“Likewise.” My guess was Theo was lying too. And he lingered, as if afraid to leave us alone together.
“I’ll be right down,” I said with a smile, easing his departure out the door. I felt undone. By the kiss. By the whole night. And I didn’t know how to manage any of this.
Once Theo was gone, I gathered my things as Ronan waited by the door.
“Are you all right?” he asked, and the question brought me up short. His concern brought me up short.
“Fine.”
“Your sister—”
“What about her?” I snapped.
“Is it a good thing she’s at your house?”
It felt like he was truly concerned. Worried. And I didn’t trust that for one moment. As much as I might want to. As much as it might be nice to lay down the load that was loving my sister at anyone’s feet but my own.
Not his, I had to remind myself. Don’t be so stupid.
“It is,” I said, which was true, but not the whole truth.
“Good.”
He waited for me to gather my things and walk out the door, turning the lights off as I went. I set the alarm while he stood in the hallway waiting for me.
“You don’t have to—”
“I know.”
At the elevator we stood there, side by side. If I took a deep breath my shoulder would touch his, so I took a tiny step away.
“Poppy,” he said, looking down at the garbage.
The elevator opened and I stepped in, expecting him to follow but he didn’t. And there was something ominous about him on one side of the closing doors and me on the other. Something that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. It was like the scene in those movies when the trap is closing around a character.
The door started to slide shut, and I slapped my hand against it.
I wondered if anything he’d said to me tonight was real.
Some, I thought. In the way of all liars, Ronan had probably seeded his lies with small truths. The story about Caroline and the purse stealing, I could see that unfolding. The priests.
And I imagined so many mistakes in his past. More than mine, maybe.
But I didn’t imagine him being sorry for a single one of them.
“What?” I asked, suddenly really afraid.
Ronan leaned in. “Don’t trust anyone,” he said. “Not that fucking driver. Not even your sister.”
“And I’m supposed to trust you?” That was laughable. But also tragic. Because he’d set the bait so well, and I wanted to trust him.
“No,” he said quietly. “Don’t trust me, either.”
I lifted my hand, stepped back against the wall of the elevator and watched his beautiful face until the doors shut and I was hurtling down to a life I didn’t recognize. Couldn’t trust.
And wasn’t sure I even wanted.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN