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“I don’t know,” Jack continues, still thinking. “My money is still on your dad. He’s just the type to pull this shady shit. Maybe he made a deal with someone in the press for the story. Or maybe—”
“It wasn’t him.”
We all turn toward the quiet voice in the doorway, Jack frowning at the woman standing there, her gray eyes locked on mine and shining with guilt as she takes off her large sunglasses and pulls back the deep hood of her jacket—no doubt the reasons that helped her sneak by the horde of reporters outside.
I sit up straighter. “Abby?”
“How did you get in here?” Jack says.
She points back at the door. “This was open.”
“That tracks,” Lila mutters.
I’m standing now, taking a step closer to my sister, who is still looking at me warily. “What do you mean it wasn’t him?”
“Because…” She bites her bottom lip, her eyes wide and searching and making her look so much younger than she actually is. “Because it was me,” she says finally.
Everything is silent for a handful of seconds, and then:
“Oh shit,” Jack whispers. “Plot twist.”
Twenty-Five
DELILAH
Abby’s admission is surprising, and not only just to me, if the look on Ian’s face is any indication. His brows shoot up and his mouth parts, his eyes searching her face as Abby continues to stand there, seeming to almost wither under his scrutiny.
“You told them?”
Abby sighs as she turns and shuts the door, running her fingers through her long, strawberry blond hair as her eyes stay glued on her worn Converses. “I know I should have talked to you first.”
“You’re damned right you should have,” Ian bites out. Ian is so rarely angry—at least that I’ve seen—that this new side of him throws me a little. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done? The problems this will cause for everyone? It’s not just you who will be affected here. You get that, right?”
Abby nods glumly, trudging across the room and sinking into one of the lounge chairs opposite Jack. She seems so small like this, even being several inches taller than me, her willowy frame hunched over and her hands wringing in her lap. My heart goes out to her, and a strong urge to give her a hug overtakes me, but I know it isn’t my place right now. That I have to let them figure this out on their own.
“I do,” she says quietly. “And I tried to talk to you about it. I called you not long ago, remember? I told you how I was feeling.”
Ian stomps across the room, dropping down beside me on the couch. His posture is tense, and I keep my hands tucked in my lap for the moment. “You never said you were thinking about going to the press.”
“I wanted to tell you,” Abby urges. “I was working up to it, but then you had to go, and you didn’t call me back, and I…” She bites her lip, peeking up at Ian with weary eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“Sorry can’t take things back,” Ian huffs. “Sorry won’t stop the shitstorm that this is going to make for me and my mother. I know you don’t know her, Abby, but you realize you just hurt her, too, don’t you?”
“I know,” she says. “I know that. But you don’t know what it’s like. You have no idea what it’s like to be everyone’s dirty secret. I have no one left, Ian. No one but you and Dad. You two are the only family I have, and the both of you have spent the entire time that I’ve known you wishing I didn’t exist.”
“That’s—” Ian’s mouth snaps shut, his eyes hard for a moment before softening slightly. I can see it, the minute that my Ian comes back to the moment—the kind protector I know him to be overriding his anger as his shoulders slump. “I didn’t want you to feel that way.”
“I know you didn’t,” Abby assures him. “You’ve done the best you can with me. I know you didn’t ask for any of this, but you’ve always done your best.”
“I just don’t understand why you felt like this was your only option,” Ian sighs.
Abby levels him with a hard stare, her gray eyes, which are so similar to Ian’s, holding his. “And if I had told you what I wanted to do, what would you have said? Honestly? Would you have supported me?”
“I…” Ian shakes his head, looking down at his hands clenching his knees. I can’t help but reach out, covering one with mine and squeezing it just to let him know I’m here in whatever way he needs me to be. He gives my fingers a gentle squeeze back, expelling a breath. “I don’t know. I want to say that I would, but like I said, we’re not the only ones affected by this.”
“I know you wanted to protect your mom,” Abby tells him, “and I’m sorry that I’ve ruined that, but the truth is, if I hadn’t done this, I would have been a secret my entire life. I can’t do it anymore. Even if it makes you hate me. I—I love you, Ian. I know that’s probably weird for you, because you didn’t ask for a sister, and I never wanted to let you down, but I’ve just been drowning in this secret, and I—”
Ian is off the couch and crossing the room before any of us can blink, and Abby lets out a soft oomph as he tugs her up from the chair and wraps his arms around her. My chest squeezes at the sight. I hear a soft sniffle from the slight woman in his arms, and then her hands reach to tentatively clasp at his sides.
