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“Right there, that’s when you made your mistake.”
“My what?” Enough of this bullying. She jammed her hands on her hips and glared at Seth. “What the hell is this all about?”
“You shouldn’t have tipped so well, Harper. That’s what first caught Becky’s memory. That and the fact you told her Aussie’s call cookies biscuits.”
She shook her head in confusion. “Cookies and biscuits? You’re not making any sense.”
“Then let me help you.” Seth stepped closer, but there was no warmth in his gaze or voice. His body loomed large, but not in the manly, protective way she always thought him to be. “You got into a discussion with Becky and, at one point, told her Aussies called cookies biscuits. She found that humorous. Another point of remembrance. So now a waitress that could have forgotten you an hour after serving remembered your visit a week after you’d left.”
“Up until then, we could have tried to find an explanation for the car, maybe even the clothes, but combine all that and the mention of the cookies, and you buried yourself.” Adam paused the video at the exact moment the bitch wearing her clothes lifted the mug and drank the café’s coffee. The final insult.
“I don’t understand, Harper.” Seth’s voice held a raw note of pain as he looked to the ground before returning his gaze to hers. “What did you have to gain by attacking my family? And why go back to the café the second time?”
“I didn’t go the first freaking time, Seth.” She flung her arms out at her sides. “I admit the woman looks like me, and yes, that’s definitely my necklace, but that’s not conclusive proof.”
Heath came up to stand beside Seth, his flinty hard stare matched by the coldness in his voice. “Your car. Your necklace. Your clothes. The cookies and biscuit story, which Seth says only you two shared.” He stared down at her. “Or am I wrong on the last point?”
He wasn’t. “I didn’t tell anyone,” she whispered in defeat.
“Then explain how some stranger knew what you and Seth said?”
She couldn’t. At least… Her head snapped up. “I wrote about it in my journal. Maybe someone read it.” She raced past the men to her bedroom. “I always keep it in one of my nightstands.” Dragging open the drawer, she couldn’t see the aqua notebook with the silver swirls on the cover. The other stand? But she always kept it in the one next to the doorway. A search of that nightstand proved fruitless.
She rounded the bed, nearly bumping into Heath who stood just outside the doorway. “Can’t find it?” he asked.
“No, it must be in the living room.” But she’d last had it in the bedroom, she was sure…
Harper lifted magazines, books and cushions in her search. Her gaze skated over end tables, bookcases, and the coffee table. The journal was nowhere to be seen. “It’s not here.”
Seth’s expression blanked with the finality of a safe’s door slamming shut. “A shame.”
“Listen to me. I have a journal. Call Jinx and ask her. She’s seen it. Teased me about the damn thing. Aqua with silver swirls on the cover.”
Seth raised his brows derisively. “Your friend? The one who’d go into battle for you no questions asked?” He sighed. “Harper, I want to believe you,” he broke off and glanced back to Adam’s laptop with the hideous frozen frame of the woman laughing before turning back to her. “I’m going to give you a chance. So think before you answer. Did anyone force you to make those posts? Blackmail you? Threaten you?” He grasped her shoulders, and she longed to fall against him. “If they did, we can keep you safe.”
“No.” She clenched her fists. “I didn’t make them, Seth. And nobody forced me.”
Jesus, what was it going to take for him to believe her?
He dropped his arms to his sides.
Then she saw his face. The way the faint glimmer of light faded in the eyes she’d loved to stare at. Now the hard blue resembled the gaze of a stranger. And the truth hit her with enough force to make her step back.
He didn’t believe in her innocence.
“I didn’t do this, Seth.” She reached out, and gripped his hand, holding tighter when he moved to pull away. No. No. Her throat closed over. She struggled against a ready flood of tears. But the guys were so disbelieving of her. She couldn’t stand to see them mock her pain.
Seth jerked his hand free. “We’re done.” His flat, lethal voice rendered her speechless. “You need to tell whoever you’re working with they won’t win.” He stepped closer, yet the coldness of his manner lent more distance between them than an ocean. “And if that’s your father, tell him he has much bigger enemies than me to look out for.”
Seth moved back a few feet and nodded to Heath, who reached behind his back.
For one horrible moment, Harper thought he was grabbing his handcuffs and was about to arrest her. She nearly collapsed with relief when he drew out a sheaf of paper. “Here’s the list of the offenses committed against my family and the prison terms they would likely bring.” She reached out in a stupor, and he pressed the paper into her numb grasp. “It’s only because of Seth’s intervention I haven’t already charged you. One more incident, Harper, and you’ll need a damn good lawyer.”
At that, Seth walked out, followed by his brothers. Adam lingered in the apartment’s entry, his unspoken threat in the ruthlessness of his gaze before he turned his back on her and disappeared.
In a stupor, Harper closed the door. She made it to the sofa before the first sob wracked her body. Grabbing the cushion, she clutched it to her chest as the flood of tears broke free.
She’d trusted Seth. Given herself to him and let herself be judged by all and sundry when he’d been under attack. And now, when it was her turn to need his support, he’d walked away. A mixture of grief and anger punched a sob from her chest. How could this have happened? Hadn’t she been honest? When he’d needed to explain himself to her after that first post, she’d eventually seen reason, given him a chance to clarify what had happened. But not Seth. He was all judgment. There wasn’t an ounce of the trust he demanded from her given in return.
