I smirk a little. “Not really a virgin?”
She turns white. “No. That was true.”
I sigh. “I was just trying to make a joke.” I run my finger along my glass, gathering condensation from the single cube on my skin.
“Sorry. Yeah. I mean, this is serious. And I want you to know, I never meant for this to happen.”
“For what to happen?” I ask softly, a stone in my gut.
She bites her lip. “I can’t tell you where I live because I’m not who you think I am.”
I hesitate a second. ‘Your name is Erin, right?” I ask.
“Right,” she says. “Everything I’ve told you about myself is true, but… well, I left something out.”
“Just say it.” I can’t stand waiting any longer.
“I’m Rick Fisher’s daughter.”
Her gaze meets my eyes and I suddenly feel sick. “Are you kidding?” I ask her.
“No. I’m so, so sorry, Griffin.”
“What’s going on right now?” I ask her. “You’re Rick Fisher’s daughter? The man I’m in business with?” My head is reeling and I don’t think I really understand.
“He set it all up. He wanted me to get close to you. He wanted me to find things out about you, things he could use against you.”
I stare at her, trying to find the words. “And did you?” I ask.
“No,” she says forcefully. “I protected you. He wanted to bug your apartment, but I wouldn’t let him.”
“Bug my apartment,” I say distantly.
“Please, Griffin.” She reaches across the table. “I didn’t mean for this to happen. I’m sorry. I should have told you sooner.”
I pull away from her hand, horrified.
“You were spying on me,” I say. “You were spying on me and my family.”
“Yes,” she admits. “At first, but as soon as I got to know you and Lacey, I couldn’t do it. I never told my father anything.”
“This is insane.” I lean away from her as the full weight of this betrayal becomes clear. “I let you in my house. I let you play with my daughter.”
“I know.” Tears spring to her eyes. “If I knew how I’d start to feel about you, I would never have agreed. I only did it because my father’s never respected me before, and—“
I cut her off. “Stop,” I say. “I don’t want to hear it.” I steel myself for this next part. “I can forgive you for fucking with me, but not for fucking with my daughter. Get the fuck out of my life and never come back.” I push my chair back and stand.
“Griffin, please,” she says. “Let me explain. It was a mistake, but I’m starting to feel things. I was protecting you.”
“Stop protecting me. Stop feeling things.” I shake my head. “I have to go.”
I walk out of that restaurant, and I feel like some part of me gets torn off and left behind.
I can’t believe this. She was a plant from the very start. She was sent by Rick Fisher, that fucking psycho douchebag, to spy on me. And she did a good fucking job, didn’t she? Got close to me, made my daughter fucking like her.
Oh shit, poor Lacey. She’s going to wonder why Erin isn’t around anymore. I’m going to have to tell her that she’ll never see her again. Or at least explain that she won’t for a while. I don’t know what the fuck I’ll say, actually.
Fuck. I get out to my car, slam the door, and pound the steering wheel. Rick Fisher is a fucking dead man. That piece of shit bastard. Erin was clearly upset in there, and I believe her when she says that she tried to protect us. I don’t think she’s good enough of a liar to have faked everything we did together. I believe that she was a virgin and that she wanted to be with me and Lacey.
But that’s all fucking gone now. I can never trust her. Rick Fisher corrupted this. I wish she had never told me, and we could have gone on the way we were before.
But that’s not true. I’m glad she told me. That took guts, at least. Everything else was cowardice. It’s over now, and I can start to move on. Maybe she can too.
I feel broken, wrecked. I don’t know what the fuck I’m going to do. Hours earlier, I was thinking about my future with Erin. Now, my future looks empty and alone, and my past is a fucking lie.
I turn on the engine and drive slowly home, reeling from the news, still not totally able to comprehend it all.
18
Erin
It doesn’t really sink in that first week.
I make up some excuse to my father, unable to tell him that I was fired from the Griffin job. I don’t know why I care, but I’m afraid to face him.