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His words came as a surprise, and the solidity of my foundation of truth began to shift. He’d never mentioned that Gypsy hadn’t given him the letter directly. He only delivered the letter to me in what he thought would be my final hours, and that was it.
“Who gave it to you?” I asked.
“It was given to me in confidence.” Cristian shifted uncomfortably. “I thought that it was authentic. I had no reason to believe otherwise when I gave it to you.”
“That doesn’t answer the question.”
He knew that, yet he chose not to answer. He’d given his word to whomever delivered the letter and getting it out of him would be impossible. It went against everything he believed, and the struggle was plain to see in his eyes.
“See?” Birdie said. “That just shows you that you’re wrong. You’re wrong about all of this.”
I wasn’t wrong. I wasn’t ready to believe that yet just because one of the facts was skewed. For all I knew, the letter could have been delivered by Birdie herself.
“Did you know he wasn’t really dead?” I looked up to find Gypsy staring at Father Hawk, betrayal etched into her features.
“No,” he answered. “I didn’t.”
“Everyone thought I was dead because you’d written an obituary and planned a funeral,” I stated sourly.
“Because she thought you were dead!” Birdie shouted. “Because that’s what we were told!”
This conversation was giving me a headache, but still, I indulged her trail of breadcrumbs. “Told by who?”
All three of them turned their gazes to Cristian, and this time, my confusion couldn’t be denied.
“He had nothing to do with this,” I said.
“He was the one who told us you were dead,” Birdie insisted.
Father Hawk bowed his head and released a deep breath as we waited for his response. It was quiet and full of remorse. “I told them you were dead because that’s the information I received.” He looked up, his eyes cloudy and troubled. “From Nolan.”
LUCIAN DISAPPEARED DOWN THE HALL and shut himself into his office while the rest of us sat at the table in silence.
He didn’t want to believe what Father Hawk had just implicated, and I knew Father Hawk felt horrible for saying it at all. Nothing about this situation was making any sense, but even after all the horrible accusations Lucian had flung my way, I was keenly aware that he was hurting inside. Someone had tried to kill him and set me up, and everything was a huge mess. But Nolan was his oldest friend, and if it came down to it, I didn’t know who he was going to believe.
I stood and pushed back my chair, and Ace looked at me. “You better let him figure this out on his own.”
“I can’t,” I said. “And you shouldn’t ask me to either. You of all people should know what it feels like to be accused of something you didn’t do.”
Ace’s jaw clenched as Birdie turned her head to examine him curiously. I probably shouldn’t have said it like that for everyone to hear, but my mind wasn’t in the right place. Everything was so surreal; it was hard to believe this was really happening.
“I just got him back,” I declared. “I can’t let him go again.”
Nobody protested this time when I walked down the hall and opened the door to the office.
Lucian looked up at me from his desk, his face drawn as he listened to the voice on the other end of the line. I knew it was Nolan. I knew I would probably have to defend myself again after this conversation, but if that was what it came down to, I would do it. Because regardless of how angry Lucian was or who tried to separate us, I loved him. I loved him, and I thought that all my chances to say it were gone. But he was here now, and he needed to know it. I needed to make him believe it.
I sat across from him while he ended the conversation with Nolan and hung up. He looked exhausted and thinner than he should have been, and fear clouded my mind as I wondered how long he had left. It wasn’t fair that I just got him back and all of this was happening. It wasn’t fair that I was already terrified of losing him again.
“Lucian,” I began. “Will you look at me?”
He hesitated, but when he looked up, I saw the hurt in his eyes. I saw the pain and confusion and the war raging in his mind. “I suppose you’re going to tell me that Nolan did this,” he said. “Is that it?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I don’t know why he would. He’s your friend.”
Lucian’s gaze moved to my belly, his thoughts drifting far away. “This baby,” he choked out. “You know I won’t let you take that from me. I want to make that clear now.”
