That’s not what she expected him to grab on to. She needed him angry about the violation of his privacy, not standing there all stoic, as if waiting for her to hurt him again. “The thing . . . You know, what she said. The thing about us. Together. Our past and what that meant. What we might have done. That we came up with a plan. For Baines. I don’t know why we would, and we didn’t, but . . . To hurt Baines and then kill him.”

He shook his head. “You know you have a tell, right? The way you talk changes when you’re worried or under fire. We’ve joked about it, but still you’re trying to lie to me.”

The babbling thing. She’d had it since she was a kid and never kicked it. She’d even taken speech training classes and saw a therapist about anxiety. Nothing helped.

“The last few weeks have been a terrible ride.” An epic understatement, but not a lie. “I barely held it together, then Kennedy got so angry and refuses to be near me. Now she’s gone. Then that reporter and the accident. The attack, which I still don’t get. Was it a coincidence that it happened so soon after Baines . . . died? I haven’t had the time or space to grieve for anyone.” She could feel her nerves firing and her words picking up speed. The anxiety swelled, and she tried to take a breath. Tried to slow down. “Kennedy and I are trying. We talk at night, and—”

“Gabby.”

A sharp, buzzing pain started above her eye. “Liam, please. This is all too much. We’re not on solid ground. We can’t do this now.”

“I’m giving you a onetime pass.” He held up a finger as if to emphasize his point. “You tell me now, and I’ll figure out a way to let the fact you hid whatever this is from me slide. But this must be the last time, and you must tell me now. No more stalling.”

Not this. The secret was too big, too horrible. “You can’t control your emotions like that.”

“Jesus, how bad is this? What do you know about Natalie, the sister I loved, took care of, and watched over, that I don’t?”

“Nothing, really.” The statement was true, but she heard the softness of her voice and knew she hadn’t sold it.

“Gab, honestly. I’m a patient man, but you are testing my limits.”

“You’ll hate me,” she blurted out.