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“Everything that happened after that is my fault,” I said in a rush. Well, not Hope getting shot. She went after that boy on her own, so I didn’t have anything to do with it. “Almostall of it. Not to mention, you said those lovely things to me that day—you told me that you had these feelings, and I couldn’t believe you, because I am so unworthy of them. And…and my father had just said some things to me, and I knew that I had to protect you from me.”
I held my breath. The push off the wall. The yelling. Him being done with me. It would start any second.
Instead, he brushed a gentle hand down the side of my cheek and I trembled as I tried to hold back a sob. “Oh, sweetheart, you have been carrying some heavy-duty shit.”
The tears came, a hot flood of them. I tried not to cry. It was so pathetic but at least he knew the truth. “I told you I was bad, okay? I warned you. And now you have to be relieved.”
His hand on my face tightened, the fingers holding my face so he could stare into my eyes. “Not one word of what that monster said to you is true.” His voice was hard, but his eyes were so gentle.
What?“Michael…”
“Finish it, okay? What did he say to you that day? Right before I picked terrible timing to confess to you how I’ve loved you for years. What did he say to you, Bridget?”
I tried to swallow, but I found it harder than it should have been. “He called me up. He fled the country, and he said it looked like Layla’d found some sort of ridiculous ever-after with Zeke.” That had been his exact phrasing, I remembered. “He said he was sure Hope would worm her way into someone’s bed, and they’d take care of her, but that, I was exactly like him. He said he always knew it. He told me how I was just like him, and that there would never be a time when I didn’t destroy everyone around me.”
“Bridget.” He kissed both my cheeks then pressed his forehead against my own. Why wasn’t he running away? “He’s such a god damned liar. He knew he could hurt you, baby. He knew just what to say. If he could have reached Layla, he would’ve told her she was too ruined for Zeke to ever love. If he could have reached Hope, he would’ve called her crazy and said she was too damaged to be loved. I changed their numbers so he couldn’t, but he beat me to you. I am so sorry.”
He held no blame in any of it. I reached for him. “Michael, the truth is that he’s…”
He interrupted me. “Never understood you. He didn’t appreciate the gem of his family. He’s fucked in the head. He personally destroyed your brother, if you want another example of how awful he was and he continues to be. He might be a sociopath, and no, don’t turn away from me, Bridget. Listen to me. It’s important.”
Michael picked me up in his arms and I gasped. “Your shoulder.”
“Stop worrying about my damn shoulder. I wouldn’t pick you up if I couldn’t.” We both knew that wasn’t true, but I didn’t argue. In a second, he sat us both down on the couch, where he pulled me into a tight hug. I returned it, burying my face in his neck and inhaling him deep within my lungs. He said, “You need to sit. You’re going to faint, if you don’t. You’re hyperventilating and I think you might go into shock from the hell you’ve been carrying around. Listen to me, Bridge. We’ll start with his first point.” He stroked a hand down my hair, his gaze rapt as he watched the red strands slide across his fingers. “Your father took one plus one and he made three hundred and five.”
That didn’t make sense. “What?”
“He used your natural ability to make things fit and created patterns. I think that is how you see the market the way that you do, but he turned it back on you. What he did is evil. It just is. You were a twenty-year-old girl on your father’s yacht, which should’ve been the safest place in the world for you to be. He never told you what you were doing. Take a step back from the situation and look at it logically. If Hope had done it, would you say Hope was responsible for what the Russians then did with their money?”
I chewed on my lip. It was a very good question, because of course I would never blame Hope.
“That’s right. Think this through. Give it a minute. If you read about the situation in the paper—about how some sick guy had a genius daughter and he used her to do shitty things…would you blame her?” His voice sounded gruff, like he was getting angrier as he spoke the words.
Maybe not.“But I’m not most people. I’m not Hope. I’m not…”
“No, you’re not. You’re Bridget, who wanted his attention so much, and who just wanted her father to be impressed with her work. He never managed an iota of what you managed. Your father got lucky. To save his life, he can’t earn now. He had to kidnap his daughter to try to get help. I was on that boat, Bridget. You were trapped. Stuck. You think you could have gotten away from that with some story? They would’ve dragged you out by your hair and made you crunch numbers for them. Okay, maybe they wouldn’t have, because I would’ve stopped them, but you had no way of knowing that.”
Was that true? “You don’t think I’m…I’m evil? Because they took my dad’s stuff, and I’m terrified I’m seconds from them taking me.”
“You were twenty years old, and you didn’t know. I don’t think anyone would convict you, and they’ll never get the chance to try. They won’t be allowed to try.” He sounded dead serious, and I recognized Michael when he really concentrated. “Allard is dead. They gutted him. I saw the pictures, and it wasn’t pretty. Both of the Russians are dead. One of them died last year, but the other died several years ago. Right after that meeting, actually, come to think of it. Your father won’t be allowed to implicate you. Things will be made clear to him. In the event that he should ever be caught and extradited home, if he says one word to anyone about you, he’ll be punished. Plus, I was there. I’ll testify that you did nothing. I have a lot of friends who will help, if the need arises. No one—and I mean this—will hurt you, Bridget, because you did nothing wrong.”
My head pounded. Was he serious? “You’re not paying enough attention.”
“Tell me what I’m missing.” He stroked a finger down my nose, and because I couldn’t help myself, I buried my face on his uninjured shoulder.
“I destroyed him. Systematically. I can do that. That makes me just like him; you’ve got to realize that. Look what happened to everyone else.”
Michael ran a hand up and down my back. “You didn’t tell him to sell Layla to Allard. You didn’t tell him to get so involved with the Russians, they would put prices on your heads. And everything you did, you did to stop him from hurting anyone else. You saw it as a way to protect strangers. Strangers, who, just so you know, were bad people. The Russian Bratva is famous for killing each other. I can’t say definitively, but I doubt the money was used for anything that hurt civilians, so to speak. They kill each other. You didn’t tell them what to do with that money, anyway, although I hate to agree with your father. You’re not nefarious. Or bad. You’re good. You’ve spent the last year raising money for a guy who invests in alternative fuel to help battle climate change.”
How did he know about that?Oh, that was right. He was Michael.
“I’m so tired,” I admitted, nuzzling into his warmth.
He squeezed me tighter. “I know. I get it now. I’ve got you.”
10
Iwished I could believe him. It wasn’t that I doubted him, but it really couldn’t be true. Could it? How could he continue to look at me the way he was after he knew? “Michael,” I took a deep breath. “I’m terrified you’re going to wake up tomorrow and sayfuck, Bridget is just too much. This whole thing is too much.”
