“A pig that wants you to get out of the car.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the car. “Let’s go.”
“I don’t want you in my apartment.”
“I know you’re mad at me, but there is more going on here than we both think.” He sighed and slammed the car door shut. “We need to talk. We need to figure this shit out. I think there is more to this than my stupid brother.”
I tried not to roll my eyes. Had he really just figured that out?
“Look, Steve has disappeared.” He pursed his lips as we walked. “So that’s two people now.”
“Two?”
“You said Larry disappeared as well.”
“Yeah, but I thought you or David had something to do with that.”
“We didn’t.” He shook his head. “It was Larry who told David there might be a troublemaker trying to stir things up.”
“I played right into his hands, didn’t I?” I sighed, embarrassed. I thought I’d been so clever. I’d thought David had had no idea of my charade. Turns out he’d known from the beginning. At the end of the day, it had been David playing me.
“You definitely weren’t Sherlock Holmes.” Jakob sighed. “I’m sorry.”
“So you knew all along?” Embarrassment filled me as I remembered how clever I thought I’d been. Apparently I had fooled no one but myself.
“I knew that you were the daughter of the people that had ruined my parents’ life. That’s what I’d been told from the moment I was old enough to understand that my mother was depressed and sad every day.”
“I’m sorry.” I bit my lower lip. “I don’t even know what to say.”
“You have to understand that my whole life has been about getting justice for my mother. For making her life, her pain, not be in vain. I’ve always wanted the people to pay for making her life a misery.”
“But it wasn’t really a misery, was it?” I said softly.
He stopped and frowned at me. “What do you mean?”
“She had you, right?” I gazed at his handsome and inscrutable face. His eyes were dark and heavy, and for a moment I could see the little boy in him. I could imagine him staring at his mother in confusion and sorrow, wondering why she was always sad. I could imagine the heartache of living with that every day and not being able to do anything about it.
“What do you mean, she had me?”
“She had a wonderful, handsome son. And she loved you, right?”
“She loved me because I was my father’s son.” He shrugged.
“No.” I shook my head. “She loved you in spite of that. She did everything for you. I remember you told me that. She did everything to make sure you succeeded. She loved you more than life itself. You were her reason for living.”
“I wasn’t enough to keep her living, though.”
“What do you mean?”
“It doesn’t matter.” He shook his head. “We have more pressing things to worry about.”
“I wish you would let me in a bit more.” I was sad that he wouldn’t discuss his feelings with me. Yes, I hated him for lying to me and I hated him for being a part of this whole craziness, but a part of me was happy. I was happy that he wasn’t this fictional evil character, Mattias. I was happy that our time on the island was real, at least in part. The feelings he had for me were genuine. I knew now that wasn’t part of his act. It wasn’t enough to make me forget everything that had happened, but he liked me. I shivered just thinking about how I felt when he touched me. I was so screwed.
“I’ve let you in more than anyone else in my life.” His voice was soft. “I’ve trusted you with information and thoughts and feelings that I’ve never trusted anyone with. Even when I thought your parents were part of the problem. Even when I was fighting that urge.”
“You really think my mother slept with your father?”
“I do.” He nodded.
“And why would that make my father bad?”
“Your father was the one who convinced my father not to be with my mother, and then your mother slept with my dad. So, yeah, it hurt your father as well, but he got what was coming to him.”
“It wasn’t my mother in the photo you sent me, you know.” I touched his shoulder softly. “My phone died so I couldn’t text you back, but that wasn’t her.”
“Are you sure?” He frowned, his eyes narrowed. “I was told that it was your mother.”
“Who told you that?”
“Larry.” Jakob clenched his fists. “Then he lied.”
“Why would he lie about that?” I rubbed my forehead. “He was good friends with my father. Why would he lie? It doesn’t make sense.”
“Oh, Bianca, how did we get to this place? The only thing I’m sure of right now is the burning passion I have for you. I crave you like a drug, Bianca. A drug I know is bad for me, but one I can’t stop myself from wanting and needing.” He gripped my shoulders and pulled me to him.