AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her gaze slides off me and up the trail to Khrum Yai. As if she’s remembering.
She opens her mouth, and I brace myself for her confession.
And then the rev of an engine ricochets off the trees lining the hill, the sound deafening amid the silence.
Logan is home.
30
CASS
“Leave, now. Before I call the police.”
“Oh right. You have them all in your pocket, don’t you?” Brooke retorts. “That must be convenient, you know, now that you’re getting married to a murderer and all.”
I feel emotion flood my lungs, forcing in a breath at Brooke’s comment. At the noticeable flinch I see in Logan’s face as he’s confronted for the first time with what I actually am.A murderer.
“But you don’t know anything about her really,” Brooke continues. “You don’t know what—”
“I said, leave.” Logan’s voice is gruff, a tone I’ve never heard him use before. I watch as his hands ball up, his muscles tense. The only time I’ve seen him this angry was when he found out an employee at Frangipani had been stealing money from the bar. He’d come home that night with rage on his face and bruises on his knuckles.
Brooke notices it too, and I see a flash of fear in her eyes as she takes a step back. She opens her mouth again, but Logan beats her to it.
“Come inside,” he says to me.
And I do, but first, I steal a glance back at Brooke. She’s still standing there, her lips parted slightly, the anger flashing in her eyes.
I turn, following Logan in, my mind playing Brooke’s accusations on a loop.You killed Jacinta… You strangled Lucy.
I try to deny it, but I’m not sure I can any longer. I was so jealous, so hurt when I saw Logan and Jacinta together. It threw my entire life off course.
And everything Brooke said makes sense. All the evidence adds up.
I barely register once we’re inside. For once, this house doesn’t feel like home.
Logan takes a seat in the armchair at the far side of the living room and buries his head in his hands. A portrait of a man defeated.
“Logan,” I say, going to him. But when I place my hand on his shoulder, he recoils as if I’ve burned him.
I can feel the life I’ve built here crumble around me. It started when I saw Logan with Jacinta, a few pieces of sand breaking off. And then a wall fell when I found that first envelope on my doorstep, and now, all of it has turned to dust, a sturdy sandcastle washed away in the waves.
With that realization comes the panic that’s been lapping at my toes the last few days. I’ve built everything around Logan, this man who loved me, who wanted to spend his life with me. I have nowhere to go, no idea who I am without him. Compulsive need engulfs me, squeezing tight.
“Please. I love you.” The panic laces my words, but Logan doesn’t even turn. “Let me explain.”
“Explain?” That does it. Logan spits out the word as if I’vecursed him, twisting his body toward me. “Explain what? That you lied to me about who you are this whole time? That you said your father and sister died in a car accident? That I know bugger all about you? Not even your name?”
“Please,” I try again.
“I thought Brooke was lying. When Doug told me about her Instagram post, I didn’t even want to look at it. I told him that it was a load of shite, that you would never lie to me. I thought I knew you…” He trails off, clears his throat. “But then I thought of the paper I found in the drawer the other day when I was looking for a takeaway menu. It said something about a massacre and had a picture of a girl on it. I thought it was rubbish and I tossed it. God, I didn’t even recognize you in that picture. My own fiancée. You must have thought I was so stupid.”
“No, Logan, never. You have to understand, I couldn’t tell you who I really was. You never would have loved me.”
Logan makes a noise that falls somewhere between a cough and a laugh. “But I did, Cass—Meghan, whoever you are. I loved you so much.”
Apparently not enough to stop you from cheating with Jacinta. The words come from nowhere, rising up my throat like acid, hot and mean. I force them down with a swallow that feels like needles sticking into my throat.
“I’ve protected you from so much here that you don’t even know about. I’ve made it my job to keep you safe. I lied for you about where you were the night Lucy died, and I was prepared to keep lying for you.” Logan’s use of the past tense causes my muscles to stiffen. “And then I find out that it wasn’t the first time you killed. You murdered your own fatherandsister, for God’s sake. I googledit. None of it makes any sense.” His voice breaks. I move forward to comfort him, but I stop when I see him flinch. “You told me they died in a car accident. A car accident!” He shakes his head as if he still can’t believe it. “Honestly, it makes me sick to think I’ve been sleeping next to you all these years.”
