by Nicole Snow
How did I do it? How did I nearly marry the wrong man?
It's not just my new found hate that's making me wonder. I haven't heard from the asshole, despite the movers coming through our old place while we were gone.
The town's probably in full gossip mode already, if they've heard the wedding is off. If not, they will be soon. They'll have plenty of red meat when they find out the truth about Ryan and Split Harbor's fallen hero, Nelson Drayton.
An attendant tells us we're about to disembark. Ryan kisses me before helping me stand, leading us to the little staircase they've rolled down to the tarmac.
I'm still smiling, lost in his kiss, and halfway down the stairs when I see the cherry-blue lights. One glance, and I know there's something terribly wrong.
Ryan stops on the last step, his hand clenching the railing tight. There must be half a dozen black security vehicles surrounding the plane, their lights flashing an evil contrast to the morning's gold.
“Ryan Caspian – alias, Tanner Brooks?” A large man with a goatee speaks as he approaches us. He's dressed like a secret service agent.
Ryan nods, ignoring me behind him. He's standing like the entire world is about to come down on his head. The man never stops moving, ignoring the fear building in my eyes. I'm so shocked I can't even scream when he grabs my love, throws him to the ground, and throws handcuffs around his wrists.
“You're under arrest for the murder of Nelson Drayton. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and may be used against you in a court of law...”
No. My brain is on fire. No, no, no, no, no!
I stumble back against the railing, catching myself. Clenching the cold steel is the only thing that stops me from keeling over. My knees shake, spreading numbness through my body, watching as he's hauled away in handcuffs.
Several other people move through the special agents ringing the plane. A man steps up, grabs me, pulls me off the last step. I don't start screaming and beating his back with my fists until I recognize his voice.
“Come on, Kara. Let's get you home. Reg told me everything.” Matt locks me in his Marine grip, and carries me toward the small gaggle of people waiting below. “Can't believe the motherfucker thought he could brainwash you like this. He's going away for a long damned time, don't you worry.”
“Reg? He's lying!” My hands pound into my brother's back repeatedly, too weak to dent his hardened frame. “Matt, don't do this. Please, fuck, you can't. You don't know what he's done. You don't know Reg is lying.”
He isn't listening. He just holds me, ignoring every punch and kick, hauling me away from the plane. I stop hitting my brother for a second to look over his shoulder, just in time to see Ryan staring out the tinted window.
He's shaking his head, his eyes narrowed. They're sad, angry, and imploring me to stop. Don't hurt yourself, baby. This is my fight.
When the dark SUV pulls away a second later, I'm screaming. My brother releases me slowly, and I slide down to the ground, sobbing. My brain hasn't spinning before I see the familiar, polished black shoes hovering close to me.
I look up slowly, and see the asshole who's twisted my brother into helping him do the unthinkable. Reg stands there, calm and expressionless as ever, staring down at me like the ant I've become.
“I'm sorry it has to come to this, Kara-bell,” he says, using an old pet name he has no fucking business speaking ever again. “I couldn't let him get away with it. The lies, the bullying, accusing me of...of cheating. You were hanging out with a murderer, Kara. He killed Uncle Nelson.”
His voice cracks on cue. He stumbles. Like he's practiced it about a hundred times in the mirror, no different than one of his speeches to business associates. Staring through my hatred and confusion, I see the bandage conveniently plastered on his cheek, covering the edges of a bruise that looks more like a special effect than a real injury.
“Asshole. You heartless, depraved lunatic!” Words and fists fly simultaneously, but they don't do anything to soothe the anger ripping out of me. I strike him on the kneecaps several times before he backs away.
He's retreating, just like the coward he is.
I never expect him to lunge when I keep crawling after him. Usually Reg runs when he's under siege, but not this time.
He tackles me to the ground, pinning my wrists down on the pavement. We're face-to-face with a gaggle of people screaming around us.
“Told you I wouldn't walk away, you little idiot,” he hisses beneath his breath. “As soon as I found out who he was, I got your family on the line. Had a feeling they'd know exactly where you'd gone with the jackass who wanted to put me in a coma.”
I'm too stunned for words. I just look at him, my hatred overflowing, and mouth the only words I ever want to say to this pathetic, spiteful man again.
“Fuck you.”
He smiles. “That's all right, Kara-bell. You've fucked yourself over enough for both of us. See, Drayton's do more than cuss and complain: we bury anybody coming after us.”
More screaming. Reg has just enough time to change his sinister smile into a sad one as he's jerked up. Arms slide under me, hauling me to my feet, dragging me away from him.
I'm screaming, spitting, cursing him the entire time. I must look totally insane, and I don't care.
“Kara, come on!” Matt wraps me in a bear hug so tight it's hard to speak, squeezing me until my fight runs out. “Have you lost your mind? I know you're mad at him because Ryan told you some shit he shouldn't have. He was lying, Kara. You need to calm down. Clear your head. Then we can all sit down, talk about this, and set the record straight. We'll bring in the shrink you two've been seeing. I love you, sis. I'm here for you. God knows, we all are. However long it takes to get you through this.”
How about forever, jackass? I can't do more than think it.
I'm too tired to fight more, much less scream. My brother holds me, rubbing my back, doing his damnedest to calm me down.
Mom appears at his side a second later. She's whispering in my ear, squeezing my other shoulder, telling me what a monster Ryan is for coming back to this town after all these years to play with me. He thought he could get away with his lies, as if he wouldn't get caught. He was wrong, she says.
Wrong. The same bitter word, echoing in my ears. False by its own definition.
How can they be so blind? They don't even know they've made a deal with the devil.
I have to fight my way out of my family's consoling grip to face the asshole who's turning his back on me, hiding a faint smile. “We're going to bring you down! If I have to testify myself against you, bankrupt every business with your family's name on it, God help me, I will. You're a fucking monster, Reg.”
“Honey, please.” Mom's hold tightens. “Matthew, get her to the car. We'll call him later.”
They're murdering me. Driving every knife I've always feared in deep, bleeding me out as they pull me away and push me into Matt's big truck. It's their fault this is happening, and they don't even know it.
Little Holden isn't even waiting in the truck to soften the blow. Probably a good thing, since I wouldn't want my nephew seeing me like this.
I lay against the seat and cover my eyes. The soft yellow sun that seemed so nice when we first stepped off the plane blinds me now.
There's a million questions gouging me inside. A million and one things I want to do to set him free, and make my soulless ex pay for ruining my ruining my life a second time.
But I can't think anything coherent. The thing I see when I close my eyes – the only thing – is Ryan's tormented face behind the tinted glass.
Betrayed, tortured, but still dead set on keeping me out of his mess.
I don't say anything for several hours. Mom guides me to my old room, now one they only use for guests. Matt sits outside it in the kitchen, playing guard dog, while I hear her make several calls across town.
She's talking to the police, giving them some kind of statement. It doesn't bother me until her v
oice fades out later. She's whispering in her lowest tone, talking to the man who lied, cheated, and ripped me away from the one I really wanted.
Reg, I'm going to kill you, I vow, folding my hands.
Actually, I don't want his blood anywhere on my hands. I don't even want to look at him again, but not half as much as I just want to end him. I'll settle for getting Ryan free, running his twisted family out of this town, and never having to see his manipulative face again.
“Sis, you need anything?” Matt knocks gently on the door. “Water? Sandwich? We want to bring you out to talk to us shortly. It's time to clear the air.”
He's on guard, but he's talking to me like a brother again, rather than a soldier barking orders. The knot in my stomach doubles when I think about him believing he's doing the right thing. Both of them. They believe they're saving me from a murderer, a liar, and they're completely clueless about the real ones hiding in plain sight.
“I'm ready,” I say weakly through the door.
I open it a second later, and my big brother lays his hand on my shoulder, guiding me down the hall to our old kitchen. The table used to be so full and happy. It's the same one we sat at with daddy and Ryan in the old days, before the hate and the lies, before I had the world ripped out under me several times over.
It's a miracle there's anything left of my mind to sit down with them today. I don't know how I can bring them around, make them believe Reg cheated, lied, and it's the dead Drayton patriarch who's responsible for everything bad.
I don't have a clue, but I have to try.
“Honey, before we say anything, I want you to know we're not here to put you on trial. We've seen firsthand how much he hurt you over the years, how hard it was for you to believe the truth about him leaving. You didn't do anything wrong. He came to you when you were weak, pretending to be someone new. We don't blame you for thinking he was more than a murderer, or the man who broke your heart.” She reaches across the table, grabbing my hand. “Look, it hurts us, too. We hate having to relive everything, him putting our family through this all over again.”
“Ryan deserves to be locked the fuck up, and I'm going to make it happen,” Matt growls next to me, banging his fist on the table.
Mom flashes him a disapproving look. “It took us several days to tie it all together after your brother saw him with you that night. Honestly, it's insane that he's built this wealth and fame, after everything he's done. When we realized who Tanner really was, and knew you were missing...we called the sheriff's office last night. Told him everything we knew. I think there's a lot more we can offer, several missing pieces we got from Reg, but we want to hear the rest from you. We want your side of what happened, Kara.”
Bull. They're both going to hate the truth, and start to hate me for denying what they think he really is.
I've had enough with words. They haven't done anything to protect me, push Reg away, or banish the endless nightmare Ryan and me tried so hard to run away from.
They're staring when I pull out my phone. I'd almost forgotten I asked him to send me the pictures halfway through our Seattle trip, when we were knocking around ideas to fix this.
Thankfully, I didn't.
“You should both take a look at this, and tell me what you see.” I slide the phone across as soon as I pull it up.
Mom's eyes go huge and dark when she sees the screen.
Showing my own family the disgusting pictures of my ex in those compromising positions with his little mistress is the last thing I want. But it's the last, best option that might make them believe there's more to this than they think.
“Is that...Jesus.” She can't even say the name. She's looking at Amy, the double crossing bitch of a wedding planner, strapped to the chair half-naked. She flips forward. When she sees King Asshole, Reg himself, she gasps, dropping the phone against the table's surface with a clatter.
Matt doesn't wait for her to pass the phone. He reaches out, snatches it, and eyeballs everything. Hatred, then confusion, fills his eyes.
“No fucking way,” he whispers, turning it over and slamming it down a moment later. “Where did these come from?”
“Ryan. He caught them cheating himself, at a hotel in Marquette. I wasn't sure either, until I saw the pictures.” I give Matt a sharp look. “These aren't staged. Yes, he burst in and roughed them up a little. Reg deserved it after everything he did to me. I don't feel bad for him, and I never will. Now that you've seen the truth...are you still going to call me crazy? Pretend I'm just 'brainwashed' by a man I'll never get over?”
Matt hardens his look, and swallows something heavy in his throat. “Sis, you and Reg got serious problems, and it's not all bullshit. I'll give you that. Still doesn't let him off the hook for everything else.”
“No, it doesn't. And he explained to me exactly what happened that night.” Their eyes glue to me, waiting for my story. “He didn't kill Nelson Drayton. Not by himself, anyway...”
I spend the next ten minutes recounting Ryan's story as best I can. It probably doesn't have the emotional impact, or all the details, because I feel like I'm about to melt into a puddle.
I hate having to face them like this, explain how daddy forced himself into something so heinous because he had no choice. He thought he was protecting me, protecting us, even protecting Ryan.
Ryan didn't have a choice either. That's the point I keep trying to make, when I tell them how Nelson backed him into a corner, demanded he turn over those disgusting pictures he found, threatened to bring down our family.
“You know that happened anyway,” Matt says, shaking his head in disbelief. “You've bought into a sick goddamned joke, Kara. He'll say anything to have you back, make you think he's really on your side. Dad told me he burned a bunch of rough nudie magazines he found shortly after stumbling over Nelson's body. Said he thought Ryan left them out, and Nelson stumbled across them. Probably threatened his job since the man was a total prude. Dad threw the evidence on the fire because he didn't want the police coming after the other employees, thinking they had a beef with the old man.”
“Jesus, Matt, can't you see he lied?” Tears come hot and merciless when I say it, slapping my hands against the table. There's no worse truth than knowing what a liar daddy was. “He lied to us all. And he didn't have a choice, not when he knew better than anybody how much the Draytons own this town. He didn't burn any magazines. You're insane if you think Ryan killed a man over finding his porn stash. Ryan found Nelson's dirt, and there's no way on earth that man was any kind of prude. Drayton wanted to hide it. They're good at that, burying their secrets, and then threatening anyone who gets in their way.”
I'm still fuming over Reg kicking me straight in the ass one more time. The look he gave me as my family dragged me away, smug and self-assured...it was gotcha personified. He fed them a story about how he loved me, wanted to bring me back to my senses, knowing they'd find out the truth.
He used them, abused their trust, thinking he'd just walk away quietly after his humiliation.
Matt shakes his head again, grumbling to himself. “Look, sis, you convinced me on Reg because you've got evidence. Ryan...that's another story. Unless you've got something proving what you said, it's your word against dad's.”
My brother looks at me, hurt swelling in his expression. “Dad wasn't in love with the fuck who left you out in the cold for half a decade. He saw Ryan as he really was, the orphan kid, knew he had problems none of us saw before they hit us in the face. You aren't telling me anything different, unless you're going to magically dig up whatever got burned in the fire pit.”
Sighing, I pick up my phone. I flip through my gallery again, and come to the snapshot I took of the rumpled page Ryan showed me last week, the one with the names and contacts.
“There's a man on there, Edgar Wollenshem. Look him up. You'll find out he's already doing time for getting busted in the sex trade. The others, I don't know, but I believe they're traceable. Ryan certainly did. He's been waiting ye
ars to go after them, whatever it takes to clear his name, and bring the Draytons down.”
Matt's face twitches. He averts his eyes, looking away from the image I'm pushing in his face. “Wishful thinking, Kara. He could've done the research and typed this list up himself. Doesn't prove a damned thing. Hell, I've been in rooms with men overseas who've always got the best excuses in the world for killing our troops, plus men, women, and children in cold blood. They're never responsible for the bombings – oh, no. It's always some neighbor, the merchant down the street from a rival clan, anyone they think they can frame and pin the fucking blame on.”
“Matthew...” Mom speaks up, eerily quiet up until now. “You can't write it off that easy.”
We both do a slow turn, fixing our gaze on her.
“Why?” My brother rumbles.
“Because I lied.” Her lips twist like she's bitten into something bitter. “Bart told me he helped Ryan escape. It was about the time he was diagnosed, when he came home from the hospital that cold, snowy winter.”
She pauses, closing her eyes. “He knew his outlook wasn't good. There was something on his chest. One night we stayed up late, drinking cherry wine, talking about the old times, good and bad. We were laughing, remembering how big and beautiful our family used to be, before the ugliness with Ryan. He got real quiet, teared up a little, and looked at me, said he had something important to say.”
Something dark, thick, and angry wells up inside me. I want to believe she's lying, missing details, or didn't have the whole truth from dad.
Because if both my parents knew, all these years...
My hands form fists on my lap, tightening as we listen to her talk. “Kara, it's my fault. Not his. He made me promise on his life not to say anything. What he burned in that pit wasn't ordinary porn. It was everything you said...dark, demented, evil stuff that shouldn't have ever see the light of day. He talked about how he found Ryan passed out, Nelson struggling to his feet, a horrible wound on his head...he did what he had to. He put a sick, wretched man out of his misery. And then yes, Jesus, he helped our Ryan escape.”
