She changed me. She saved me.
“You don’t know anything. What we have.”
“Move on. Put this mistake behind you. Glassman understands why you did what you did. But the issue with your father wasn’t between you and him. He had no grudge with you. Now that she’s back, he’ll let this go.”
“He shot at me during Mardi Gras, Ridley. Did he tell you that?”
“He was trying to protect Anya.”
“And you believe him?”
“We have no choice.”
“He took me out to the swamp. I was a teenager. He threatened to kill my parents. And he made good on that promise.”
“For your sister’s sake then. Move on.”
“Don’t twist this into something it’s not.”
“I’m not going to stand by and see you kill yourself. I promised my father on his deathbed I would take care of you. Don’t make me break that vow.”
“I never needed taking care of.”
“This fight with Glassman must end.”
“You believed him? Believed his lies?”
“For your sake, yes.”
“What did she say in the car?”
“Anya?”
“Yes! Anya!” I yelled.
He gestured for me to calm. “She was happy to be going home. She wanted to see her brother. He’s everything to her. You know that.”
Happy to go? A lie infested with something sinister.
“She was relieved it was over,” he added.
“She said that?”
“Go away for a while. Get out of town. For God’s sake, sell this place. There’s nothing for you here.”
“This is my home.”
“You always hated it here. You told me that once.”
“Things change,” I said bitterly. “Once again, you and your family fucked mine.”
“An illusion, Cassius. She was scared. She’d have told you anything. Her life was under threat by you.”
“She understood why I had to . . .”
“Kidnap her?”
This wasn’t working. Nothing I told him could twist this macabre perspective into something good. Only Anya herself could have done that, and she’d chosen not to. “She went back for Archie’s sake,” I reasoned.
“Tell yourself what you need to, but for God’s sake, don’t try to find her.”
“You can’t stop me.”
“Actually, I can. If you to try to contact her, I’ll arrange for a restraining order against you.”
“So that’s how it’s going to be?”
“If that’s what it takes to keep you alive.”
“Get the fuck out,” I snapped.
“I’m trying to save your life.”
“You drove her to her death.”
“You’re delusional.”
“He shot at me, Ridley! The night of Mardi Gras. Emptied an assault weapon into my fucking car. She could have been in it.”
“At some point, one of you must back down.”
“Her mother doesn’t want her. I saw that with my own eyes. Saw her reject Anya. Didn’t even try to save her.”
“Save her from who, exactly?” he said coldly.
A low blow delivered with the coldness of a man who’d gone on with his life as if he hadn’t witnessed the desecration of my family.
“Why did you stay, Ridley?”
“I’ve treated you like a brother.” He turned to get in his car. “Yes, my father turned you away when he shouldn’t have that day. I’ve had to live with that.”
“That wasn’t you.”
“Still, I’ve put your happiness above my own so I could at least find some peace in all this.”
“Then let me have her.”
“Your father should have let Glassman put those weapons on his ship to transport them. It was once, Cassius. Once. Then everyone would have gone on with their lives, and no one would have been hurt.”
Heart palpitations made my head spin. “It wouldn’t have been just the one time. Glassman would have demanded my father do it again and again. And you know what he would have had over him, the fact he did it the first time. My father was a good man. He fought for what was right. He died for us.”
He looked defeated. “I’m just trying to prevent any more deaths.”
“You may have just done the opposite.”
He broke his focus from me and turned toward his car. “You know where I am should you need legal counsel.”
“I’m firing you.”
“With all I know about you?”
“Yeah. Wanna test me on that theory, go ahead.”
He climbed in and revved the engine.
Running my fingers through my hair in frustration, I wanted to hate him, but the years he’d been there were too deeply engrained even as he betrayed me now. He’d never been a brother to me, but he’d been close. Close enough for me not to kill him now.
He sped off down the driveway.
Leaving behind the mess he’d wrought.
My heart hammered, and my mouth was dry from grief. What he’d done was unforgivable. Anya was in danger. How could he not see that?
I stormed back into the house.
The last hour had melted into a shit show. Right after everything had started to feel so damn good for the first time in forever.
How could I stay in this place and go on with my life knowing she’d gone back to them? With every breath, I sensed things weren’t good for her. During her time here she’d unwittingly dropped so many clues into her life as a Glassman. One thing was sure, her life had been lonely.
The disgust I felt consumed me. Disgust that she was spawned by those people. Letting her go wasn’t an option. Not when I knew what that man was capable of.
They’d neglected her before, and they’d neglect her again. She could leave, of course, was certainly old enough to. If Glassman was willing to let her.
Replaying our time in the kitchen just now, I tried to piece together our last conversation. Tried to understand what had made her change her mind about us.
Rage blinded me to the truth.
What if I’m wrong?
What if she really hated me all this time, and I’d manipulated her into staying. All that burning passion between us was nothing but an illusion I’d wanted to believe was true.
Ridley was right about one thing. I had intended on killing her, and she knew it. I was no better than her father.
Let her go.
Only after I know she’s safe.
Blinking, taking in my surroundings, I was back in the center of the maze, looking around with only a vague idea of how I’d come to be standing here again. As though drawn to this small, sacred space surrounded by tall hedges, a little unruly.
Unruly like her.
In here I could think. In here, my mind stilled just long enough for me to break the pieces of the last hour into decipherable constructs.
Every moment with her had been more precious than any day before it. She’d brought light to my darkness. Hope to futility. Every scene in this maze replaying as I refused to let them go.
Us in here. In the center of the maze.
I wasn’t giving up on her. I was going to come for her. I knew she’d gone back for Archie. Sacrificed her own happiness for his safety. Because that was who she was.