y put videos on YouTube of the event. It’s a win-win.”
“A win-win?” he repeated in disbelief. “Taryn, I get what you’re trying to do and damn, it’s admirable as hell, but you know that’d be putting me in a situation I can’t be in. I can’t have something here, sponsor something, about Long Acre. I might as well put a big target on my back and invite the press here myself.”
“I know. I knew you would say that,” she said, putting a gentling hand up between them as if she were calming a skittish horse. “I’ve already thought of that. You would only have to help behind the scenes. I’d just need you to be my contact person so we can get everything organized. During the event, I’ll bring in my friends and volunteers to run it. Rivers can help if he’s willing. You don’t even have to be here.”
Shaw ran a hand through his hair, his head suddenly pounding. A school-violence charity event. Here. With high school kids. Welcome to his nightmare. “Look, I feel like a dick saying no, but you’ve got to understand. I can’t, Taryn. I just can’t.”
“Please.” Her eyes pleaded with him. “Before you say no, at least hear me out. The last thing I want to do is expose you. I absolutely will not let that happen. You need to know that I get it.”
“You get it,” he repeated, not sure where she was going with that.
“Yes. I get why you lied to me. I get why you wouldn’t want to help with this. I get what you’re trying to do here. Start fresh. Not have a past. Not be reminded of Long Acre.” She took a breath. “To be honest, I get it probably more than you know.”
Right. She probably thought she did. But being a victim and being the brother of the one who created the victims were two totally different things. People didn’t hate her. People didn’t want her thrown into a mental hospital or jail because like brother, like brother. He nodded. “If you get it, then you understand why I have to say no.”
“No, I’m saying I get why you would think that, why you’re hiding. But I also think your plan kind of sucks,” she said bluntly.
He lifted his brows. “Excuse me?”
“You’d be much better off coming out to the press…in your own way. Do an exclusive interview or something. Control the information. Reset the image people have of you. It will be hard up front, but then after…after, you could live your life.”
Live his life? He stared at her like she was crazy. That plan was so nuts, he could spread it on bread and serve it with jelly. “No fucking way. Don’t you see what that would do? They would tear me apart piece by piece again. They’ll compare me to Joseph. The video of me and the reporter would be shown over and over again. I can’t change that the attack happened. I can’t change who my brother is. There’s no pretty spin on assaulting someone.”
“Why’d you attack him?” she asked point-blank.
“Taryn.” He shook his head. “No.”
But she kept talking. “In the video, you said, ‘Stay away from her.’ Who’s ‘her’? The article said you’d never say. What made you so angry?”
He grimaced, his stomach turning. She’d watched the video. She’d seen that ugly, out-of-control version of him. He pushed to his feet, cold anxiety crawling over his skin. “We’re not doing this.”
“Tell me,” she pleaded, the words soft, beseeching. “I’m not going to tell anyone. We’ve all got things we wish we could take back.”
He had his back to her. “Oh, right. Sure we do. That’s easy for you to say.”
“No, it’s not,” she said, somewhere close behind him now, her voice quiet. “I’m not without my own mistakes.”
“We’re not talking about missing a deadline, Taryn. Or being mean to a friend. Or breaking a rule at work.” His fists flexed. “I beat someone bad enough to break bones. I would’ve done worse if someone hadn’t stepped in. It’s not the same thing.”
“Don’t pretend to know everything about me. You don’t.”
“I know you’re a good person.”
“And you’re not?” she challenged.
He didn’t answer.
“You want one of my secrets?” she asked. “Something only the police know?”
He didn’t want to look at her. He didn’t want to do this. He couldn’t go back to any of those memories. Still, he found himself saying, “What?”
She was quiet a long moment. “I opened the door.”
He frowned, and when she didn’t say anything else, he turned. “The door.”
She was standing now and cupping her elbows, her arms held tight across her middle. “The news reports always said that Joseph and Trevor broke into a side door off the main hallway in the school. That’s not what happened.” Her throat flexed. “I was in the hallway because I wasn’t enjoying prom. I didn’t have a date, and I was annoyed that my sister—who was younger, prettier, and more popular than me—was there with a senior and having the time of her life at my prom.” She looked down and took a breath. “I thought Joseph and Trevor were there to do a prank that would derail the dance. They got me to unlock the door. I realized too late what they were really there for.”
Shaw’s heart plummeted into his gut. She’d let them in? “Taryn—”