Page 25 of Never the Same

Too late. Ryder took off to make the call before I could object.

I checked the camera, and it was my bad luck that it was still inactive, which meant Alex would be safe to harass and annoy me like I knew he was about to do.

“Don’t,” I begged, holding up my hand, as if that’d do any good.

“You’ve conveniently done your best to avoid me since we realized she lost her memories.” He parked his hands on his hips, shifting into dad mode, which was the last thing I wanted or needed. “Talk to me, man.”

“Hollis is alive, and your pregnant wife can now sleep because of it. Her memories will come back.”

“Not the kind of conversation I’m talking about.” He glanced at the camera, and whatever magic shit he’d done to it was still holding up.

“Well, her case is the only thing I’m up for discussing.”

The man doubled down on not dropping this and closed the space between us to hiss in a low voice, “Your dad doesn’t remember who you are, and now we’re dealing with a mission about this, and Hollis—”

“Hollis isn’t my dad,” I snapped back. “Her situation is temporary.” I motioned to the hall as if she were there. “His memories, on the other hand, aren’t coming back.” I’d already said too much and needed to shut up.

I turned away from him and went back to the window to look outside. Hollis was no longer there. Just her parents’ Brabus G-Wagon, an enhanced version of the Mercedes-Benz G-Class.

“I’m not going to drop this, not when I know your head has to be off right now for more than one reason.”

“Oh yeah?” I sputtered, half losing it as I pivoted back around. “What’s the other reason?”

“The woman you’ve spent half the year pretending to hate was in danger and now going through this, and you weren’t—and still aren’t—scared shitless?” He scoffed. “You can lie to yourself and act like you’re fine, but I see right through you. You’ve been keeping yourself together with prayers and maybe a little duct tape.”

“I was fine before. I’m still fine.” I bit down on my back teeth and hissed, “And she’ll be fine.”

Because I believe in her.

“That’s a whole lotta lies for someone who hates liars.” His jaw muscles tensed as he hit me with his tough-love bullshit.

“She will be all right.” That was the only acceptable outcome. She was safe, and soon she’d remember everything, and we’d find the assholes who did this to her. I squeezed my eyes closed, unable to look at one of my closest friends and do exactly what he said I hated: lie. “As for me? I’m good already. Perfectly fi—”

“Dammit, Reed.” His voice was rough with emotion, grating across my skin like sandpaper as he tried to get under my skin. “You and I aren’t at war here, I’m only trying to help. But I also need to know if you can work this mission, given what’s happening back home and—”

“Back home?” A dark laugh loosened free from an equally dark place inside me as I opened my eyes. “You mean because my father doesn’t remember the hell he put me through my whole life? And I can’t stop hating the man even though he has no clue what a bastard he is?” I brought my hand to my chest, worried my heart was about to fly right out of it. “Does it suck?” I nodded, no sense lying now. “Yeah, it does. But that’s not going to stop me from doing my job. Operating is all I have.”

He held up his hands like a possible white flag, like he’d fall back, but I wasn’t done. The beast was already out of its cage and running straight for the target he’d opened himself up to be.

“And as for why else I’m upset? I’m just plain angry at the evil in this world. Why couldn’t that evil have come after me instead of her? Done me a solid by stealing my memories? She doesn’t deserve what happened to her.” I slowly looked up at him. “But my life is one giant clusterfuck of failures I wish I could forget—and to make it worse? I’d been hoping to lose my own memories the day she went missing.”

And I hated myself for it. Blamed myself. Was terrified this was my fault and I’d willed this sick reality into existence.

Alex muttered a string of curses, probably shocked I’d actually opened up and also unsure what to say back.

“Can we be done talking about me now? I promise that duct tape is holding me together,” I rasped, still a little pissed off at his accusations about my feelings for her (that were possibly correct). “Just talk to—” I immediately dropped my words the second I realized we had company.

So much for that duct tape, because as soon as Hollis met my eyes, I could feel myself unraveling like I had last night when reality caught up with me on the plane.

Now there I was, on the verge of losing my shit again, but she was awake and in front of me. The battle happening inside me had nothing on what she was going through, so I’d man the hell up for her.

“Am I interrupting?” she whispered, and that sweet innocence dragged my ass forward two steps, somehow even poking a hole in some of my pent-up frustration.

“No, we’re done here.” I glanced back at Alex, my shoulders falling at the fact I’d been an asshole to him when all he’d done was give a damn. “He needs to call Audrey anyway—don’t you?”

I wasn’t so sure whether being one-on-one with her was the best idea with how she’d been looking at me earlier, but it was too late now, because Alex nodded and left us alone.

“Redecorating?” She pointed to the armchair beneath the camera while taking a seat on one of the couches.