I reach out to her, trying to capture her hand, but she jerks it away. “Jensen. Please. I was going to tell you…”
“When? At Christmas? When we’re all circled around the tree, listening to carols and drinking hot chocolate while handing out gifts and you give me one from your dear Uncle Craig the rapist?” She’s shrieking, her voice shrill, her entire body shaking, and I feel like a complete asshole.
A liar.
They say your life can change in an instant. One second everything’s fine, the next, everything’s in complete chaos.
I finally understand what they mean.
“What the hell?” Chad says, a nervous laugh escaping him. I almost forgot he was here, our lone witness to the craziness.
I send him a dirty look. “Get the fuck out of here,” I tell him, and he does as I say without protest. I hear the slam of his bedroom door seconds later.
“I-I can’t do this,” Jensen says, her voice breaking on a sob, her eyes filling. My heart lurches as I watch her hitch her purse up higher on her shoulder, tears streaming down her face. Seeing her like this, I wonder how I could’ve ever doubted her before. She wasn’t lying about my uncle. The hurt and shock and shame is written all over her face.
And then she’s gone, pulling the door shut behind her. I chase after her, throwing open the door and running across the lawn toward my car, watching in disbelief as she climbs inside it, starts the engine, and takes off.
“Fuck!” I yell, clutching my head with both hands, fingers tight in my hair as I watch the red taillights get smaller and smaller until they disappear. I drop my arms and turn to find my uncle standing in the open doorway, his expression neutral. Completely unruffled while my whole world feels like it’s crumbling around me.
“Did she tell you?” Craig asks.
I stomp back up the lawn toward him, my hands clutched into fists at my side. I’m tempted to beat his ass for hurting Jensen, but what the fuck good would that do me? I want to hear what he has to say for himself first. “Yes.”
“And you didn’t tell her about me?” He raises a brow.
“I—” Shame washes over me and I shake my head. I didn’t believe her.
I can’t say the words out loud. And it’s more like I didn’t want to believe her. Big difference.
But not anymore, not really. I messed everything up. How is she going to be able to trust me after I what I did to her?
“Listen, I did this all for you, son,” Uncle Craig says. “To protect you.”
“Protect me? From what?” I ask incredulously.
“From a money-grubbing little whore, that’s what. She doesn’t care about you. She’s just after your money.” Craig runs a hand across his face, his expression pensive. “We started hearing stories about you getting involved with a stripper and we wanted to put a stop to it. Can’t have you destroying the Montgomery name, so I tried to—scare her out of town. Clearly, it didn’t work.”
I’m shaking my head, trying to comprehend what he’s telling me. It doesn’t make sense. Destroy the family name? I’m the cleanest one of the family outside of Addie. Why are they interfering in my life when we haven’t done anything wrong? And who are they anyway?
“What do you mean, ‘we’?”
Craig takes a deep breath, looking away from me. “I can’t say. Just know that we all care for you and the family. We’re protecting our own interests.”
“This is such bullshit.” I charge up on him, grabbing the front of his shirt and jerking on it, thrusting my face in his. “Who the fuck is telling you to attack Jensen, huh? Who?”
I think I know who, and I don’t want to hear his answer. It’ll devastate me. But I have to know the truth. I have to.
The faintest smile curls his lips, and he says, “Diane.”
Okay. That was the absolute last person I expected him to say. I figured it would be my dad. I’d bet Park was involved before my stepmother, who usually acts like she hates my guts. “What?”
“She’s always watching you and Park, making sure you two are doing what you’re supposed to. She’s got Park under her thumb, but you, she has no control over you and it makes her crazy. So she has someone spy on you on occasion. Sometimes that spy is me.” He at least has the decency to look scared when I pull on his shirt even tighter. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing, getting involved with a stripper, Rhett? She only wants one thing.”
“She’s not a stripper.” I shake him. “And she’s not after my money either.”
“Really?” Craig sneers. “Funny that she’s not working anymore and living with you now, isn’t it? I’m guessing you’re completely supporting her? She’s spending your money, driving your car, living her best life like a high-class escort, hmm? She doesn’t have to strip anymore—she’s gone exclusive.”
His words are messing with my brain, making me doubt Jensen for the quickest second. But she’d never do that to me. I care for her. Hell, I’m pretty sure I’ve fallen in love with her. “It’s not like that.”