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“I’m so sorry,” she sniffs, emotion clogging her throat. “I told you then, but I’m telling you again now. I never meant to hurt you. Not ever. I didn’t know what to do. But after everything came to light and we got divorced, I told him it was over. I had someone go into his computer and wipe all my… transgressions from there, as well as any financial proof that could be found. It drove him off the deep end. He thought with you out of the way, he and I would finally be together, but I never wanted that.”
My hands cover my face, and I breathe heavily into them. “Liz…” I don’t know what to say. This is too much.
“One of your accusers came to me, and when I heard her story—that you had all but forced a sexual relationship with her—I was furious. I felt betrayed since you had done to me exactly what I had done to you, and yet you left and blamed me for everything.”
I shake my head, my ire creeping back up. “I never touched those women. You were the one?—”
“It wasn’t me, Bennett!” she shouts, cutting me off. “That’s why I’ve been calling you. I thought the accusations were true, which is why I told you I was going to ruin your life. It’s why I led the charge when they forced you out. I was furious. I was heartbroken.”
“Except I didn’t fucking cheat or coerce or behave inappropriately with anyone.”
“No. You didn’t.” She blows out a breath, the sound crackling through the car speakers. “Shortly after you moved to Boston, it was discovered that the woman who still worked at the hospital had been doing something she shouldn’t have been. She made a deal with the hospital, and in exchange for her slap on the wrist, she told them the truth. Cayden had paid both women to come forward with stories about you. They needed the money, and he took advantage. He was trying to ruin your life because I loved you and not him. And he hated you for it.”
My eyes close, and my head falls back against the seat, my insides feeling like someone put them through a meat grinder.
“The hospital let him go and when I found out he came out to Boston, that’s when I started calling you. I felt I owed you that much. Especially when I learned that you never did cheat on me. Cayden is a hateful, vindictive monster who’s out for your blood.”
I stare sightlessly up through the skylight, thinking all of this through. The timing of everything she’s saying makes sense. I hadn’t heard from Liz all summer, and there was a gap between when I left Mayo and came to Boston. Liz started calling me, and then a couple of weeks after that, Cayden showed up in the hospital, knowing who Katy was and exactly what floor I was on.
How long had he been watching me?
A shiver runs up my spine. He came to the bar that night. I called him and he showed up almost immediately. I told him I loved Katy. I told him she’s pregnant. Fuck! And then Cricket showed up at my door last night when only Katy was there. Was that by design? Did he orchestrate that? How did she get my address, if not from him? I’m not listed anywhere because I didn’t want Liz to come and track me down.
He’s still trying to hurt me. But what if he’s not done? What if Cricket was just the start?
Chapter Twenty-Eight
I stumble onto the floor in a daze. I don’t know how to make sense of everything Liz just told me. I could challenge her. I could question her. But in my heart, in my fucking soul, I know everything she’s saying is true.
Liz isn’t getting anything out of telling me this. I owe her nothing. There is no getting back together with her. But more than that, I think of Cayden. I think of what he’s done. The moves he’s pulled and the stories he’s created. He paid women off to get me fired and ruin my name and reputation. He got fired from Mayo. How did I not know that? Nice of them to not reach out, but that doesn’t surprise me.
I left angry and definitely not on the best of terms.
But then he shows up here with a sappy bullshit apology as he tries to worm his way back in, but for what? What is he up to?
Trying to break me and Katy up, or is it?—
“Bennett?” A soft but firm voice comes from behind me as I step out of the locker room. I turn to find a sheepish-looking Cricket. “I wanted to apologize to you. I thought everything over, and I had no business showing up at your house last night. That was beyond inappropriate.”
I clear my thoughts for a moment. “Cricket, how did you learn where I live?”
She shifts her weight, a blush creeping up her face. “Didn’t Katy tell you?”
“No. We just talked about why you stopped by.” And then I took her in the kitchen and after that, all talk about Cricket was over. But before I kissed her, she did say… something, right? Or started to, maybe?
She shifts again and looks off to her right before turning back to me. “Your friend Cayden came looking for you, but he had just missed you. He asked me to deliver this to you. He said he was leaving town and wanted you to have it.” She hands me a brown paper bag that I reflexively take. “He asked if I could deliver it to your house, and I should have told him no. Again, I’m sorry.”
I press my hand against the bag, trying to figure out what this could be. “Thank you, Cricket. It’s not something we need to talk or think about again, okay? As for my relationship with Katy, it’s had no impact on our work here nor will it ever. And you should know, I’m no longer in charge of fellowships.”
She stares at the center of my chest. “Yes. Katy told me that.”
“Are we okay then?”
Her eyes finally come up to mine. “Yes. We’re okay. I was shocked and, well, assumed the worst, but like I said, I thought it over last night. You’ve always been fair with both of us and never showed any favoritism. I’d like us to put this all behind us and move forward.”
“Good. Thank you. I’m relieved to hear that.” I open the bag and freeze when I get a peek at what’s inside. Thunder rumbles through my veins, and my insides shock with lightning. “Cricket, did you open this?”
“No,” she says. “I had already crossed enough lines.”
