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I swiped at my cheeks again to brush away any lingering wetness, huffing when I said, “Then, as always, I’m not following you.”
“Not many people do, Lily O’Sullivan.”
My head snapped up, eyes widening when my name left her mouth. I quickly looked around us to see if anyone was within hearing distance, but it was just us.
I tried to calm down. I tried to tell myself to channel the Lily that sat in on meetings. Blank stare, no reaction, impenetrable wall.
But I couldn’t stop.
I had already been too blindsided by Dare’s tattoo to respond rationally now.
“I—what did you—I don’t under—”
“Relax, no one else knows,” she said in a soothing tone I would’ve never expected from the wild-eyed girl in front of me.
I couldn’t relax. She knew my name and her boyfriend’s best friend was a member of the Borellos.
“If it helps you at all,” she went on when her keen eyes caught my rising panic, “I’ve known this whole time. I told you, there’s just something about your mouth.”
“I don’t . . . I don’t understand.”
“You’re Lily O’Sullivan. I know who you are. Earth to the not-so-dead princess.” She rolled her eyes and settled back into the chair.
“What do you mean by whole time, and . . . and how do you know me?” My chest hitched with my too-fast breaths, and I fought to calm myself. “Why would you let me say I’m someone else? Who are you?”
She drummed her fingers quickly on the arms of the chair as she waited for me to finish demanding answers, and sighed once she was sure I was done. “Well, I guess who I am depends on the decision you just made in the hall.”
I glanced at the empty hall instinctively, then back to her. “What decision?”
Einstein’s eyes rolled again, like she was frustrated with having to spell out things that should be simple. “I thought a mob princess would’ve put things together faster than you did, but I have my own theory for why you didn’t. I figured we’d never see you again because you would’ve figured it out. When you showed up last night and proved me wrong, I knew a day would come when you looked like you were a step away from a panic attack because you learned something about the man you were falling for. Today happened to be that morning. But since you didn’t leave, I can only assume you made a decision. Unfortunately, there are a lot of decisions you could’ve made. And I’m waiting to hear yours.”
“You’re one of them,” I whispered, studying every movement she made as I did.
But she simply sat there, waiting for my answer without seeming to care that I knew.
Then again, if she was a member of the Borellos, she’d known about me and hadn’t said a word . . .
“Decision?” she prompted after nearly a minute had passed.
I loosed a weighted breath, lifting my hands helplessly before letting them fall. “How do I walk away from what we have? How do I pretend he didn’t completely change my life?”
“How indeed?” she asked with a raised brow.
“Look, I know how this ends,” I whispered harshly, leaning in toward her so my voice wouldn’t carry. “I knew when I couldn’t force myself to leave. I knew before you said my name. One day he’ll realize who I am. One day one of you—another one of you—will realize who I am. If I’m not killed immediately, then I’ll be turned over to Demitri Borello so he can do it. But I’d rather spend my time until that day comes loving Dare, than never experiencing another moment with him.”
Einstein’s lips twitched into a smile. “So that’s it then?”
“Yeah,” I said on a breath as I sat back. “That’s it.”
We sat in uncomfortable silence before she said, “I finally put it together after you stabbed Johnny and everyone was waiting for you to wake up. I was putting your clothes in your purse and found your contacts in there. I wondered what you would look like without your glasses on . . . then I realized they were colored contacts. It didn’t take long after that.”
“So, you’ve known for a week and haven’t said anything. Why?”
“Two reasons.” She raised her hand so it was just barely hovering over the arm of the chair and lifted a finger, indicating one. “If you were really running from a man, then I knew exactly who you were running from, and I didn’t blame you for doing it. You know who I’m dating, but I refuse to be in the same room as the man you’re dating because he terrifies me in a way nothing ever has or will.”
I started when I realized she meant Kieran. If only she knew how twisted her confession sounded to me. Or that I’d felt—and still feel—so terrified of Johnny and knew I never had to fear Kieran.
“I wanted to make sure you had a place to go.” She lifted a second finger, indicating two. “And I was fairly sure this heart-to-heart would happen eventually. I wanted to make sure when it did that we understood each other. If I could keep you a secret to this house, then anything you found out about us didn’t need to be relayed to your house.”
