Page 112 of Kiss of Deceit

I tsked. “Answer for an answer, Dani. I’ve given you at least four. It’s my turn.”

“Ask me,” she retorted. “What do you want to know?”

I bit back my grin, letting the tension roll off me for a moment. She might hate me right now, but she wanted the truth more than anything. It was the only reason she was playing this game with me.

“Are Tristin and Leon the first people you’ve killed?”

She didn’t move a muscle, her eyes boring into mine. While I’d believed her story when she told me about that night on the bridge, I couldn’t stop feeling like I was missing a part. How she acted tonight—it made me believe there was so much more.

“One truth,” I murmured softly. “Give me that, and I’ll tell you everything.”

“And access,” she added, her gaze darting to the laptop. “I want to look at everything you have.”

“Done.”

A muscle in her jaw flexed. “No. They weren’t the first.”

Even though I was expecting that was the truth, I didn’t think she would admit it. She was watching me intently, and all I did was nod. Of course, I wanted to know more, but she wouldn’t give it to me. I was shocked she answered my question honestly. It only reminded me how I still barely knew her. Something I wanted to change—even after what she just told me.

“When I was a teen, I fell in with the wrong crowd.” I held up my hand when she opened her mouth. “You wanted to know everything. This is where it started.” She frowned, pressing her lips together as I began speaking again. “I was always home after school for my sister, but on nights when our mom wasn’t home, or if I was at school, I was doing shit that was going to get me in trouble. Sarah was the only fucking reason I didn’t follow in our mother’s footsteps. If I didn’t have to keep her safe, I would’ve stopped caring about life long ago.”

I closed my eyes, sucking in a deep breath. I hadn’t thought about my past in years.

“The school therapist decided to take a special interest in me. It wasn’t hard to know I came from a horrible home life, and he wanted to help.” I let out a small laugh. “I hated him at first. I didn’t trust him for anything. But even after I graduated, he kept tabs on me. He’s the one who bailed me out the first time I got caught stealing a car.”

“So you have been to jail?”

“I’ve been to prison. Not for capital murder. My plea was involuntary manslaughter.”

“Who?”

“You’re getting ahead. Let me finish,” I said tightly. It took me a moment to realize why I was so tense. This was the first time I’d ever talked about this part of my past. Even my sister didn’t know half of this. “I got arrested a number of times for petty shit. I spent my late teens and early twenties in and out of county. Each time I got out, Sean—my old school therapist—tried to get me on the right track. And he finally did. I moved away from it all once Sarah was in college. Got a steady job and began healing from my fucked-up childhood.”

“What changed?” she asked, the anger in her eyes dimming as she listened.

“I went home. Our mom claimed she was clean and wanted to spend the holidays with us. Sarah wanted to go.” My stomach twisted painfully as that night filled my head again. “We got there, and I could instantly tell she wasn’t sober. And she had a guy living with her. I was ready to leave, but mom begged us to stay for dinner. Sarah wanted to stay, so I didn’t argue. Until the asshole went into a random rage when he spilled his drink. I don’t even know what he was on, but when he hit my mom, he didn’t stop.

“Sarah was sitting beside her, and she intervened before I could get up. The bastard put his hands around my sister’s throat. The next thing I remember was her screams for me to stop. I beat him bloody until the cops showed up and pulled me off.”

Dani stared at me, her eyes gleaming with sympathy “He died?”

“He was dead long before they ripped me off him. I was charged with murder.”

“You were protecting your sister. They had to take that into account.”

“His own family couldn’t recognize him after what I did. I went far beyond defending Sarah.” I flexed my fingers, remembering how cut up and fucked my knuckles were that night. “Sean stepped in like he always did and got me a plea deal. Seven years. Pretty light for my criminal history.”

“So how did you end up here?”

“I was doing my time when Sean came to visit. He’s close friends with the person who wanted to conduct this experiment. They’d spent over a year setting it up and needed an inside person. Sean recommended me.”

Silence fell over us as she gazed around the room. For once, she was allowing me to read her emotions, and she was trying todecide whether my story was true. It was, but I understood why she was questioning it.

“What exactly do you do here?” she finally asked.

“I just keep an eye out. My notes are compared to Natalie’s—well, Susan’s notes now.”

“Interesting,” she mumbled. “And smart. There is only so much a therapist can see. But you? People respect you here. You hear all the gossip and problems at the bar.” She blew out a laugh in disbelief. “You’re the one who chooses the people that get a second chance. Who stays and who goes.”