Page 30 of Obsession (Temptation 4)

Julia

Agent Curran’s visit certainly put a damper on the rest of the evening. He’d apologized profusely for delivering such disturbing news during what should have been a happy evening with friends and family, but I insisted it was okay. That it was better we all knew what was going on instead of being left in the dark.

Nevertheless, I did my best to pretend nothing was wrong. That Nick’s escape hadn’t resulted in an innocent man’s death, his wife being brutally tortured and clinging to life. But even watching Lachlan pitch his team to an incredible win and securing their place in the playoffs couldn’t chase away the cloud hovering over me, regardless of how hard I tried to feign enthusiasm, especially in front of Imogene.

I wasn’t sure what to tell her about everything Agent Curran had shared with us tonight. It was one thing to inform her Nick had attacked a woman. It was another to disclose the brutality of it all.

And how he pretended he was torturing me.

Thankfully, Roman kept a constant eye on her. Always asking if she wanted more water or sweet tea. Stealing a glance her way when she wasn’t paying attention. Looking out for her.

She needed someone like that in her life now more than ever.

As did I.

“Thanks for inviting us over,” Londyn said as the assembled crowd had begun to disperse. “Are you going to be okay?”

“I’ll be fine.” I gave her bicep a squeeze, forcing a smile. “And you? Will you be okay?”

She looked at Wes, their eyes briefly locking, before she returned her gaze to mine. “I will be.”

“Good.”

“You’ll keep me posted if you hear anything?”

“Of course.” I wrapped my arms around her, holding her a little longer than normal. Then she stepped back, allowing Wes to hug me.

“Thanks again for tonight,” he said, kissing my cheek. “It was good to do something normal, even with the unexpected interruption.”

“It was.”

When he dropped his hold and started to retreat, I touched his arm. “Can I talk to you about something really quick?”

He paused, glancing toward Londyn.

“I’ll get Eli into the car,” she offered, sensing it was something I needed to discuss with him in private.

“I’ll be right out.” He leaned down and kissed Londyn’s cheek.

Grasping Eli’s hand, she made her way toward the foyer, neither of us uttering a word until she disappeared from view.

“I know what you’re going to say.” Wes turned to me. “That I need to come clean.”

“You do.”

I briefly looked toward the patio, mindful to keep my voice down so Imogene couldn’t overhear. I doubted she would anyway, all her attention devoted to whatever Roman was talking about.

“It’s not fair to ask me to keep lying. At first, I understood why you wanted to keep this from Londyn. It all could have amounted to nothing more than coincidence. But I think we all know by now that it’s not nothing.”

“It’s not,” Wes sighed.

“Precisely why you need to tell her. She was as much a victim of Nick as I was. Maybe not to the same extent, but that doesn’t make what he did to her any less traumatic. I get that the last thing you want to do is cause her any undue stress, considering she’s mere weeks away from giving birth, but you have to tell her everything. About the jewelry I’ve received. About the recent suicides. About what Claire had been looking into. About the possibility there’s a copycat repeating Nick’s kill cycle. About Nick’s demeanor when I went to see him at the prison on Friday.”

“I’ve known I’d eventually have to tell her. I just…” Pinching the bridge of his nose, he pushed out a long breath, the torment he’d been dealing with evident in his expression.

My brother had always been a pretty easy-going guy. Always had an answer to everything.

But there was no answer here.