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“Save it,” she interrupts me, and I shake my head in confusion. She continues, “I don’t want to hear it.”
“But yo—”
“I don’t want to hear it!” she repeats, tears flowing freely again. “You should’ve been there with me today. You promised you’d do this with me.”
I did promise I’d be there for her every step of the way. But helping Kaitlyn helped both of them. I don’t move from where I stand with Aiden near the kitchen door.
“I’m sorry, Ann—”
“I don’t want your apology! You’re supposed to be my best friend, but you chose Kaitlyn over me knowing that she lied and got me expelled. It’s like I don’t even know you. All I want to do is prove Luke had nothing to do with Greg’s death!”
I’m too stunned to say anything; my thoughts are all over the place. She’s not letting me get a word in. How can I make her see I’m trying? That I may not be perfect, but all I want to do is help her.
Aiden’s tone is calm. “Attacking Amelia isn’t going to help, Anna.”
Somewhere in the back of my mind I sense Jason and Jackson standing behind us in the door, but no one pays them any attention.
Julian puts a hand on Annalisa’s arm. “We all know the truth behind Greg’s death. We just need to prove it. It’ll all work out.”
“You told them?”
Aiden and I turn around to look Jason, who just spoke. He’s in his pajamas and barefoot when he walks into the room, Jackson following him. “You told me not to say anything about how we killed Greg. Does this mean everyone knows it was an accident now?”
My jaw drops and Aiden’s whole body tenses.
“Wait, what?” Annalisa stands so abruptly her chair is knocked back. “What is he talking about?”
Aiden rounds on his brothers. “Boys, go upstairs.”
Jason and Jackson look at each other before scurrying upstairs.
Annalisa moves around the table. “Why did Jason just say they killed Greg? What does he mean?”
I’m standing like a deer in the headlights looking between Aiden and Annalisa. Our friends are frozen in place at the table. This is not how everything was supposed to happen.
I meet Aiden’s eyes as we sort through the best thing to say.
“Oh my God.” Annalisa steps back, like she’s in shock. “You both knew. Jason and Jackson killed Greg? Are you serious? And you weren’t going to tell us?”
That snaps Aiden out of it and he jumps into action.
“No, they didn’t,” he states with a final authority.
My heart pounds in my ears. The tension that was already so prominent in the room thickens.
Annalisa stands her ground. “He literally just said he killed him, and it was an accident. What did he mean?” She shakes her head. “You had me going on a wild goose chase trying to prove Luke didn’t kill Greg and you knew this whole time it was the twins?”
“It was an accident,” I say weakly, deciding honesty is the best policy right now. “We haven’t known for long. We’re just trying to figure out how best to proceed before doing anything.”
“Are you serious right now? My brother didn’t kill Greg? The twins did. He won’t have to go to jail. Oh my God. This is great! We need to tell everyone!”
“Are you hearing yourself? You don’t even know the whole story,” Aiden snaps, standing in her way when she tries to run from the kitchen.
“I know we can get Luke out of jail right now!” She sidesteps him and jogs to the front door. Aiden charges after her, and I scurry after him. The scrape of chairs and footsteps behind me tell me that our friends follow us out of the kitchen as well, but I’m not focused on them right now, I’m too busy watching Annalisa and Aiden go back and forth, too busy trying to keep my pulse under control, trying to keep the world from imploding around me.
“And what about the twins?” Aiden asks, an edge in his voice. “It was an accident. They were scared, and they hid it. That’s not going to look good, and I’m not going to let the media attack them like I was.”
She pauses. “We’ll figure that out later. I’m calling the cops.”
“Were you not listening when I said it was an accident?” Aiden asks, his entire body rigid with fury. “We need some time to figure out what to do, how to inflict the least amount of damage on the twins as possible.”
“I heard you. You can tell that to the cops when we set Luke free.”
“We are not telling anyone! Not this second. Come on, Anna, the most logical thing to do is to have a plan on how best to protect them. Luke isn’t going to prison.”
Annalisa stands her ground against Aiden’s stiffened form. “If it was an accident, they’ll just get a slap on the wrist and be sent on their way!”
“You’re delusional if you think they’ll just get a slap on the wrist,” Aiden fires back at her. “They killed a guy and hid the evidence. They could still be charged, I could lose my custody petition, and they’ll be famous for the rest of their lives for killing someone. We need to handle this properly.”
Annalisa looks around the room at our friends’ shocked faces. “So you’re saying you’re just going to let Luke take the fall for it? Knowing full well he’s innocent?”
I promised her Luke wouldn’t go to prison, and I’m standing by that promise. It’s important to me that she know that, even though she’s pissed at me right now for numerous reasons. “Well, we know Luke didn’t do it for sure now. Aiden’s getting a lawyer for the twins. In the meantime, we can still protect the boys by just finding out where Luke was at the time of Greg’s death like we’ve been doing. Let’s just take a second to think things through.”
Annalisa sets her piercing gaze on me. “Of course you’re going to take his side. As if you’re not done betraying me this week, you’re fine with throwing my brother under the bus for Aiden’s brothers.”
My breath stills. That’s not what’s going on and she knows it.
“They’re just scared kids, Anna.” Mason comes to stand beside me, and I’m grounded by his steady, familiar presence. “Amelia and Aiden are right. We don’t have to jump on anything right now, Luke’s trial date hasn’t even been set.”
She turns her sights on Mason, and I don’t like the hard set of her jaw paired with the fire in her eyes.
“Really, Mason? I know you’re only taking her side because you’re in love with her. But did you know your dad is fucking her mom on a regular basis? And Amelia has known this whole time and asked me not to tell you?”
My heart stops. All my limbs turn leaden, holding me in place as her words sink in around the room.
She did not just say that.
Shedid not just say that!
“Mason—”
I don’t even know what to say. Brian was supposed to tell him, and if not, I was supposed to break it to him gently, in private. I would’ve done it at mini-golf, but we weren’t alone. That was probably the worst way she could’ve broken the news to him. And now he thinks I went around telling everyone behind his back.
He looks at me with his sad, big, brown eyes. “Is that true? About our parents?”
“It—I—” Nothing I can say can make this right. Everything is going to shit and I’m losing control of everything. “Brian was supposed to tell you. I’m sorry, Mason . . .”
The look of extreme betrayal and hurt on his face makes me stop any other excuses I could’ve come up with. He’s looking at me like he’s never seen me before. Like he’s disgusted by the person standing in front of him.
A quick glance at Annalisa tells me that she regrets letting that slip, but she gets over it quickly and squares her shoulders.
“How long have you known?” Mason asks, looking between me and Annalisa.
My voice comes out small. I feel like shrinking into myself. “I found out when we left for the beach house.”
Mason looks stunned. “We lived together for two weeks, and you looked at me every day knowing the truth and still decided not to tell me? You’ve been lying to me for over a month.”
“I didn’t want to hurt you.” I feel like I’m grasping at air, clawing at nothing and praying for a miracle.
“Yeah, well, you failed.”
