“It didn’t, but it’s not what you think either,” he said, frustration creeping into his voice.
“What I think is that I’ve been in a relationship with someone who doesn’t exist.” My voice was shaking now. “I think that I was taken for a fool, strung along in some rich man’s game like I was nothing more than a pawn.”
“That’s not true.”
“Isn’t it?” I shot back. “The man I thought I knew isn’t real, and right now, I certainly feel like a fool for believing he was. You didn’t tell me the truth and you have been stringing me along.”
“Iamreal,” he said, a little more forceful now. “You’re not a fool. You and me, what we have, is real.”
“It was all a lie.”
He shook his head over and over again. “None of it was a lie, Eliza. Only the name. That’s it. The rest of it was all me.”
“I don’t even know you,” I whispered. “How do you expect me to believe a single word out of your mouth right now?”
Hurt flickered across his features, and unless I was very much mistaken, at least that was real. But I’d learned now that the man was a damn good actor, which meant I couldn’t trust a thing about him.
“You do know me, Eliza. You know me better than anyone.”
“No,” I said immediately. “I don’t. I know who youpretendedto be, but the version of JesseI’vebeen getting to know doesn’t exist andhewas never Will, so…”
“Eliza—”
“Stop saying my name like that’s going to change anything,” I snapped, my voice breaking. “You don’t get to pretend like I’m overreacting or being dramatic. Do you have any idea how much you’ve hurt me?”
As I turned to leave, desperately needing to get away from him, I suddenly realized I had nowhere to go. I didn’t know this city from a bar of soap. I didn’t know anyone here who didn’t share his last name. I’d taken this gigantic leap of faith, putting my trust in a man and flying across an ocean with him and now…
“I don’t know where to go,” I said, the words slipping out before I could stop them. “I don’t know anyone here. I’m all alone and it’s because of you.”
“You’re not alone,” he said immediately, taking another cautious step forward. “You’ve got me.”
“I don’t know who you are!” I yelled, my arms flying out to my sides. I stared at the face of the man I’d fallen in love with, knowing it wasn’t him, and it was the most disorienting thing I’d ever experienced.
Because while I knew that face so well, knew when it was happy, sad, distracted, or—God help me—turned on, I didn’t know the man underneath at all.
A car pulled up at the curb beside us, but I barely registered it until the door opened and a familiar woman climbed out. Kate frowned when she saw me. “Eliza, are you okay? What’s going on?”
Relief hit so hard and so unexpectedly that it almost knocked the breath out of me. She might be a Westwood now, but she hadn’t been one for long. Surely, she could at least help me find a hotel and get a flight out of here.
Nate appeared out of the car and went to stand beside her, his gaze moving quickly between us, sharp and assessing. It didn’t take him long to piece it together.
“Yeah,” he muttered under his breath. “This is bad.”
Will stepped forward. “I can explain.”
“Not to me,” Nate cut in, already moving toward him. “You need to take a step back.”
“I’m not?—”
“You are,” Nate said, his tone leaving very little room, if any, for argument. “Now.”
Kate stepped up to my side, her hand warm on my arm and concern that seemed genuine enough shimmering in her hazel eyes. “Hey, come on. Come with me.”
I didn’t argue when she opened the back door of the town car and guided me inside. She helped me into the soft back seat before she shut the door behind me, effectively shielding me fromhim. I didn’t even realize I’d been shaking until I tried to unclench my hands and couldn’t.
They stayed curled in my lap, my fingers so tightly held together that it felt like if I opened them, I might come apart completely. Through the window, I could see Kate, Nate, and Jesse—Will—on the sidewalk, but it was like I was watching someone else’s life unfold for how distant they suddenly felt.
All three of them were talking, perhaps bickering back and forth, while I sat here, suspended in something that didn’t quite feel like real life. Will’s hands were moving, his shoulders were set like he, too, was holding himself together through sheer force.
