my innocent distraction request had turned intothis.I really could use my mom right now. Someone who wouldn’t betray me.
Shit. She did, didn’t she? She lied to me my entire life. Thinking she was protecting me. Everyone keeps trying to protect me, and now it’s starting to feel like they’re only trying to protect me from the truth. I’m a magnet for liars. This is just ... I’m spinning out. I need to calm down.
“Let’s just say your best friend is not who she says she is.” Did my brother really just throw those words at me so casually and add a shrug as well?
“Don’t do that.” My eyes burned, and my body was now wound so tight I thought I’d snap. “Don’t act like havinganothersomeone close to me lie is—”
“You’re right,” Ryder cut in without hesitation, stepping forward. “I’m sorry. I tend to see things through one lens and forget the other side.”
