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Guilt played a rhythm down his spine as he stepped forward. He shouldn’t be breaking into her room and going through her computer. He should leave. Yet, he couldn’t. He had to know for sure.
He sat down. A browser was open, and he read what she’d searched.
What happens when you get evicted?
Why was Riley researching eviction? Was she about to lose her apartment? He frowned, not liking that thought. But he wasn’t there for her Google searches. He clicked to the Word document she had open.
In bold letters across the top of the screen, it read, “Shadow Walker’s True Identity Revealed.” His hands shook as he skimmed the article and found his name. His mouth went dry, and he had trouble breathing.
It was true. Riley was a tabloid reporter, and she had lied to him to get close to him. She knew who he was, even though she’d pretended she didn’t.
And she was going to expose him to the world.
His mind spun as he tried to figure out what to do. His fingers itched to delete the article. Why not? She was a liar and a fake. Serves her right. He highlighted the text and hit the delete key.
For some reason it was satisfying to see the text on the screen wiped away. But that didn’t wipe away the cold, sick feeling in his gut. Nor did it really do anything to stop Riley from exposing him. She’d just write it again.
And if he left it deleted, she would know he had snuck into her room. He sighed, clicked on Control + Z, and the article re-appeared. Too bad. It would have somehow made him feel better to leave it blank. He clicked the save button out of habit, and the dialogue box opened with the name pre-populated. Right after he hit the return key, he realized what he’d done. Her article hadn’t been saved before. If she came back and noticed it was now saved to her hard drive, she would know someone had been in her room.
Or maybe she wouldn’t notice. Yeah, he’d go with that. Because he had no idea how to unsave something. Was that even possible?
His curiosity about something else piqued, and he opened her documents folder, looking for the novels she’d told him about. The ones she’d said were on her computer. Except, there were no novels. Only articles about famous people. She’d lied about that as well.
He clicked back on the Google search window and stood up, his legs shaking. He’d done what he came to do, which was find out the truth. Now he had to figure out what he was going to do about it.
He was in love with a woman who had lied to him and who was planning on betraying him. A cold-hearted, back-stabbing viper. A woman, who by all rights, didn’t even exist, because he was in love with the persona she made up. The one she’d used to seduce him into falling in love with her.
He felt like throwing up.
Chapter 24
Riley walked into the third store and crossed her fingers that they would have Jalen’s brand of skin cream. She was sure he needed it for his scars. Why else would he have her run all over the island looking for something so specific?
She scanned the shelf, but even before she got done looking, she knew she wasn’t going to find it. This was one of those all-purpose stores. They only had essentials. A little of this and a little of that. Nothing specific, like what Jalen needed. She pulled out her phone and texted.
I haven’t found your skin cream yet. I’ve checked the three stores near the resort, but none of them have it. I’ll need to take a taxi to the next one, because it’s a two-hour walk from here, and it’s starting to rain. Just wanted you to know I’m still on it.
His answer came a few seconds later.
No, it’s okay. I’ll order some to be shipped to my home.
Riley texted back.
Are you sure? I don’t mind checking the next store.
She bit her bottom lip, worried he was in pain. If his skin was delicate, which she could only imagine that it was, it could be really hurting him. He didn’t text back right away, and she walked outside, ready to flag down a taxi. But before she could spot one, her phone chimed.
Just come back to the resort. I need to discuss something with you.
She wondered what that meant. Hopefully he wasn’t wanting to rehash what happened last night. She’d thought she’d made it clear that she didn’t want him to reveal his real identity to her. Not that she’d decided on publishing her article. She’d written it but still couldn’t save it to the shared drive. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt Jalen. Still, she needed to figure out how she was going to pay the rent.
She texted back.
I’ll be there shortly.
The sky was gray with rain clouds and tiny drops hit her skin as she walked. Her thoughts turned to her father. He was young, still. Only fifty-seven. If he could get a transplant, she could have many more years with him. She just needed to help him survive long enough to get the transplant. Maybe she could sell plasma to pay part of the rent. If she made a partial payment, maybe they wouldn’t evict her. Her father needed a stable home. A place to rest. She just didn’t want to sell Jalen out in order to provide that.
Her phone rang, and she pulled it out of her bag. It was Gary. He was probably calling to bug her about the story. She wanted to ignore his call, but that wouldn’t be good. Not if she wanted to keep her job. Swiping the screen, she picked up the call. “Yes?”
