“Fucccck,” I hissed, unable to take much more of her goodness. I didn’t know how to handle any of this. Not her acceptance. Not her forgiveness. Not any of the emotions coming along with it.

I removed her hands with the sole purpose of drawing her against me for a hug.

“I’ve got you,” she promised, embracing me back.

And I gave in. I gave her the weight of my problems. Let her accept them like I’d never let anyone do, so I could experience what it was like to breathe without so much pain crushing my rib cage, vise-gripping my heart. I gave myself sixty more seconds to not be as strong as usual before untangling myself from her embrace.

I had a lot more to tell her, including the fact Carter and I worked together a year and a half ago, agreeing not to kill each other for the joint op relating to my sister’s murder. But if I told her that, I’d have to reveal the fact that the body my brothers and I had dropped the first time had been the wrong one.

“I have a feeling when Easton finds out who I am, he won’t love the idea of me being in your life or Colin’s.”

“Well, lucky for me, it’s . . .” She stopped talking, her gaze pivoting somewhere behind me.

“That was you, wasn’t it?” Colin’s low, raspy voice had us backing away from one another to face him. “I was coming to ask you something, but I heard you two talking, so I hung back, and . . .”

How much did you hear?

“That was you,” he repeated, staring at me with wide, unblinking eyes. “That was you I saw that night at Rebecca’s wake. You were the guy Carter yelled at to go away.”

23. Juliette

Chapter 23

Juliette

Shock wove around my limbs like vines, keeping me tethered to the floor. I needed to go to Colin, haul him into my arms, but I couldn’t budge. I stared at him, unblinking, unable to compute what he’d said.

Before I could force open my mouth, Colin continued, “I snuck away to search for dessert while Mom was talking to a friend of Uncle Easton’s. I overheard Carter talking with someone, and he sounded angry, so I stayed around the corner and out of the way.”

I thought back to the wake, remembering when I’d been pulled into that conversation. It felt like yesterday. No parent forgets the horrible feeling of looking around and your kid’s nowhere in sight. Your stomach drops, and the blood rushes from your face, making you physically ill, as a terror like you’ve never known takes hold of you. I’d found him shortly into my search and hugged him while yelling and crying.

“You turned the corner and almost walked right into me.” Colin’s words to Constantine snapped me back to the room.