“Please don’t go! I need to know why!” Liz felt as if her knees would buckle beneath her as she watched Dorian climb into his truck. All the revelations—and especially partial revelations—swirled around in her brain, threatening to knock her off balance.
Dorian had been hired by Warwick to find her.
He had stolen her DNA, and the test seemed to confirm whatever answer the two of them had been searching for.
Dorian stopped working for Warwick when he realized how dangerous the man could be. This same man had attacked both her and her father the previous night.
Now Dorian was trying to protect her. Said he had developed feelings for her against his better judgment.
But he wouldn’t tell her why.
She still didn’t know everything.
She knew the effects, but what she really craved was the cause. Who was she to Warwick? How did her father know the man? Why did he refuse to call the police?
None of it made sense.
Liz’s world had always been ordered, logical. Happy, quiet. But all that had changed the day Dorian Whitley entered her life.
A sudden spring breeze blew past, and Liz gasped from the cold.
Dorian turned to look back at her one more time before disappearing into his truck. He was leaving, but there was still so much more she needed to know.
She wanted to run after him, but her legs wouldn’t budge. So instead, she stood in the center of the parking lot, watching, waiting, hoping he’d return—and this time, with the full truth.
And then another gust, a blonde tornado came tearing by. Scarlett, whose hair did not match her name, ran right past Liz and bolted behind Dorian’s truck before he could finish pulling out of his space.
Liz watched as she beat his rear window and said, “Hey, you owe my friend some answers! Get back out here!”
Henry came up behind Liz and put a steadying arm around her.
She turned to him and asked, “How much did she hear?”
“We came back to check on you, make sure everything was okay. We saw him leaving and you shaking and crying, asking for him to come back.” She tried to focus on Henry’s eyes—one blue and one brown—to feel some safety and comfort in their familiarity, but all she could think about was Dorian, that he had almost left her here, alone, confused, crying.
“Is that all?” she asked with a sniff.
“That was all it took to send Scarlett into protective mama bear mode. Are you going to be okay?” He frowned and hugged her into his side. It seemed Henry had a bit of bear in him, too. Did that make Liz Goldilocks, a hapless intruder that had to be tolerated, or else avoided? It sure felt that way lately.
“I honestly don’t know,” she said with a long, shaky exhale.
“Sounds like the story of my life, too. It will be all right, though. Scarlett and I will make sure of it.”
Liz tried to smile, but Henry had no idea just how big the mess he was promising to fix had already become.
Scarlett marched back over to them, pushing Dorian along with her almost as if he were a prisoner. In a way, perhaps, he was. “Now get talking,” she demanded of him.
Dorian faltered. “I… This is really between me and Liz.”
“And the guy that attacked her last night.” Scarlett’s expression was fierce, unforgiving. It was no small wonder she had survived her plunge into an icy lake despite the overwhelming odds against her survival. “You wouldn’t tell her, so now you have to tell the three of us. Now talk.”
Dorian’s voice was strained, hoarse even. “Liz, please. Don’t you understand? I’m trying to protect you.”
“What makes you think she’s not capable of protecting herself?”
Dorian turned toward Scarlett. “You have no idea what she’s up against. I do.”
“Then tell me. Tell us. I mean, if that’s okay with Liz?” Scarlett glanced her way, and Liz nodded. She had been unable to get the answers from Dorian on her own, but perhaps Scarlett’s more direct approach would get her the information she needed.
“Ja—” Dorian coughed and shook his head. “Liz, please listen to me. I like you too much to upend your entire world like this. What I know will change everything about your life, and I don’t think it will be for the better.”
“Likely story!” Scarlett said with a bitter laugh. “You’ll say anything to take the heat off yourself, won’t you? I have half a mind to—”
“Scar, stop.” Henry spoke gently, but his words were firm. It was then that Liz realized she still stood with his arm around her, protecting her from the rest of the world. “He’s telling the truth.”
“How could you possibly think that? This guy is as shady as they come, and he hasn’t told the truth yet. That’s why we’re all here.” Scarlett eyed Dorian wearily and placed her hands on her hips.
Henry squeezed Liz tight, then let her ago, approaching his fiancée as he spoke. “Don’t you remember where we were less than two years ago? I had to live a lie, day in and day out, and it ate me up. That’s why I wanted you to know the truth, because you meant something to me.”
Scarlett softened, but still held onto Dorian’s arms to prevent him from getting away. “And I had a hard time believing you.”
“I don’t see how this is the same,” Liz said, finally joining the conversation. “Henry had never done anything wrong. Everyone only assumed he had. But Dorian admits to leading Warwick right to me. He admits to stalking me and stealing my DNA.”
“Really?” Henry asked. “You did all that?” Maybe he already regretted trying to defend the other man, but no one seemed to regret Dorian’s choices more than he did himself.
Dorian nodded sadly. “But I didn’t know her, and I didn’t know how crazed my employer would become. You have to believe me when I say I thought I was helping.”
“But you didn’t help,” Scarlett pointed out. “You made everything worse.”
“Yes.” Dorian shifted his weight from foot to foot as if ready to flee. “But I’m trying to fix it now.”
Liz had regained some strength and was ready to jump back into the fight—if fighting was what it would take to finally win her battle against all the secrets and lies. “How? How can you fix a problem you won’t even identify?”
“I already told you. It’s not my place. Talk to your father, then give me a call.” Dorian turned to leave once more, and Scarlett was quick on his heels to prevent his escape.
“Stop!” Liz shouted to her friend. “Let him go.”
“But he still hasn’t told you anything,” Scarlett argued.
“He told her to talk to her father,” Henry said as Scarlett walked back to their group. Yes, he had. Her father who had refused to call the police, who had let his new wife block Liz’s attempts to speak to him in the aftermath. Could she really expect to get more from him than Dorian had given?
“He was just saying that to get away. And look, there he goes.” Dorian had wasted no time reversing out of his spot and pulling onto the main road. It seemed Scarlett really had put the fear of God into him.
“No,” Liz said, her voice shaky. “I believe him.”
A sinking, falling feeling took over Liz. She already knew this would be a lost cause, but still…
She had to try.