He didn’t say a word as he stood there, shame showing on his face as he looked back at me. So, I continued.
“I just want to know what happened and why you have lied to me about it for the past two years,” I said as my breath became deeper and my anger started to show itself.
Lucas started to pace around his living room, wiping his forehead a few times. I could tell that he was nervous about this conversation, and wasn’t quite sure where to begin. Maybe he thought we would never be having this conversation. Honestly, I didn’t either.
“It was James,” he said as he exhaled, before turning toward me. “It was our mission to try and find the documents in the basement that night,” he started. “That’s why I told you that I couldn’t make it. It was our job. There was nothing in Viktor’s plan about you getting hurt, I swear. No one from the party was even supposed to be downstairs.”
“So, why weren’t you there to help him?” I asked confused. When I was down there I only saw one person—my attacker.
“I was, but that was before you came down,” Lucas sighed. “I didn’t even want to do it in the first place. At that point in time, I had been working with your family for a while, and it just felt wrong to betray them like that. I had already grown to like you a lot, even love you by that point, and every time I was given a mission involving your family, from Viktor, I could only see you and how much I was hurting you by hurting your family. But, in the end, you did end up getting hurt.”
“You’re right, I did,” I responded coldly. “I can’t believe you kept something this big from me. You promised you would never keep anything from me!”
Most women in my situation would be thrilled to know that someone they loved didn’t hurt them, but at this moment, I wasn’t sure that was the case. I had fallen back in love with Lucas despite what I thought had been a mistake—a fall out from him being caught up in-between two worlds.
“I know…and I’m so sorry. I know that you’re upset, but will you try to let me explain?” he asked.
I closed my eyes and exhaled as much negative energy as I could. My anger was starting to consume me, but I did as Lucas asked and quieted down as much as I could at the moment.
“James and I didn’t find anything that night. I told him that we should just give up and leave. Try back another time when so many people weren’t around. He insisted he stay and take one last sweep of the place, and against my better judgement, I left to start the car—I knew I shouldn’t have left him, but I didn’t expect anything else to happen.
“In the time that I was gone, you came down the stairs and James attacked you. I was coming back through the basement door to tell James to hurry up when I saw you lying on the ground. He was standing over you. I started running to you, and I even screamed out your name, but before I could get to you, James hit me over the head and I fell unconscious.”
He suddenly stopped pacing; obviously feeling a little better that he was slowly getting this off his chest. In two swift strides, he was standing in front of me, reaching for my hands, but I backed away from him.
I was speechless. I couldn’t believe this.
He backed away, giving me space before continuing.
“When we returned back to Viktor’s house and I came to, James explained everything that happened. He told Viktor that we didn’t get the document and that you were hurt in the process. Viktor was furious—saying he needed you alive.”
“So why did you take the fall for James?” I said snarky. I knew that Lucas was a good man, but he shouldn’t have done that. He was smarter than that.
“Because I wanted a go at James myself. I felt responsible for what happened to you. I wanted to be the one to get back at him. I knew Viktor wouldn’t hurt me, because I was still a vital piece in his plan. But after that night, a part of Viktor was always hesitant when it came to giving me an assignment. That was why he ordered Nikolas to introduce himself to you. It was plan B, since I was slowly screwing up plan A.”
“You had months Lucas… months to tell me the truth. You could have told me on the cliff, or when we were in Europe, but you didn’t.”
That was the one thing that I couldn’t understand. We had spent months together with no one around but the two of us. I had even forgiven him when he explained everything. He had multiple opportunities.
“I was going to the night of your kidnapping, but all of Viktor’s men were there and I couldn’t. If Viktor found out that I lied to him, then I’d be dead. And as far as Europe goes, you had already forgiven me for it and we were in a good place.” He paused, taking in a deep breath before he continued.
“I’ve just always felt responsible for it, because I should have stayed with James that night,” he said so quietly I could barely hear him. There was only one way to describe his feeling—ashamed. “I could have prevented it. If I wouldn’t have left him, then you wouldn’t have been hurt.”
“You know you aren’t making any sense right now?” I snapped at him. Now I was the one pacing the room. “Lucas, you should have told me the truth a long time ago. You lied to me. I can’t stand that, and you of all people know that. How many times have I confided in you about all the secrets from my own family?”
“Lily, I’m so sorry. I get it, I screwed up.”
“Things could have been so different by now.”
“Things wouldn’t have been any different, Lil. You would still be torn between Emilio and me. There’s no doubt about that.”
He turned around and lifted his hand to his face, before wiping some of the sweat away.
“Damn it, Lil,” Lucas said, closing the distance between us. “Can you not see how much I love you? How much I’ve sacrificed trying to keep you safe?”
“I know you love me, but right now I…,” I said as I started to back away from him and head towards the bathroom.
“Please, Lil, don’t walk away from me. I’m sorry— for everything,” Lucas pleaded as he grabbed my hand.
“I know you are, and since you know and love me, you will give me some time,” I said with a tight smile, before turning around, walking into the bathroom, and closing the door.
I grabbed my phone and immediately called Emilio.
“Hello?” his voice answered after just two rings.
“Emilio, can you please come and get me?” I asked, holding back tears.
“I’m on my way,” was all he said as he hung up the phone.
He didn’t need to ask me where I was—he already knew. I grabbed my necklace and held it tightly in my hands as tears silently rolled down my cheeks.
I sat on the edge of the bathtub consumed by my own thoughts. Lucas didn’t hurt me, but he had lied to me. I had so many questions still, but the one I had to answer for myself was which one was worse—the original thought of Lucas hurting me, or the truth of him not.
***
Emilio must have been close by, or maybe I had lost all track of time, because, before I could even decide which one was worse, a soft knock and his voice calling my name sprung me from that decision.
I stood up quickly and opened the door to find Emilio standing there.
“I’m ready to go home,” I said as I swiftly passed him and stood by the front door.
I lingered by the door while Emilio and Lucas had a quick conversation—never looking up to meet Lucas’s face. I should have been paying attention to what they were talking about, but all I could think about was getting home, crawling into my bed, and trying to take in everything Lucas had said to me. I knew it wasn’t the whole story, but it was enough for me. I didn’t need to know everything—I just needed to know the truth.
Emilio eventually made his way over to me, and before I knew it, we were in his car and headed home.
“Want to talk about it?” Emilio finally asked, breaking the silence.
I couldn’t stop myself as I told him about my entire night: meeting Faith, our conversation, James, running, his eyes, and Lucas.
All at once all my emotions poured out of me. I was scared, mad, confused, and part of me relieved.
Emilio sat there the entire time—never interrupting.
When I was finished, I turned to him, my voice calm and even.
“You could have told me,” I said quietly. “I know it wasn’t your place. I’m learning that, but…” I trailed off. I wasn’t quite sure what I was trying to say.
“I tried, remember?” He glanced sideways at me for a second. “I told you that the two of you needed to talk, and when you came back from Europe—I thought you had.”
“Emilio—” I began, but he cut me off.
“If he had really done it, do you think your family or I would have kept him around if he had? He would have been swimming with the damn fish—no matter how much of an asset he was to us.”
“No,” I sighed, knowing that made perfect sense.
“And as crazy as this is about to sound, just forgive him and move on. I’m not saying that what he did wasn’t stupid, because it was, but I can see where he was coming from.”
I turned completely in my seat and looked at Emilio.
He glanced at me and even half laughed.
“Don’t look so surprised there, Liliana.”
“Well, I am,” I said, not holding back my shock.
“Every time something happens to you, whether from something I did or something someone else did, I take it personal. I blame myself and ask myself a million questions—running every scenario in my mind. I always wonder if there was something I could have done to prevent whatever happened. So… yes, I can see where Lucas is coming from, even if it doesn’t make complete sense to you,” he paused and looked over at me, “it does to me.
“We feel responsible, because we’re supposed to be there for you—protecting you and never letting anything happen. So when something does, we beat ourselves up over it—more than you ever could.”
I didn’t know what else to say after that. Emilio made sense. Was I still upset with Lucas? Yes. Did I forgive him? Yes.
“Thank you, Emilio,” I said as I turned back in my chair, took his hand, and squeezed it.
“You’re welcome,” he replied, pulling my hand to his chest and holding it there, not letting my hand go.
***
The rest of the ride had been quiet, and when we arrived home, we both said goodnight and I crawled into bed.
I thought I was going to have a hard time sleeping with everything that had been swirling around in my head, but as soon as my head hit the pillow, I was out.
The next morning the smell of coffee, and Violet, greeted me when I came down the stairs. So, of course, I had to recount the events of the night before, and thankfully when I was finishing up, Dante and Emilio were coming down the stairs.
“Benito and Lucas are headed over soon,” Dante said as he poured himself and Emilio a cup of coffee.
“Why are they coming over?” I asked.
About that time, a knock came at the door. Benito and Lucas both walked right in.
Benito walked right in and said hello to everyone, whereas Lucas lingered in our sight, but stayed by the stairs with his hands in his pockets.
“We’re going to go over the surveillance video from last night. We want to see if we can retrace James’s steps,” Emilio said as he walked over to me and bent down. “Forgive him, okay?” he whispered in my ear, before motioning for Dante and Benito to follow him.
“See you downstairs in a minute,” Emilio said as he passed Lucas.
Violet got up from beside me and stretched. She was trying to be inconspicuous, but she was failing.
“Well, I’m headed upstairs to get ready. Don’t forget, we’re meeting Elle for brunch this morning.” She patted my leg and gave me a reassuring smile, before heading to her room.
Lucas slowly made his way over to me and sat down beside me. He gave me the respectful amount of space he knew I needed.
“I’m—,” he started.
“I know, I forgive you,” I said sincerely, looking him in the eyes. “Emilio and I had a long talk on the way home last night, and he helped me realize a few things. While I’m still upset that you lied, he helped me realize why. Just please don’t do it again, okay?”
“I promise, I won’t,” he said as his blue eyes sparkled, and his body language became more relaxed. “You know everything now, Lil. I have no more secrets from you.”
“You better not.” I smiled as I stood up. “Anyways, you better get downstairs and help them before they come looking for you. And if I’m not ready when Elle gets here she will leave me,” I laughed before I leaned in, kissed Lucas on the cheek, and started to walk off.
“Lil,” he called out, and when I turned to face him, his face was soft and sincere. “Not only will I promise to always tell you the truth, but I will always be there when you need me. I love you, Lil. Always.”
“I know,” I said as I smiled at him, turned, and started to walk up the stairs.
After I got ready for the day, Violet and I sat at the dining room table waiting for Elle to come and pick us up. Benito and Dante had made their way upstairs, and I was telling them what had happened last night, stopping at when I made it into Lucas’s building safely—the rest was unnecessary.
Emilio and Lucas joined us not too long after they were done going over the last of the footage. Emilio seemed suspicious about something, but Lucas was more pensive than I had seen him before. His eyes shifted back and forth as he was trying to make sense of whatever he was thinking.
“Lucas, is everything okay man?” I heard Dante ask.
“I’m not sure,” he responded.
Benito stood up and looked at Lucas.
“What is it?” he asked.
“It’s not possible, but I swear I saw…,” Lucas said, trying to piece whatever he saw together.
“Who is it? Who did you see?” Violet chimed in.
“It was…,” Lucas said, before shaking his head of the thought. We all waited for him to finish, but it looked like he wasn’t going to.
We all paused as we heard the kitchen door shut, and then the clicking of heels heading our direction.
“It’s just Elle,” I said. All of our eyes were still on Lucas.
Just then, Lucas’s eyes widened—looking as though he had just seen a ghost. Violet’s gasps followed, and I quickly turned around at the same time Benito had.
“Adela…,” Benito whispered as a slender, middle aged, gorgeous blonde stood there, looking back at all of us. Elle was standing not too far behind her.
“Hey, Benny,” Adela said as a cautious smile spread across her face.