“What do we do in the meantime?”

Aiden meets my eyes. “We act normal. Nothing’s changed. We help Anna look for evidence to help Luke . . . shit.”

The realization hits me at the same time it must hit Aiden. If Luke really didn’t kill Greg, then he’s free, and if he’s free, he can contact Tony, who will come here, and find me.

I feel even more defeated than possible. I really don’t know what to do; all the cards are stacked against me. We need to help the twins, and we obviously can’t let Luke go on trial for murder when he’s innocent. But if he’s out, he’s going to look into Tony. If he doesn’t find out the truth about Tony and expose me himself, then he’s going to invite him here into Annalisa’s life, and consequently into mine, which might possibly be what Agent Dylan wants. I don’t want anyone to get hurt because of me, but I can’t be so selfish as to keep Luke in jail so I can continue living peacefully in King City with my friends.

Aiden puts his arm around my shoulder and pulls me closer to him.

“I think we might need to tell Anna. About everything,” I say, my voice coming out small. I don’t want to tell her about me but it’s not looking like I have any other choice. I don’t see any other options.

Aiden pulls me closer to him. “Let’s not do anything right now, okay? Let’s take some time, think everything through, and do it properly. We don’t have room for error here.”

I rest my head against his shoulder. He’s right. We should think everything through properly, then decide what to do.

“Hey!” Noah’s voice calls up to us from the bottom of the stairs. “Are you guys done doing X-rated things and want to join us? We ordered pizza! It should be here soon.”

“Why does he always think we’re fooling around?” I ask Aiden, happy to let Noah distract me for the moment.

Aiden must appreciate the distraction, too, because he shrugs and helps me stand up. “Maybe he wants to watch?”

“Ew! Gross!”

“Let’s go get ready for food. Try to act normal, for now at least.”

Normal. I’m starting to despise that word. All I want to do is be normal, not pretend while dealing with a million things all designed to hurt me.

Even though it’s January, the weather’s mild, so Aiden leaves the sliding door open to let in the fresh air as we sit around the table and stuff our faces. The kitchen quickly gets warm with all the bodies piled in eating pizza, so I even have to take off my sweater. The air is worth it since it helps me stay focused. Act normal.

After dinner, when the sun’s starting to set, everyone starts to head out. Chase pulls an unexpected move and asks Charlotte if he can drive her home. She hesitates, but I think she realizes he’s probably planning on making up with her about what happened at her party, so she accepts. I stay a bit later after Mason and Noah leave to help Aiden clean up and go over some calculus homework, but I can tell his mind is elsewhere, and I don’t blame him, so I call it a night around nine.