“I didn’t want to cause friction between Adam and Eva.” That was the truth, in a way.
“Bullshit! I don’t know you well, but I know bullshit when I hear it. You’ve read my essays, I’m the king of bullshit,” he said.
He looked down at me with piercing eyes and as the seconds ticked by it was clear that he wasn’t going to let me squirm out of this.
“Why won’t you just let it go?”
“I tried, but I discovered that I’m not really good at that...maybe a little too late, but still.” He crossed his arms and continued to wait for me to answer.
“I hated it here. I still do. The only really good thing about Donnerville was Adam. And when everything happened and even he didn’t believe in me,” I took a deep breath, trying to contain all of the words that wanted to spill out of me. “It was just easier to give up on Donnerville, and Adam, and all of the pressure to be a happy, smiling teenager when I usually felt like a hot mess.”
Damon took me by the shoulders and forced me to look him in the eyes.
“I’m saying, you don’t have to just roll over and let things happen. Even if you decide you don’t want to do anything about it, you should at least know the whole truth about why everybody here treats you like shit.”
“Okay.”
“So let’s meet after school. Let’s talk for real,” he said.
“Okay, I’ll meet you at the library.”
“Won’t it be locked after school?”
“The PUBLIC library. You do know where it is, right?”
“Even if I don’t, GPS is a thing, Harper!”
He gave me a lopsided smile, picked up his tray and walked away, just as confidently as he’d sat down. I wished I had his kind of confidence. It was like magic. I saw dozens of eyes that took note of him passing by. He didn’t seem to notice at all, but he had to know they were there. He had to know he was seen, he simply didn’t care. If Donnerville managed to have people like him hidden in its depths, it was possible that all was not lost.
I finished eating and left the cafeteria quickly. As I walked through the doors, I decided that it was time that I stopped hiding. I pulled my headphones off of my head and slid them into my bag.
“...how they even know each other.”
I turned and looked in the direction of the pixie-like voice. The tiny girl’s blue eyes went wide with surprise and she quickly clamped her mouth closed without making another sound. I turned fully towards her and smiled. Then watched as all the color drained from her face.
“What do you want, freak?” The girl’s slightly braver friend stuck her chin out for emphasis.
I looked at them both; sophomores, judging by their uniforms. They hadn’t even been at the school long enough to know me, yet they were passing judgments and telling each other fairy tales about the murderer on campus. Why was I hiding from them? They were gossipy little girls. Why was I afraid to be seen by them?
“Thank you,” I said.
“For what,” said pixie voice.
“For reminding me how sad and pathetic Donnerville really is.” I spun on my heel and flipped the hood of my sweater over my head.
I went through the rest of the day with my head up. I looked people in the eye when I thought I heard them talking about me. I didn’t say anything. I didn’t have to. The fear in their eyes as they realized they’d been caught was enough for me. It became almost farcical. I realized I’d made a mistake. I’d been trying to disappear, hoping that if I just ignored them all, they would eventually ignore me. But that would never happen. I would have to challenge them directly.
Fortunately, they’d painted such a terrifying picture of me in their own minds that there was almost nothing for me to do. I could continue to keep my head down and cower, or I could look up and fight back. I had to admit, it felt pretty fucking awesome. I was even on the verge of calling it a good day until Adam came jogging over to me as I slipped out of the back door of the gym at the end of the day.
“Hey, Anna!”
I rolled my eyes and kept walking.
“Wait up!”
I reached into my bag and pulled out my headphones.
“Anna!” He grabbed my arm and I whirled around to stop.
“What?”
“What’s this about?”
He pushed his phone under my nose and showed me a picture of Damon and I laughing together in the cafeteria.
“What’s what?”
“Are you trying to get back at me or something? That guy is bad news. You know what he did to Eva. He’s an asshole!”
“Yeah, well I have a lot of experience with assholes. We should be fine.”
“I’m serious, Anna! Why are you hanging out with that guy?”
“Why do you care? You’re banging his ex-girlfriend! And, just in case you forgot, I am YOUR ex-girlfriend, so I get to hang out with whomever the hell I want!”
He looked stunned as if I’d just slapped him hard. I jerked my arm out of his grip and walked away. I wanted to run, but I didn’t want him to know how much he’d upset me. I kept putting one foot in front of the other until I was off of the school grounds and out on the street. I plugged my headphones into my phone and cued up a playlist. I needed to get my head back in the game. I couldn’t keep letting my feelings for Adam distract me.
Chapter 24
NOW
Damon managed to get to the library before me and was waiting at the entrance when I arrived.
“Hey, you look like you just went to war, Harper,” he said, calling me by the nickname I’d chosen. His easy smile fell slightly as I got closer.
“Maybe,” I grumbled.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“NO.”
He threw his hands up in defense and took a step back.
“Fine by me. I’m just asking.”
I pushed past him and headed for the quiet rooms in the back. Technically you were supposed to reserve these rooms at the front desk, but most people didn’t bother to use them unless they were preparing for an exam. We slid into one of the empty, sound-proofed rooms and shut the heavy door behind us.
“Public library. Nice touch, Agent Harper. Nobody from school is going to see us here,” he said, dropping his backpack on the floor and flopping down in one of the ergonomic chairs that were supposed to make studying for hours less damaging to your spine.
“So tell me what I don’t know,” I said. I know he meant well but I was not in the mood to joke.
“Okay.” He took a deep breath and leaned forward, his face becoming very serious as he looked up at me. “What if I told you the reason why all of this is happening is because it’s what Eva wanted.”
I shook my head.
“Listen to me. Hear me out. Eva is not well. I mean…mentally…she’s not. She puts up a good front. A great front, really. But even before the accident there were…things.”
“Things like what?” I asked. The way he was talking, looking behind him as he spoke made me feel like I was on the edge of my seat with needles at my feet.
“She’s clingy and possessive…manipulative. That squeaky clean image everyone thinks she has…she uses it as a weapon. And it’s a perfect weapon, too. It might not quite seem like it now, but in the long run, Eva will strike and watch as everybody tears each other apart.”
I shifted in my seat. Perhaps even closer to the edge. “What does that have to do with me?”
Damon looked at me, his eyes piercing mine like a thousand sharpened arrows. Time seemed to slow as he parted his lips and inched forward. “We both know that Eva was the one who drove the car that night,” he said and it felt like he dropped a ticking time bomb where my heart used to be.
“How did you…?”
He nodded his head and all of a sudden it seemed he wasn’t telling me a fact but asking for me to confirm one. Somehow, it didn’t feel like a trap.
“I know Eva,” he said matter-of-factly and shook his head. “So the way I see it, she crashed the ca
r and got you to take the fall for it because she was wasted and you weren’t. Then she tells everybody she can’t remember anything. But, the toxicology report already came back and you were sober while she was more than just drunk. She had drugs in her system as well. But perfect little Eva never even smoked a cigarette. How could that be?”
I nodded slowly as he spoke revealing things I thought I was the only one to know.
“You aren’t exactly telling me anything new, Damon.”
“Really? Aren’t I? Alright. So let’s get to the part where I come in. Eva catches me stealing evidence and she says she’ll stay quiet as long as I steal a little more. My job is simple, make the case disappear...”
“Which you did,” I added.
“Yes, I did. You’re welcome by the way.”
I rolled my eyes.
“She’s got the perfect cover now. You already admitted to driving. Although the cops can’t prosecute you on the basis of evidence they no longer have custody of, the word is out that somebody drugged Princess Eva.”
“And that you broke up with her while she was still in the hospital,” I added.
“Which was a lie. Eva and I broke up before the accident. It was the reason why she was drinking in the first place. That’s also why Angelique-”
He stopped short as if just remembering that this was the part he wasn’t supposed to say out loud.
“That’s why Angelique did what?”
“If I tell you, you’re going to have to promise not to use it against her.”
I rolled my eyes. When it came to Angelique my head spun faster than a windmill. Her and Adam. Her on Adam’s neck. God, I felt like I was going to be sick.
“Promise me,” Damon said, his voice sharp, his hands gripping mine.
I took a deep breath and nodded my head. What was one more secret?
“She spiked Eva’s drink,” he said and… I gasped. Of course I fucking did. Pulled my hands away from Damon’s too.
“Not to hurt her,” he insisted.
I shot up from my seat. Some secrets really were better left unsaid.
“Anna please. Sit down.” I shook my head at him, staring venom back into his eyes. “Angelique was just trying to help.”
“By drugging her?” I hissed.
“Look, Eva was flipping out and Angelique just wanted to help. She felt bad, it was partly her fault that Eva was as upset as she was that night. She just wanted her to relax. It was dumb, I know, but she was keeping an eye on her to make sure that nothing bad happened.”
“Until she got into a car, determined to drive herself home. Where was Angelique then?”
“She would have gotten involved, but you were already there. So, she figured you would handle it.”
I felt like I’d been punched in the fucking chest.
“And all this time she said nothing?”
“She was just trying to help,” Damon insisted.
“And you believe her?”
He nodded and I couldn’t help but laugh – it was a bitter, sick to the stomach kind of laugh.
“Of course you do, you guys have a way of finding pretty women credible, no matter how batshit crazy the things they do are.”
“Look, I know it was dumb. I would have stopped her before she did it if I’d known. But, it was done by the time I found out.”
“And then you went and stole the paperwork from the hospital,” I added.
“Yes. And then I had Aaron Lee and his friends take care of the digital stuff, and that was it.”
“Aaron?”
“You know him, he’s a mercenary. He couldn’t wait for an opportunity to hack something that was supposed to be secure. The threat of federal prison time gets him hard. He still charged me an arm and a leg, though.”
“He knew all along that I was innocent and he said nothing!?” To be honest, I wasn’t really sure why I was surprised.
“I don’t know if he knew anything,” Damon said. “He’s just a merk. He doesn’t care about the back story. He just takes out the target and collects his pay. That’s who he is. And even if he knew it was all bullshit, he wasn’t going to put his neck on the line for you. Keeping his head down is sort of necessary for guys like him.”
“Cyber-criminals?”
“You’re not a criminal unless you get caught,” he said, but, I guess at least he had the decency to cringe as he said it.
This whole thing made me sick to my stomach. It’s the only reason I sat back down.
“Okay, let’s say that I believe you,” I said, breathless, exhausted, uncertain which way was up. “Why would Eva do this to me? We were classmates. I was dating her brother! She had to know that hurting me would hurt him.”
He raised his eyebrows and pursed his lips.
“Yeah, she did. And when he got hurt, where did he run to? Right back to the old ball and chain.”
I still didn’t understand what he was implying. I wasn’t “the other woman” in this story. I was Adam’s girlfriend and Eva was his sister. There wasn’t much more to it than that. Sure, they were really close, but that was expected with twins. They had a unique bond and I’d always respected that. The way Adam doted on Eva was one of the things I’d loved about him. Even though they were only a few minutes apart, he still called her “little sis” and took his job as the older brother very seriously.
“I’m not sure what you’re implying here, Damon.”
He balled up his fists and rested them on the table, balancing his weight on the knuckles.
“I told you, she’s clingy and possessive. She’s a full-scale whack job. All her life, she’s been the woman in his life. He has been dancing to her tune for so long he doesn’t even realize how weird it is. And then, all of a sudden there’s a new woman in his life, taking her place. You took her man, Anna, whether you want to believe it or now.”
“She was dating you,” I reminded him.
“Yeah, and you see how that worked out. I was a piss poor replacement for Adam. It was an adventure; a project at best. I was somebody she wanted to fix up and there just ain’t no fixing a man like me.”
He ran the tip of his tongue across the front of his teeth.
“But she didn’t convince me to take responsibility for the accident. I was the one who did that.”
It was true. As soon as the car struck the tree, I reacted. I didn’t check to see that I was okay. I checked on her first and then I pulled her from her seat. She was drunk. So drunk that her words twisted and turned into corners of nonsense. I didn’t trade places with Eva because she told me to. I did it of my own accord.
“Did she burst into tears and talk about how all of her hard work would be ruined once it got out that she was drinking?”
She did. That wasn’t a lie. But she’d done it after I was already sitting behind the steering wheel.
Still, I looked at Damon with a brow arched. How the hell did he know all of this?
“How did you-” I asked and watched as he tilted a head and matched my cocked brow.
“I’m telling you, that image of hers is like a magic wand. You knew you weren’t drinking so you switched places with her and then she passed out and woke up with no memory of that night at all.”
The penny finally dropped for me, and all of the pieces began to fall into place. The room tilted and all of my anger and hurt drained from my body. I felt empty and fragile.
“I didn’t-”
I held up my hand.
“I can’t. Not today. I just can’t,” I said, backing away from him.
“Anna? Are you okay?”
I squeezed my eyes shut and grasped for the wall behind me.
“I just can’t today, okay? I can’t.”
“Okay,” his voice was pitched low and soothing. “It’s okay. Everything is going to be fine.”
He reached out and stroked my hair.
“You know everything you need to know. Whatever you decide to do with the information is fine by me. You don’t need to think abou
t it right now.”
He kept talking, trying to calm me down, running his warm hand over my hair with long firm strokes. Something about it was oddly soothing. So much so that I didn’t want it to happen.
“I’m not a dog,” I moaned and tried to slip away, but Damon was still there, hands on my back.
“It works on most mammals, even alpacas,” he said.
I chuckled, completely taken off guard by the answer. When I looked up at him, I saw so much more than all the things I’d seen before. So many layers to a creature that for so long seemed so uncomplicated.
I caught his gaze and tried for a smile. “You never told me…what’s your secret agent code name?”
“McFury.”
“Like from the movie?”
“No, he’s just Agent Fury. I’m McFury.”
“That sounds like a sandwich. Or ice-cream.”
We both laughed at that. I closed my eyes and opened them again, inhaling and exhaling deeply. The room that was closing in around me didn’t seem quite so small. The world had tilted back in the direction of its original position, and I could breathe again.
“I think I get it now.”
“What?”
“Why Eva wanted you.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because you have a way of distracting people from the things that hurt. It’s a gift.”
“Is that a compliment, Harper?” he whispered.
“It’s not an insult, McFury,” I whispered back.
Chapter 25
NOW
I watched as Eva wobbled across the room. Her doctors convinced her to trade her wheels for a pair of crutches, hoping that the exercise would strengthen the muscles in her legs and constant practice would encourage the nerves to heal.
She looked stronger, healthier, and more balanced than she did a week ago. But, she wasn’t out of the woods. Maybe she never would be.
“She should have gotten much better,” her doctors kept saying. “Is she taking her medicine?”
Filthy Pride: Dark Bully Romance Page 16
