"I deserve his hate," I murmur with a sigh.
Her head whips around. "No, you don't! It was not your fault."
She doesn't know the whole truth.
I don't reply. I can't. The words are stuck in my throat.
After a moment, she squeezes my fingers. "The first time Marcus took off, I was confused. He never so much as left five minutes early. I went to George, but he shut me down, saying this was the one week each year Marcus was not available. My inner paranoia took over. After everything we'd been through with… I couldn't accept his explanation."
She's referring to her brother's employee who betrayed her family—slipped past George's security.
Lilly continues, "I looked into Marcus's past. He was in the military for four years before he started under George. I didn't find much about him. He was always private. I could've dug deeper, but at the same time, I didn't want to. Then, I discovered the reason he enlisted."
"McKenna," I whisper her name.
"Yes." We sit in silence. Lilly flexes her fingers. She is trying to suppress her tic. "I think it was his way of punishing himself. He blamed himself for the accident."
Accident? I was never privy to the full story, only what my father relayed to me—allowed me to know. He didn't divulge how or why McKenna ended up in his OR. Just that she did. And that she never woke up like she was supposed to.
"She got hit by a car. Landed on the hood and then got thrown onto the street. Her head hit the curb."
Oh god.
That explains the surgery. Why a neurosurgeon—my father—was operating on her.
"From what I was able to dig up, she would've made it. They rushed her to the hospital in time, but something went wrong. When I read your father's name on the report, I…I stopped. Now I was also invading your life, and…I couldn't do it. There had been too many secrets in the past. I accepted that Marcus was gone every year on the anniversary of the accident. And after that, the argument he and Ethan had after they got back from dropping you and Wes off in Westbridge made sense. Marcus saw your dad. He put two and two together. He channeled all his hate toward you."
"My father was called out," I explain quietly. My tongue feels too heavy. The ache in my throat makes it hard to form the words. "There had been an…incident that night." My breathing accelerates, and my chest feels too tight. "They called my dad out of the surgery to check on me."
Lilly's head whips around. "You?" She sits up straight, facing me head-on. "What happened?"
Suddenly, the fear of her seeing me in a different light scares me to death. My eyes search the room for a sign, anything to help me figure out what to divulge to her.
"I fell into the pool." Coiling every muscle in my body to hide the tremor racking through me, I relay the story my father had told many times over. "Oli found me, but I wasn't breathing. Obviously"—I gesture at myself with my free hand—"it turned out fine, but my mother panicked. The EMTs and, later, the ER doctor assured her I was in no danger. I passed all their tests. But she insisted on my father checking on me. They pulled him out of surgery to verify what others had already confirmed." The words have been scripted, rehearsed, and carved into my brain since I was five years old. This is the story. This is the truth—the puppet show—they made everyone believe. I hold myself so rigid my back feels like it's about to snap in half.
Lilly scans my face. I see in her eyes that she is trying to decipher the missing piece, the detail I'm withholding.
"They were pretty much done. My father put his fellow in charge to finish up. He was about to be board certified the following week. Something went wrong."
Lilly's eyes widen and gloss over. "Oh no!" Her hand grips mine. "This is not your fault, though. It was an accident."
I slash my mouth. I want her to believe it, so I nod. I don't want to lie any more tonight. Lilly has heard enough. Not everything, but enough.
Maybe one day I will come clean with everything. But for now, I'm glad there is one less secret between us. It changes things. Two and a half weeks ago was my fresh start. A strength I haven't felt in a very long time spreads through me.
CHAPTERSIX
MARCUS
Today is the day everyone,but Nate and George leaves the vineyard.
I hadn't seen Denielle since ourmeeting. When I first laid eyes on her this morning, it was clear that something had changed—not just between us. She carried herself differently. Where she used to cower, avert her eyes, she held my gaze. Challenged me.
After arriving at the airfield, I stand next to Joel, listening to him give me another rundown of the flight plan. I bite my tongue to stop myself from reminding him that I came up with the order of the stops. Lilly, Rhys, Audrey,Keller, and I would be dropped off first. The jet will then take the others to Montana. Elle and her entourage will stay there for a few days with Wes and King before heading home to Colorado. The rest of the McGuire family had left a day early because Heather had been called back into the office for an urgent case.
My gaze drifts over everyone unloading the two SUVs. King is arguing with Wes while holding Haddie's hand. I wink at my goddaughter, and she grins. The corner of my mouth tilts up. Wes found his match with King. She doesn't take shit from him, and I love it—sometimes even egg her on just to get some entertainment. I'm an asshole.
I check the next group. Lilly is handing Audrey to Rhys before leaning back in to undo the car seat, and Denielle is digging for gold in her oversized purse you could hide a body in.