Something is up . . .
“Right. She’s fucked how many men in her lifetime, and you don’t think one more would make a difference?”
Before I can stop myself, I vault out of my chair and slam a right hook into Maria’s face.
“Lily, don’t,” Vlad yells as I land another punch into her face.
“That’s right,” she says, scooting across the floor away from me. “Hitting a pregnant woman is sure to win you a Medal of Honor.”
“What!” Several voices boom, as everyone gets up from the table.
Maria gets to her feet, wiping the blood from her lip with the back of her hand, a wicked gleam in her eye. “You didn’t think he’d wait forever, did you? I mean, after all, according to Interpol, you were dead.”
I sway as dizziness hits me like a Mack truck, the warmth draining from my face, coldness creeping into my bones.
No . . . he wouldn’t . . .
“You’re pregnant?” Blake’s voice breaks through the fuzziness.
“Yes,” she says with a sinister smile playing at her lips. “And if that bitch touches me again, she’ll find herself out of a job.”
“Don’t call my fiancée a bitc
h again,”
“Ex-fiancée,” I whisper, my breath catching in my throat as I gently pull the engagement ring from my finger.
My hands shake as I unclasp the bracelet, squeezing them tight in my hands. Blake’s eyes well with tears, his face pale.
“Lily, please, let me explain,” he begs.
“Explain what? That you accused me of being with Dres when you were with her?” I set the ring and bracelet on the table.
His eyes dart to them and back as the tears spill over his cheeks. Everything hurts— my chest, my arms, my legs. It’s as if someone threw me in front of a bus and instead of dying, I got up and kept going.
“I told you to tell her,” Vlad snaps, anger saturating his tone.
My head snaps up, the air flowing unevenly from my lungs. My eyes dart around the room, and it hits me . . . they all know. Every person in here, except Dresden, whose eyes shine with a gleam I’ve only ever seen when he kills, knew Blake fucked this bitch in my absence.
And no one told me.
“Lily, just calm down, honey,” Carmen says as if she’s talking to a caged animal.
“Fuck you,” I say, clutching my chest. “Eleven years. Eleven years I’ve spent with you all, and not one of you thought to tell me.”
Vlad rushes to my side and grabs my shoulder. I push away from him and without thinking, punch him as hard as I can. “Don’t touch me.”
“Shannon,” Dresden whispers behind me. “You knew?”
She sniffles. “Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It wasn’t my place, Dresden. Blake has to fix his own mistakes.”
“This isn’t a mistake,” he yells. “This is downright bullshit. You all remember what she was like when we started this assignment. You learned about what she’s been through. None of you stopped to think, ‘Hey, Lily’s been hurt enough.’”
“Dresden, please,” Shannon whispers.