“Ding, ding, ding!” Lawson slaps the arms of his chair. “You got it. He and his wife left two teenage girls with a huge mess. Their bank accounts were frozen and all their assets were seized. My guess is they go by Sutter to avoid being connected to the Fisher name.”

I sift through the tidbits of information that Rian has given me about her family, which is admittedly very little. “Are her parents still alive?”

“I have no idea. Apparently they got something like three million for the mansion, since they needed cash fast, had it transferred to an offshore account, and disappeared. If they’re alive, they’re staying under the radar, because if the federal government finds them, they’ll be in prison for a long time.”

I think back to first time I was at Rian’s house, to the pictures on the bookshelf and my question about her mother—the one she never answered. As the pieces start to come together, I realize how much she’s kept from me.

“Hey, you okay? I figured this would be helpful, answer some of those questions.”

I rub the back of my neck, the muscles suddenly tight. “What kind of parents leave two eighteen-year-old girls to clean up their mess? And with nothing to survive on?”

“Shitty ones, I guess. Makes ours look like saints, doesn’t it?”

I huff a humorless laugh. Our parents are far from perfect. They haven’t been the best relationship role models, but they’ve never left us to fend on our own, financially or otherwise.

I consider the life Rian once had. Her upbringing had been the opposite of mine. She came from everything and had it all ripped away from her. She was abandoned by the people who were supposed to take care of her. No wonder she’s so guarded. Her secrets are the walls between us.

I push up out of my chair.

“Where you going?”

“To get some answers.” And break down some walls.

CHAPTER 28

TRUTHS

RIAN

I flip my phone over in my hand, waiting for a message I’m not sure is ever going to come. I feel ill. The same kind of ill I felt after my parents left Marley and me alone, with almost nothing.

If it’s over between me and Pierce, I have no one to blame but myself. Maybe I should’ve been honest with him from the beginning, but I was doing what I thought was right. I was protecting me and Marley. It’s what I’ve always done. And he’s supposed to be temporary. A fun summer distraction, not someone I want to keep around.

Regardless of whether or not I’m right about Pierce being in on whatever Lawson may or may not have planned, we’re so closely connected by all of these invisible threads. I’m sure he’s already figured it out by now, which might explain the silence on his end. The pieces of my past that I’ve kept hidden threaten to destroy this brief blip of happiness.

Instead of putting trust in Pierce, I villainized him. I accused rather than asked questions, and now I’m facing the consequences. He has every right to be angry with me because my omissions are as bad as lies. In trying to protect myself, I only ended up hurting us both.

Last night I slept on the couch at the Paulson reno. Because it still smells very faintly of Pierce. I’m so pathetic.

The knock on the sliding door startles me. It’s almost eight, and the finish carpenter is supposed to be here at nine to take care of the last little details, but I expect him to come to the front door. I peek over the end of the couch, mortified that I’m still in my pajamas. Except it’s not the finish carpenter. It’s Pierce.

My heart stops and then beats double time. I throw the comforter off, no longer worried about my sleepwear, or the fact that I probably have pillow lines etched in my face. I’ve slept like crap the past two night and based on Pierce’s stubbled chin and cheeks and dark eyes, so has he.

Maybe I’m not alone in my misery. And I’m definitely miserable.

My stomach clenches, and not in a good way as I open the door. He looks angry. Maybe angrier than he did the last time I spoke to him. “Hi.”

I don’t get so much as a smile in response. He glares at me with stormy eyes, full of confrontation. “Why didn’t you tell me who your family was?”

I clasp my hands so I don’t fidget under his rightfully angry gaze. “I didn’t think it was important,” I say meekly.

He purses his lips, eyes moving over my face. There’s no warmth, just hurt. “You didn’t think it was important to tell me that my sister’s fiancé’s family were responsible for exposing your parents?”

“I didn’t put it together until I saw that article when I stayed at your place.”

“Is that part of the reason you bolted then? Was everything else just a way to push the blame off on me?”

Shame and fear make it hard to speak. Shame over who my family is, fear that my omissions are going to cost me so much more than some embarrassment. In hindsight, maybe I’ve made a bigger deal out of it than necessary, but explaining who my family is and what they did is mortifying beyond belief.

“Where are your parents, Rian?”

I look down at my feet, unable to see his disdain for me. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know or you don’t want to tell me?”

I curl my toes under, hating the way my stomach knots. “I haven’t heard from them in three years.” They could be dead, although I have a feeling if that was the case, I would probably get a call.

“Three years?” His voice is laced with disbelief.

I twist my hands, remembering the last time I heard my mother’s voice; the sound of her laughter, the music in the background, the crashing of waves. “The last time my mom called was our twenty-fifth birthday.” There’s bitterness in the memory I don’t want.

His face falls, his anger ebbing slightly. “And you’ve had no contact since?”

I bite the inside of my lip, trying to keep the tears they don’t deserve from falling. “They said it was too dangerous, someone could trace the calls. We had a small trust come due that birthday, so…”

“They called to get money out of you?” I loathe his pity because it confirms what I already know—my parents are beyond horrible.

There’s no point in keeping any of this from him anymore. Whatever his reaction, I’m done hiding the truth. “When we wouldn’t wire them money, they tried to redirect it into their account. Of course, it didn’t work because the money was in our names. After that Marley and I changed our phone numbers and switched over to new accounts so it wouldn’t happen again. It was too painful to hear from them, especially when we knew it wasn’t because they cared or were worried about us, but because they wanted something.” I smile, but it’s pained and my throat feels tight. Marley’s been my only person for so many years. I haven’t let anyone else in; I’m haunted by a legacy anyone would be ashamed of.

Pierce’s lip curls. “That’s disgusting.”

“It is,” I agree. “You see why I wasn’t eager to share any of this? My parents are bad people. They’re cheaters, liars, and thieves. My dad used me to swindle people. I didn’t know what he was doing, and when I realized I’d helped him … it was devastating. Marley and I did everything we could to separate ourselves from them. We legally changed our last name to sever the ties. My dad left us ten thousand dollars in cash and no way to contact them. Why would I want you to know that about my life? Tell me it doesn’t change how you see me.”