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“Blythe, I—”
“Say it!”
When the answer came, it wasn’t from Asher, but from Bianca. Her voice took the entire room by surprise. “You were the girl he mugged, weren’t you?
Chapter Twenty-Six
Blythe ran through the church, holding the bottom of her dress up to keep from tripping, though it didn’t seem to help as she stumbled for a second time. She hurried down the stairs, her makeup running, hair a frazzled mess. She had to get out of there. Had to get as far away as possible.
How could she have been so stupid? How could she have trusted a man who’d hurt her so badly? She carried her mother’s necklace with a firm grasp. She’d never let go of it again if she had anything to say about it.
Stopping dead in her tracks as she stepped out of the large double doors, she let out a sound that was somewhere between a laugh and a cry.
As fast as his legs would carry him through the parking lot across from the church, Finn ran toward her. His hair flopped with each step, his mouth open as he sucked in deep breaths. The tux he’d worn was disheveled from the exertion, but nothing else mattered. He’d come for her. He was running to her. He’d chosen to fight at the very last moment it could matter. As his eyes met hers, a sorrowful look on his face, he froze. “Please…tell me…you…haven’t married him,” he said, huffing out breaths as he bent over his knees.
“I thought you weren’t coming?” she asked softly, walking toward him.
“I couldn’t let you do it, Blythe. Can’t. Tell me…tell me you didn’t.”
She shook her head, reaching him finally. His eyes grew serious as he seemed to notice her tears. “I didn’t marry him,” she confirmed.
“You’re crying. What’s the matter?” he asked, taking her in his arms. “Are you okay?”
“No,” she admitted, her voice cracking. “Can we just…go somewhere? Anywhere?”
“Where would you like to go?” he asked.
“Literally anywhere but here.”
He walked around the car, pulling open the car door without another word and helping her climb inside. Once they were on the road, he looked at her again.
“What did he do?” he asked.
She bit her lip. How much was she ready to talk about? Truth be told, with anyone else, she would’ve said nothing. But this was Finn. Finn, who seemed to pull the truth out of her even when she wasn’t ready to admit it to herself.
“Asher’s the man who mugged me on the day we met.” She picked at a piece of skin around her fingernail as she said the words.
He let out a soft growl that caused her to look up. Much to her surprise, he didn’t look shocked.
“You knew?”
He shook his head, lowering his brow. “No, of course not. But I should have.” His lips formed a tight, thin line as his fingers rolled over the steering wheel as if his grip was around Asher’s neck instead.
“What are you talking about? How could you have known?”
“Is that necklace special to you?” he asked.
“It’s all I have left of my mother,” she said, running her fingers over the jewels. She could picture the many nights she’d spent waiting for the day it would get handed down to her, and the night it finally had, just before prom. “It was in my bag…it was the most important thing in my bag.”
“Asher’s always been a thief,” Finn said frankly. “When we were kids, it was just petty stuff. Candy, magazines, whatever. But as we got older, it became more serious. He stole a car once. At least once that I know of, anyway. He’d dine and dash all the time. Steal expensive gifts for his girlfriends.”
“But…I don’t understand. He’s rich. Why would he need to steal?”
He shrugged. “It’s like…I don’t know, a rush for him. A high without a needle. He’d have a bad day, and it was his way of blowing off steam. He wanted to have something of his own. His own money, his own stuff. Truth be told, that’s probably why he didn’t want to date you exclusively. He wants to collect whatever he can. He wants everything.”
“But random muggings? Really?”
“I guess he’s upped his game. Around the time I went away, he’d gotten into some trouble for beating this kid in a parking lot over his wallet. The wallet had less than one hundred dollars in it. I tried to convince Asher to get help then. Rehab. Something. But…he just kept getting worse. Jack would always get him out of trouble, so he never had to face his own consequences.”
