The Lies That Shatter by A.V. Asher
Chapter Twenty-Four
Mercedes was finally wearing herself out. Heavy, choking sobs that coursed through her since Alec left were letting up. The door to the patio was still open. A soft breeze rustled her hair as she lay curled on the couch.
A knock came at the door and hope swirled that maybe Alec had come back. She tried not to be too disappointed when Noah stuck his head in.
“Mi cielo? Are you okay?”
“No.” She wiped her face and sat up. “Where did you take him?”
Noah grimaced. “A hotel downtown.”
Jealousy and pain ripped through her heart. He was with her. Images of what they might be doing flooded her mind, and she thought she might be sick.
Noah set a reusable shopping bag on the coffee table. “When I caught Paul in bed with that little slut Aaron, you offered me two things.” He reached in the bag and set out a tub of Ben and Jerry’s and a bottle of bourbon. “Ice cream and whisky.” He set them in front of her. “Choose your poison.”
Mercedes smiled through her tears and pointed to the ice cream.
“Wise choice.” Noah went to the kitchen and brought out two spoons. He sat next to her and they dug into the ice cream straight from the container.
Noah asked gently, “So, do you want to talk about it?”
Mercedes nodded, hoping the heaviness would ease if she put it out into the world. “When he first got here, he pulled me into his arms and held me. And I thought for a second, maybe we’d be okay.” Mercedes closed her eyes, the agony in Alec’s words replaying over and over in her mind. “But he’s so hurt and angry at me. He said I let them lie to him. That if I loved him, I never would have let it happen.”
“I’m sorry, that’s rough.”
“He’s not wrong though. I should have made them prove it to me somehow.” Mercedes brought her fingers up to her eyes, trying in vain to stem the flow of tears. “I should have verified they told him.”
“Sadie, you were in bad shape for a while. You trusted they’d do what they said they’d do.”
“I should know better than to trust anybody.”
Noah gave her a sympathetic smile and held out the container of swirled vanilla and chunky fudge ice cream. She dug her spoon in, letting the cool cream soothe her burning throat.
“How did you get over Paul?” she asked.
Noah shrugged. “Well, working with you distracted me. I kind of threw myself into it. And time has helped too. Sometimes I still miss him, or at least the man I wanted him to be.”
Alec was every bit the man she wanted him to be.
“I’ve already had to get over Alec once.”
“And how did you do that?”
“I met Jason.” She scoffed. “A rebound that turned into a nightmare.”
“Yeah, don’t do that again.”
Her lips turned up into a rueful smile. “It’s not like it worked, anyway. I never really got over him.”
“Not gonna lie, he looked pretty damn miserable tonight too.”
Alec’s tear-filled eyes came to mind. She couldn’t imagine how the last year had been for him. There was no way to take that pain away.
Something Alec had said struck her as odd. “He kept saying I signed something. That he saw an agreement that let the government lie to him. Do you know what he means?”
Noah shook his head. “No idea, but I don’t have a lot to do with that part of things. Maybe Lauren can find out.”
“Maybe. I’ll talk to her tomorrow.”
They ate in silence for a minute, Mercedes drowning in her misery. Suddenly a thought hit her, and she nearly dropped her spoon.
“Oh, shit.”
Noah’s brow shot up. “What?”
“I don’t have anywhere to live.” Panic stretched its fingers through her body. “I can’t go to London now. What the hell am I going to do?”
Mercedes put the spoon down and buried her face in her hands. All the files she had on London real estate listings were useless. She wouldn’t get to show Alec her favorite neighborhoods and see if he’d find them as charming as she did. They wouldn’t get to select a real home together. A year of dreaming and planning had come crashing down.
Why hadn’t she made backup plans?
Because you knew Alec would be there.
The trial wasn’t expected to last much longer than a week. Then she’d be on her own. She had a new life to create in a very short period of time.
After they cleaned up, Noah said good night and went to the other unit. Even though he and the other agent were close, it was the first time in forever she felt alone.
This was how things were going to be, so she would have to get used to it.