“What?” That was weird. Trey released me, and we went over to where she held the envelope for me. My heart sank when I saw the familiar scrawl of my name across the front. I glanced at Trey, and his hand settled on the small of my back, offering support. I moved so that I leaned my back against his chest, pulled the letter out, and let him read over my shoulder.
Hails,
I’m protecting you the only way I can, and that’s by leaving. There was a reason why I never told you who I was seeing. Allen is—was—my lover. I know that’s hard to hear. It’s not easy for me to say, but we can’t help who we fall for. And in my case, that meant turning a blind eye to all the sides of him that were so toxic, at least until I couldn’t anymore.
His plan was for Trey La Rosa to kill you. And if he didn’t, Allen wanted it done another way. He was going to hire someone, and I had to stop him.
You know how much you mean to me. I would give my life for yours if it came down to it. Thank God it didn’t. I’m a selfish bastard. We both know that. (You better be laughing.)
But in all seriousness, I couldn’t stop Allen no matter how hard I tried. And I did. Trust me on that. Instead, I worked with him because I knew this was your chance with Trey. You know—the guy. The elusive one you dreamed about for over a year but never made a move to meet face-to-face. It was ridiculous to do what we did and even more batshit crazy to pretend to go along with Allen against you.
It worked, though, on my end—you met him. And I know he will find it futile to turn away from you because it’s impossible not to fall in love with you.
The seeds of doubt I put in your head when you called after learning of Allen’s death were simply me panicking. Trey had nothing to do with it. I never meant to cast blame elsewhere. It was a knee-jerk reaction and the wrong one. I’ve been doing that a lot lately, something that must change.
There’s no way to make up to you for my part in all the wrongs done. So I did the only thing I could: give you the proof I think you needed in that video and make sure Allen never hurt you again.
I’m not coming back. I need a fresh start and to get my head on straight so I don’t make the same mistake and fall for the wrong guy again. Besides, I can’t wear orange. It’s not my color, and we both know it.
It’s better this way. Please understand…
I’ve loved you since the day you punched out my nemesis in the schoolyard and made him bleed. I hope someday you’ll be able to forgive me and know that I truly had your best interests at heart, even if it was delivered in a messed-up way.
Always yours,
Justin
Icovered my mouth to stop the sobs from filling the room.He killed Allen. Trey turned me in his arms and held me tightly. I was aware of the girls, but they let me process.God, Justin. What did you do? And why didn’t you come to me first?
“Hailey.” Sofia’s hand rested on my back.
The worst of my tear fest was over. I untangled myself from Trey’s arms and accepted the Kleenex she held out to me.
“Is there anything we can do?”
I tried to smile but gave up. That wasn’t happening. “No. But thank you.”
“We can find him,” Trey murmured near my ear.
I tilted my head back, and he straightened. Our gazes locked and held. God, I loved him so much. Concern and determination pulled his chiseled features tight, his strong jawline looking like it could cut glass. “I want that. Not right now, but soon.”
“What can I do to help you?”
Take me home. I didn’t say it because he could see it written all over my face.
He tore his gaze from mine, scanned the room, and must have made an assessment. “Let’s box up what you need and get out of here.”
The girls were a tornado of activity. I tucked the letter from Justin with my pictures to deal with later and joined in on getting everything I had to have into a suitcase or box. We were done in under an hour with everything packed into the SUV Trey had driven over. After saying goodbye to my mom, I hugged the girls, making plans for Sunday-night dinner at Emiliana’s with everyone. It was a weekly tradition and something I looked forward to but not as much as I did to going back to our place and curling up in Trey’s embrace.
We drove home, my hand curled into his, resting on his rock-hard thigh. I took in his strong, confident profile. He was gorgeous, but that wasn’t what I loved the most. It was the fact that he had armor on the outside but was all heart on the inside.
He pulled into the condo’s underground lot and squeezed my hand. A sense of peace enveloped me. All the tragedy and upset in my life had been a path I was meant to take because it led me to Trey—the other half of my soul.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
TREY
Modella, Italy