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“Penny for your thoughts?” Reese asks from the bed as he flicks through the TV channels.
“I still can’t believe you thought I…”
“Come here.” He pats the bed and I go to him, curling up into his side. Reese holds me close, dropping a kiss on my head, and contentment washes over me.
Even now, after everything, I still want him. I want him so freaking much.
I guess Abigail was right. Love and hate are two sides of the same coin. And sometimes, those lines blur. They become a big, tangled web that’s impossible to unravel.
“You have to see it from my perspective,” he says. “We were always at each other’s throats. I was jealous of your bond with Oakley. You were always so judgemental of the Heirs, of me.Especiallyme.”
“Reese, that’s not—” He stares down at me and lifts a brow. “Okay, maybe I was a little judgemental. But you were always so full of yourself and the older we got, the more possessive of Oakley you got. Like you didn’t want me around, ruining all your fun.”
“Fair point. I was full of myself.” He smirks, dragging me closer, until I’m half-lying on him. “But you weren’t his annoying sister anymore, Liv. You were all grown up, and I didn’t like it. I didn’t like the way you made me feel.”
“That is such a boy thing to say.” I roll my eyes.
“It’s the truth.” I shrug. “Anyway, when I got to your house and saw them… in my head, you’d wanted me to find out. You’d wanted to hurt me.”
“Reese.” I sit up, palming his cheek. “That’s not true. I would never be so malicious.”
“I know that now. Maybe some part of me has always known that,” he exhales a steady breath, “but I was blinded by anger, Liv. By betrayal. I wanted to hurt you, Oak, and your dad. I knew things would never be the same again after that I found out and I wanted to…” He stares off at the wall, but I tip his face back to mine.
“You wanted to what?”
“I wanted to hate you so fucking much,” he admits, and it breaks something inside me.
Reese carries so much pain and anger around with him, but part of me gets it. His entire life has been a lie. His parents stayed together out of obligation, not love. And although I don’t doubt they both love Reese more than anything, their lies have come around to bite them, and Reese got caught up in the crossfire.
I stroke his brow, leaning in to kiss him. “I’m sorry, for all of it.”
“Shouldn’t I be the one apologising?”
“Yes.” I chuckle, sliding my hands to his polo shirt. “And I plan on making you grovel a lot. But I can’t imagine what you’re going through.”
“It’s all a lie, Liv. My childhood. Every happy memory. They weren’t happy, neither of them. They were just fulfilling their obligations. I was nothing more than a burden.”
“No, Reese. They love you.” I touch my head to his and hold his face in my hands. “They love you.”
“They lied. All this time…”
“To protect you, Reese. To give you the childhood you deserved.”
“That’s bullshit, and you know it.” Anger ripples off him. “He’s been fucking Krystal this entire time. A woman who I’ve grown up with. Who’s sat at our dinner table. A woman I called auntie when I was a boy, for fuck’s sake. That’s messed up, Liv.”
He’s right. It is.
But I don’t know what else to say. I can’t know what Fiona and Richard were thinking, only that I have to assume they were doing it out of love for the life they’d created together.
“He told me he could get me out of the arranged marriage, you know.”
“What?” My brows pinch, and Reese nods.
“When I found out about your dad and my mum, my dad said we could leave Saints Cross and never look back. He promised me. It was all I could think about. Leaving this life behind. The pressure and responsibility. The betrayal.” His eyes flash with emotion, and I wonder if he still hates me.
Even now he knows the truth, is Reese too damaged by everything that’s happened to trust me?
The thought makes my heart ache.
