“W-what does it say?” Kill women?
“It tells me what a horrible person I am. And then to have you come along and accuse me of being a serial killer, of taking lives for the sheer pleasure of it…” His voice broke, though he still kept his hands clamped on her shoulders. “To have you look at me like I’m a killer, coming in and ripping away the only friendship I have, exposing my secret to the world…” He dropped down to his knees in front of her, his shoulders heaving with his sobs.
Her knees felt wobbly, but she knelt next to him and tentatively touched his shaking back. “Look, I got a little…crazy with my suspicions.” Crazy was her dark word from her past, the demon that whispered in her ear sometimes. “But I can see I was wrong about you.” Her legs gave out, and she sat down. “Owen, we are not what we’ve done. We are only defined but what we are now. And if Dale Soza does print that story, it will give you the chance to exorcize your demon once and for all. Instead of hiding from the truth, face it. Face the world with it, forgive that little boy, and set him free. Forgive your stepfather, too. Not for him, but for you. Release all the anger and shame that’s clogging up your soul and find yourself.”
He looked up at her, removing his glasses and wiping his eyes. “I…I don’t know if I can do that.”
“I’ve lived with my dirty little secret, too, trying to be normal when I’m anything but. My parents thought I was crazy, probably still do. I thought I was crazy. Then, when I realized it was some gift or curse or whatever, I hated it. I fought it. But finally I had to accept and work around it. Adrian was the first person I told about it, and he accepted me. He was the only one I was able to open myself up to. He taught me I could love fully and be open with another person. He accepts you, too, just as you are, and that is the most wonderful gift you will ever receive. He’s a good friend. I’ve lost him”—her voice cracked—“but you haven’t. Don’t push him away and think you’re better off alone. You’re not.” She wiped her eyes.
“She’s right.”
They both jerked their gazes toward the door where Adrian stood. She hadn’t closed it fully.
“How much of that did you hear?” she said, coming to her feet.
“Enough.” He looked at her, then at Owen, who also stood. “No matter what, I’m here for you. We’ve been friends since we were kids, through all of that garbage you went through. That’s not going to change now. If the story breaks, we’ll face it together.”
Owen hugged Adrian, not in the guy pat-your-back way but a full-out hug. Her heart filled for them. She’d never had a true friend, someone who would stand by her no matter what. She and Adrian didn’t have the history these two had. It would be easy for him to walk away from her.
The two men stepped apart. Owen wiped at his nose, and she handed him a tissue. “She’s great,” he said to Adrian.
She shrugged. “It was only a tissue.”
“No, I mean…everything you said.” He blew his nose and stuffed the tissue into his pocket. “I’m going to buy myself a box of chocolates and rent a sappy movie.”
Adrian put his hand on Owen’s shoulder. “Want some company?”
“I’m good. No matter what happens, I’ll be okay. See you tomorrow at the office.” Once Owen left, Adrian looked at her. “What you said to him…that was nice.”
“I meant every word.”
“I know you did.”
He stepped closer, and her heart started beating a little faster. He gave away nothing in his expression. “He was all kinds of mad at you when I found him at a bar. When he stalked off, I had a bad feeling. I knew he had access to your address.”
“I have to admit, I was scared for a few minutes.” She scrubbed her hands down her arms at the memory. “I think he’ll be all right.” But what about us?
Is there an us? She looked at him questioningly.
“I could almost forgive you,” he said.
Her heart fell. Almost. But not completely. “But you can’t.”
He shook his head. “I can’t forgive you for being so smart and noble and determined and so intrinsically you that I can’t get you out of my mind even when I want to. That I can’t control myself when I’m around you. That I can’t stop being in love with you, and what I really can’t understand or believe is that you’ve done that in only five days.”
In love? She pulled her lower lip between her teeth, her smile growing. “Maybe I can make it up to you.” She stepped closer, sliding her hands around his neck. “If I work really, really hard at it.”