CHAPTER 4: THE TRUTH
1844 Words
“Me.”
The word hit me harder than if Nico had slapped me.
My ex didn’t leak those photos alone.
Nico helped him.
The ground felt like it was dropping out from under me.
Kieran’s grip on my arm tightened.
“Don’t listen to him,” he said lowly. “He’s lying.”
Nico smiled.
“Am I, brother?”
I pulled my arm out of Kieran’s hold.
“Tell me,” I said to Nico.
Nico’s eyes lit up like he’d been waiting for this moment for years.
“You really don’t know?” he said. “Your ex, Jake, came to me crying about you. Said you were going to leave him. Said you had something on him.”
I shook my head.
“That’s not true.”
“It is,” Nico said. “He showed me the photos. Asked me what to do with them. I told him to send them.”
Kieran moved in front of me.
“Shut up.”
Nico ignored him.
“I told him the world needed to see the real Mara Quinn. The liar. The girl who used people and threw them away.”
I felt sick.
“You ruined my life,” I said.
Nico shrugged.
“You ruined mine first. You got close to Kieran. You made him choose you over me.”
Kieran turned to me, jaw tight.
“It’s not true, Cara. I didn’t know about the photos until after.”
I believed him.
I wanted to believe him.
But the doubt was there.
“Why are you telling me this now?” I asked Nico.
“Because I’m tired of hiding,” Nico said. “Because I want you to see him for what he is. A controller. A liar. Just like me.”
Kieran’s hands clenched into fists.
“You’re done talking.”
He stepped forward, but two of his security team grabbed Nico before he could react.
“Get him off my property,” Kieran said.
Nico laughed as they dragged him away.
“This isn’t over, Mara!” he shouted. “He’s using you!”
Then he was gone.
The tarmac went quiet.
I couldn’t breathe.
Kieran turned to me.
“Are you okay?”
I didn’t answer.
I walked past him and got on the jet.
Kieran followed.
The door closed behind us, and the silence was worse than Nico’s words.
I sat in the first seat I saw and stared at my hands.
They weren’t shaking.
That was worse.
Kieran sat across from me.
“Say something,” he said.
“What do you want me to say?” I said. “Do I believe you? That I don’t?”
“I want you to know the truth,” he said.
“The truth is I don’t know what to believe anymore,” I said.
Kieran ran a hand through his hair.
“I found out about the photos two weeks after they went online,” he said. “I tried to take them down. I hired the best team I could find. But once they’re out, they’re out.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I said.
“Because I knew you’d run,” he said. “And I couldn’t let that happen.”
I looked up at him.
“So you kidnapped me?”
Kieran flinched.
“I protected you.”
“Same thing,” I said.
The jet started moving.
I closed my eyes.
“I need space,” I said.
Kieran nodded.
“Take the bedroom in the back. I’ll stay up front.”
I didn’t argue.
I locked the door behind me and slid down to the floor.
For the first time since I came to this island, I let myself cry.
---
I didn’t sleep.
When the jet landed in Boston, it was 6 AM.
Kieran was waiting by the door when I came out.
He looked like he hadn’t slept either.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“My penthouse,” he said. “It’s secure. Safer than a hotel.”
I nodded.
I didn’t have the energy to argue.
The car ride was silent.
When we got to the penthouse, Kieran gave me a key card and a phone.
“New number,” he said. “Only I have it.”
I took it without a word.
The penthouse was huge. Floor-to-ceiling windows, city view, more space than I knew what to do with.
Kieran showed me to the guest room.
“Bathroom’s through there. Food’s in the kitchen. Don’t leave.”
I nodded.
He hesitated at the door.
“Cara.”
I looked up.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
For what?
For lying?
For protecting me?
For being Nico’s brother?
I didn’t ask.
He left.
I locked the door.
---
I spent the day in bed.
I didn’t eat.
I didn’t answer when Kieran knocked.
At 8 PM, there was a knock that wasn’t Kieran’s.
Three short knocks.
Lena.
I opened the door.
She pulled me into a hug before I could say anything.
“You’re okay,” she said.
I nodded against her shoulder.
“Barely.”
Lena pulled back and looked at me.
“What happened?”
I told her everything.
Nico. The island. The photos. Kieran.
When I finished, she sat back and swore.
“That son of a b***h,” she said.
“Which one?” I said.
“Both,” she said.
I laughed. It sounded broken even to me.
Lena’s face softened.
“Do you trust him?” she asked.
Kieran.
I thought about it.
“I don’t know,” I said.
“Then don’t,” Lena said. “Not until he gives you a reason.”
I nodded.
Lena stood up.
“I filed a report against Nico this morning,” she said. “Cyberstalking, harassment, distribution of non-consensual images. He’s going down.”
I felt something shift in my chest.
Hope, maybe.
“Thank you,” I said.
Lena smiled.
“Don’t thank me yet. He’s got money. Money buys time.”
I nodded.
Lena hesitated.
“There’s one more thing,” she said.
“What?”
“Your ex, Jake,” she said. “He’s talking to the FBI. About Nico.”
My heart stopped.
“What did he say?”
“That Nico paid him to leak the photos,” Lena said. “And that Nico’s been funding other attacks. Against Kieran.”
I sat back.
So Nico wanted to ruin both of us.
Lena left an hour later.
I locked the door behind her and sat on the bed.
Kieran knocked ten minutes later.
“Can I come in?”
I didn’t answer.
He opened the door anyway.
It wasn’t locked.
He stopped when he saw me.
“You look better,” he said.
“I talked to Lena,” I said.
Kieran nodded.
“I know.”
“You knew she was coming?” I said.
“I told her where you were,” he said. “You needed your friend.”
I studied with him.
“Why?”
“Because I’m tired of being the only person you trust,” he said.
I looked away.
“I don’t trust you.”
“I know,” he said.
He sat on the edge of the bed. Not too close.
“Lena told me what she found out,” he said.
I looked up.
“What?”
“Nico’s been attacking my company for months,” he said. “Cyber attacks, leaks, sabotage. He’s trying to take me down.”
“And me?” I said.
“He’s using you to get to me,” Kieran said. “But it’s more than that. He’s obsessed with you, Cara. He always has been.”
I swallowed.
“What do we do?”
Kieran’s eyes darkened.
“We end it,” he said.
“How?”
“We bait him,” Kieran said. “We let him think he’s winning. And when he comes for you, we catch him.”
I stared at him.
“You want to use me as bait?”
“I want to protect you,” Kieran said. “This is the only way.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
Kieran’s jaw tightened.
“Cara—”
“No,” I said again. “I’m done being used. By Nico. By you. By anyone.”
Kieran stood up.
“Then what do you want to do?”
I stood up too.
“I want the truth,” I said. “All of it. No more omissions. No more secrets.”
Kieran hesitated.
Then he nodded.
“Okay,” he said.
He sat back down.
“Ask me anything.”
I thought about it.
Then I asked the question that had been burning since the island.
“Did you hire me because you wanted me?”
Kieran went still.
The room felt too small.
“Yes,” he said.
My heart jumped.
“What does that mean?”
“It means I saw you in Boston six months ago,” he said. “You were walking out of a coffee shop. Nico was following you. I stepped in.”
I remembered that day.
A man had stepped between me and Nico. I’d never seen his face.
“That was you?” I said.
Kieran nodded.
“I’ve been watching you since then,” he said. “Not like Nico. I wanted to keep you safe. When I found out he was coming after you again, I hired you. So I could.”
I didn’t know what to say.
Kieran leaned forward.
“I know you don’t trust me,” he said. “But I need you to know this. I would burn the world down before I let him hurt you.”
I stared at him.
For the first time, I saw it.
He meant it.
My phone buzzed.
The burner.
One message.
_You should’ve stayed on the jet, Mara. Now it’s too late.
I showed it to Kieran.
His face went dark.
“Nico’s in Boston,” he said.
I nodded.
Kieran stood up.
“Get your things,” he said. “We’re moving you again.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
Kieran stopped.
“What?”
“I’m done running,” I said. “If he wants me, he can come find me.”
Kieran’s eyes flared.
“Cara, he’s dangerous.”
“So am I,” I said.
Kieran stared at me.
Then he nodded.
“Okay,” he said. “But you don’t do this alone.”
I nodded.
Kieran pulled out his phone.
“I’m calling my security team,” he said. “We’re locking this place down.”
As he dialed, my front door handle turned.
It was locked.
Someone was trying to get in.
Kieran hung up.
“Get behind me,” he said.
I moved.
The door shuddered.
Then it burst open.
Nico stood in the doorway, gun in hand.
“Hello, Mara,” he said.
- Writer
