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"I know. You should call your mother back. It sounded important."
She could not call her mom back with Drew in the room. "I'll do it later."
"Where is your mother, Ria? Why did you tell me she was dead?" He paused. "Is anyone actually dead? Or do people in your world just start over with new names?"
Before she could answer, the front door opened, and Megan walked in. "Hey, Drew," she said with a welcoming smile. "I didn't know you were coming over."
Drew forced a tight smile on to his face as he gazed at Megan. "How are you feeling? Your face looks better."
"Except for the black eyes that make me look like a raccoon." She paused, looking from Ria to Drew and back again. "What did I miss?"
"Nothing," Ria said.
"Only the fact that your mom called," Drew said.
Megan gasped. She sent Ria a shocked, questioning look, and Ria knew that Megan was about to give away something, if not everything.
"My mom," she told Megan. "Drew listened to my phone messages."
"That's not cool." Megan gave Drew a wary look. "Why did you do that?"
"Because I'm worried about you and your sister, and no one will tell me anything." He turned to Ria. "Why did you just say my mom when you and Megan are sisters? Why don't you have the same mother?"
"Because we don't." She took a breath, glancing over at Megan. "Would you give us a minute?"
"Sure." Megan stopped by her bedroom door. "If you trust him, I trust him," she said.
"Thanks. I'll get dinner going soon," Ria promised.
"Okay."
As Megan disappeared into her bedroom, Ria knew she was facing a pivotal moment. Whatever decision she made now could be the difference between life and death, maybe for all of them. But Drew wasn't going away, and she was out of lies.
"Megan is my niece," she said finally. "Her mother, Kate, was my sister. Kate died two years ago in a car accident."
Drew's gaze was dark, unreadable. "Is that the truth?"
"Yes. My mother is still alive. That's who called me."
"Where does she live?"
"Massachusetts, and no, I can't be more specific. She's remarried, has a second family, and is far removed from anything going on with me and Megan."
"Not that removed if she has the phone number to what I'm sure is a disposable phone."
He had her there. Drew didn't miss a thing. "I update her periodically. Megan is her grandchild."
"What about Megan's father? Your father? Where are the men?"
"They are both dead. My father died of cancer when I was twenty-one, and Megan's father was killed in the same accident that took Kate's life."
Drew paced around the room and then sat down on the couch, kicking up his feet on the coffee table. "Go on."
She sat down in the chair across from him. "What else do you want to know?"
"Why are you and Megan living like you're in the underground?"
"Megan's mother, Kate, was involved with some dangerous people. Before she died, she made me promise to take care of Megan. I'm trying to keep that promise."
Drew blew out a breath that was filled with frustration. "Dammit, Ria. Do we have to play twenty questions? I'm tired of going around in circles. Tell me what's going on."
"I just did, Drew."
"You said before you couldn't go to the police. But nothing you've just told me explains that comment."
She thought for a long moment, debating how best to phrase her answer. "In order to save Megan, I had to break the law. If I tell you what I did, you might feel compelled to turn us in, and I can't take that chance."
He stared back at her with shock in his eyes. Whatever he'd been expecting her to say, it hadn't been that.
"You're a man who's used to defending right against wrong," she continued. "You've spent the last decade living by a code of ethics and honor. I can't believe you would throw all that away for a woman you met in a bar one night."
Silence followed her words. Apparently, she had finally found a way to halt Drew's endless list of questions.
"You're more than a woman I met in a bar, Ria," he said slowly. "If you weren't, I wouldn't be here right now. And you know it."
