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Now, I glance at the clock on the microwave. We’ve been sitting here for seventeen minutes. Someone needs to speak up.
"Where is Lilly?"
Aw, fuck. Not her.
My father's eyes swing from Nat, to Mom, to me, and he raises his eyebrows expectantly. Slowly, Mom's gaze follows until three sets are trained on me.
I clear my throat. What the fuck am I supposed to say? Opening my mouth, nothing comes out, so I snap it back shut.
"Is she with him?" My father’s question hits me like a push-kick to the balls.
"Uh, what?" is my very profound response.
"Him who?" My mother wrinkles her forehead, her gaze ping-ponging between both ends of the table.
Without taking his eyes off me, Dad answers, "Whoever was on the phone the day I caught her with a burner Rhys did not give her. Whoever was not Wes." His tone is eerily quiet.
Fuck me.
My lips part. "Uh..."
My father slams his flattened palms onto the tabletop, and everyone jumps. "DAMN IT, RHYS! Start fucking talking. I’m sick of your secrets."
My secrets? Is he for real? I bare my teeth at him. He wants to play this game? Bring it on! I mimic the position of his hands, but instead of remaining in my chair, I shove myself up and look down at Colonel Tristen McGuire. "My secrets?" I seethe. "You’re one to talk."
My father scowls at me, and I cock my head in a challenge, daring him to push me. I'm ninety-nine percent certain Mom has no clue about the surveillance features in her home.
The wheels in his brain are turning. He can't figure out how much I know. Past caring, I raise one eyebrow and peer toward the corner where one of the cameras is located. Looking back, I smirk, and my father's face pales.
Who is keeping secrets now?
"Rhys?" My mother inserts herself into the standoff, and I glance to the side. "She says she has to leave for us to be safe. What does she mean by that? Where is my daughter?" The floodgates open, and tears are streaming down her face again. Natty wipes under her nose to stifle her sniffling, and Dad reaches over and takes one of Mom's hands.
He exhales a long breath, and calmer than before, he pleads with me, "Please tell us where she is. All we ever wanted was to keep her safe."
His change in demeanor momentarily throws me off. I can handle angry, pissed-off Tristen McGuire. Even scary, Marine Corps Tristen McGuire. But the desperate father...
My anger disintegrates. How much does she want me to reveal? I rub my palms over my face.
"Fuck," I mumble into my cupped hands. Pulling my hands away, I lock eyes with my father. "Lilly is with her family."
"Oh, my God!" Mom’s eyes widen in shock.
"Excuse me?"
I think, for the first time in my life, I’ve truly stunned him.
"What family?" My mother’s voice is shaking.
I have to give them something, but telling them who Nate is... I refuse to betray Lilly in that way, even though she left me. Instead, I stall. "What did her message say?"
My father's mouth flattens. He doesn't like to be the one who's not in charge. After a moment, he concedes, "She said she had to go away to keep us safe. That the reporter that showed up at Natty's school is not who he says he is and that she is afraid that if she stays, she puts us in danger." Natty stiffens next to our mother, and Mom wraps her arm around her. Dad continues mercilessly. "I'm asking you again, son. Who is Lilly with?"
Still standing, I finally lower myself back into the chair and cross my arms over my chest. "Her brother."
What I see next on my parents' faces confuses the shit out of me. Relief. Both school their features quickly, but I know what I saw.
What the hell?
