“And you’ll have to tell them about Sissy and Al and the others,” she whispered, understanding making her throat constrict more.
“Sissy and possibly some of your uncles are going to be implicated in this crime eventually. I want you to understand it’s not something I can stop. Because I’m not telling the truth immediately doesn’t mean I’m condoning silence forever about this. The keeping of secrets is what got us to this point. The truth should be told. When the time comes, I’m going to tell the FBI everything I know. Call it what you want: fate, karma, or simple justice, Sissy and some or all of your uncles knowingly harbored a kidnapped child for years and years. They lied regularly about her identity and prevented her return to her rightful parents.”
“They lied about my identity,” Alice said, staring blankly at Dylan’s chest.
Shivers ran in rivulets down her body. It felt like ice water had been poured on top of her head. Dylan grasped her wrist and lifted her hand from his chest. Her gaze shot up to meet his.
“I was Addie Durand.”
A muscle leapt in his taut cheek. “You are Addie Durand.” Another shudder coursed through her. “You’re Alice Reed, too,” he assured roughly. “You always will be, no matter what happens.”
Her eyes stung. She shut them reflexively. She wasn’t so sure she wanted to be Alice Reed anymore, given what Dylan had just told her. It had always felt like she didn’t belong as a child, the notes of her spirit clashing discordantly with her supposed kin’s. Now, here was the truth. They’d never been her family. Never. It was a jarring, horrible, incredible truth. And yet . . .
It was starting to feel real.
She shook. His arms closed around her. He brought her against him, so that her chest pressed against his ribs and her face was buried in his chest. It felt wonderful.
This. This was the opposite of what she’d felt in Sissy Reed’s trailer. This was what she’d longed for her whole life, to feel safe and prized.
She hugged him back. Hard. Thankfully, he didn’t speak for several tense moments. Perhaps he realized if she was forced to respond, she’d betray her ragged emotional state . . . expose her grief.
“Alice?” he asked quietly when she’d wiped the last of her tears on his shirt and brought herself under control.
“Yeah?” she sniffed.
“You okay?”
“Yeah.”
He chafed her upper arms with his hands.
“We never got to talk about what happened the night you found me under the stairs,” she said.
“Are you really up to getting into that now?” he asked, and she sensed his wary watchfulness.
She nodded. She was tired, but the things Thad had said that night had been like a worm burrowing under her skin. So much had come out tonight; so much released to the surface. She couldn’t bear the thought of Thad’s allegations continuing to haunt her.
“Thad had said something that upset me,” she began, her voice sounding congested.
“What?”
She lifted her head but kept her gaze lowered. “He said that his father had told him that the circumstances by which you became CEO of Durand were . . . suspicious.”
He slid his fingers beneath her chin and lifted gently. She met his narrow-eyed stare.
“Schaefer was trying to warn you about me?”
“I guess so.”
“Why? Does he know we’re involved? Did you tell him?”
“No!”
“Then how does he know?”
“I don’t know,” she exclaimed, suddenly feeling like she was on the witness stand. She struggled to recall what Thad had said when she asked him how he knew she was involved with Dylan. “Do you think a guy doesn’t notice when the girl he’s fallen for is completely in love with someone else?”
She was uncomfortably aware of Dylan waiting.
“He said something about recognizing the signs because he cared about me so much . . . ”
She faded off, her cheeks warming.
“Because he’s in love with you himself, and bound to notice where your attentions lie?” Dylan asked incredulously. “That’s bullshit, Alice. You didn’t believe him, did you?”
“That he’s infatuated with me?” she asked, frowning.
“No. That he knew you and I were involved because he can read the mind of the woman he loves,” Dylan said sarcastically. “He’s been following you. He knows where you go at night.”
“He’s not following me! That’s—” She halted herself from saying ridiculous because she suddenly remembered those two times he’d come upon her in the woods. The Durand Estate was awfully large to just coincidentally run into her when she was alone and vulnerable.
“I refuse to believe that my two choices are either to trust in Thad or trust in you,” she said, feeling cornered. “Maybe he has noticed us coming up here at night, I don’t know, but that doesn’t mean he’s got evil intentions toward me.”
“So that’s it?” Dylan asked, a hard gleam to his eyes. “Schaefer is trying to turn you against me because he doesn’t want the competition?”