She stared into the warmth of Rhys’s wise gray eyes, sensing the strong friendship between them. Her choice came easy. She opened her mouth, and her truth spilled out, just like it had with Hunt. Leaving nothing out, she bared all her scars.
By the time she finished, Rhys watched her with a gleam in his eye. “Hunt said you were brave. Now I see what he meant.”
“I know he wants me to feel brave, but I don’t feel brave. I was desperate to stay alive. And now I feel selfish that I let anyone in closer than I should have. I don’t want any of you involved in this, and now Hunt is, and Archer and Elise. No one else.” While the worry remained, her breathing came easier. A lie between them now erased. One that she had wanted gone for so long felt like a heavy blanket removedjust like that.“We can’t leave here together. I don’t want anyone to see us together, just in case.”
“I think that’s wise,” Rhys agreed.
Movement over her shoulder caught her eye. Another couple came outside, walking the patio, the woman in obvious early labor. Lottie glanced at Rhys, who was watching her carefully. “I’m sorry that I never told you the truth. Especially after we became friends.”
He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “I’m just glad to know you,” he said. “Therealyou.” After a firm squeeze, he laced his fingers together again. “I’m not upset with you, and I feel how Zoey feels; you’ve always been Lottie to me. Nothing will change that.”
“You’re not upset?” she asked, baffled.
He seemed to choose his words carefully. “I don’t tolerate lying in the club, but I knew the moment I found out, you’d have a good explanation. And you do.” He hesitated, staring intently before adding, “You feared for your life, Lottie. You’re not the criminal here. Let’s not forget that.” She looked out to the skyline again, the sun glistening off the skyscrapers. “Archer’s upset.”
“You’re right; he is upset,” Rhys said with a soft laugh. “He’s pissed that someone was able to bury your identity and he couldn’t fish it out, but he’ll get past this once he lets his ego go and realizes this has nothing to do with him and everything to do with the technology we had at our disposal when you joined. We’ve got a better system now. Do you want me to explain all this to him, so you don’t have to keep going over it?”
“If you think it will help, then yes,” she said, rubbing at the ache building in her chest. “I hate seeing him so upset. I feel terrible.”
Rhys paused to consider before lifting an eyebrow. “Of everything you’re going through right now, you feel terrible for Archer, not yourself?”
She looked away. “This is my family. I was born into it.”
Rhys harrumphed. Then asked, “You really have no idea what your brothers are after?”
“I really don’t,” she said with a long sigh. “The only thing my father has ever given me is a wooden box, and that arrived after he died. There is legitimately nothing inside but a note from my dad. I have no idea what Leo wants from me or thinks I have.”
Rhys went quiet as a woman strode by, pushing her IV stand. “What about Hunt?”
“What about him?” Lottie asked.
Turning around, Rhys leaned his back against the railing and crossed his arms. “It’s no secret that Hunt has cared about you for a long time. It’s also not a secret that you’ve kept your distance. Were you protecting him?”
She stared out at the small park across from the hospital, wishing she could go back to the days when all she had to worry about was walking a dog. But… “If my family ever found me, and it was revealed I stole dirty money, and I’m in a serious relationship with Hunt, it could ruin his career and endanger him.”
Rhys’s expression softened, and she knew exactly what he was going to say next. “That worry is still very valid. Be careful, Lottie. Hunt’s got a lot to lose.”
She didn’t fault Rhys for worrying about his friend. Hell, she’d been trying to protect Hunt too. It would be almost laughable that the reason she was pushed into Hunt’s arms was because of her brother breaking into her condo, if it wasn’t so damn terrifying. “I know exactly what he has to lose,” she said to Rhys. “I’ve told him this, but you know him: he listens to what he wants to listen to and he’s very persuasive.”
Rhys’s eyes warmed with his chuckle. “I imagine he can be.”
Feeling like the world had suddenly been dropped on her shoulders, Lottie rubbed at her tired eyes, careful not to smudge her mascara. “So, what do I do—walk away from him?”
Rhys snorted. “I highly doubt Hunt would allow that. I can’t speak for everyone else, but I know you’d make him happy, and him you.” His hand came down on her shoulder again, squeezing gently. “But friend to a friend, this is a lot more complicated than two people dating. There’s a lot at risk.”
She nodded, acknowledging his advice. “You’re a good friend to him. To all of us.”
“Hunt is family,” Rhys said. “As are you. We take care of our own. Don’t we?”
“Yeah, we do,” she said, emotion squeezing her throat tightly. She’d never wavered from keeping herself away from Hunt for this very reason. “I won’t let my past touch Hunt,” she promised.
“That I do not doubt,” Rhys said.
She studied the trust in Rhys. The steady friendship he presented from day one. “I’m sorry I never told you the truth. I could tell you a hundred reasons why I didn’t tell you, but I shouldn’t have kept the truth from you.”
“No, you shouldn’t have,” Rhys agreed. Then he opened his arm, and she stepped into his embrace, warmth from his touch chipping away at the ice in her veins as he said, “I forgive you, Lottie.”
She didn’t know how much she needed to hear those words until her tears hit her cheeks.
