When Caden steps back, Daithí looks at me properly.
"Tell me what Daire said to Lorenzo," he says.
"About Orla." I breathe. "She told him I isolated her, that I made her dependent on me and then pushed her over the edge." I hold his gaze. "She told him exactly what she did and she blamed it on me."
Daithí is very still, his gaze holds mine.
"She knows I can't defend it," I say. "Because her version is already out there. And my reaction when he said the name—" I stop. "I reacted out of instinct and he saw it."
"What did he say to you?" Daithí asks.
"Nothing. He went quiet, pulled back. Told me it was work things." I look at the ring. "He's going to investigate. I know he is. He's the kind of man who won't just take her word for it. Whatever he finds will have Daire's version baked into it already because that's the version that got put into the record."
Daithí nods. "I'm going to sort this."
I laugh, it’s a bitter and short one. "You can't?—"
"Quinn." He looks at me, unwavering love and support is all that I see on his face. "I was there. Not for all of it, but enough of it. I know what happened with Orla and I know what part Daire played. I let the wrong story settle because I was busy and because it was easier. I should have fixed it then. I'm fixing it now."
"He's not going to believe?—"
"Lorenzo Mariano isn’t a fool," Daithí says. "He's already suspicious of Daire, you said it yourself. He knows she can lie without breaking a sweat. He's going to be looking for a version that holds up under pressure." He meets my eyes. "I'm going to give him one."
I look at him for a long moment. "Daithí."
"What?"
"Tell me the truth. Do you think he'll trust me after this?"
He's quiet. He doesn't give me easy reassurance, which is one of the reasons I trust him most. He always gives me the honest truth and I’m so grateful that he does.
"I think," he says carefully, "that Lorenzo Mariano is smarter than to let Daire Delaney dictate what he believes. But I’m also not stupid enough to believe that he’ll listen to what I have to say without digging himself." He holds my gaze. "Which means the next few weeks matter. How you carry yourself, how you act, what you say, what you show him, they all matter.
"He went cold," I say. "At the party. I could feel it."
"I know." He doesn't look away. "I’m sorry that she’s done this to you.”
I inhale deeply. “I was stupid,” I whisper as I wrap my arms around myself.
“Stupid?” Caden asks, speaking for the first time in a while.
I nod. “I was stupid to let myself believe in hope and that I’d finally stop being the person no one cared about. That marrying Lorenzo would mean I could live in a home without wondering what was going to happen to me.”
“Quinn,” Daithí says softly. “I will fix this,” he promises me.
"Okay," I say, but without any heat. The truth is, there is no fixing this. Not anymore. Daire fucked things up too much and once again, I’m paying the price.
"Good girl."
I sigh, releasing some of the tension from my shoulders. I look up at him. “What do I do in the meantime?"
He gives me the saddest smile I’ve ever seen him have. "You do what you've always done," he says. "You hold yourself together. You don't let them knock you down. They’re pathetic and sad for what they’ve done to you, Quinn, but that shit stops now."
Caden appears at my other side and knocks his shoulder against mine. "And for what it's worth," he says. "We know the real you, Quinn, not the villain that Mam and Daire have painted. We know how sweet and fucking fierce you are. We care about you, and we always will."
I look between him and Daithí, my heart swelling with love for them. As much as living in this house has been a living nightmare, these two are the only consistent thing in this house that has ever been entirely mine.
"Thank you," I say and it comes out quieter than I meant it to.
