Page 120 of Pretty Little Threats

“Well, he fucking got it, and you’re the only other person who knows it. You had a picture...” Dare trails off. “What did you do with the picture?”

I swallow, but it feels like nails in my throat. “I sent it to Orion.”

“With what email?”

“The same one I always use.” The JD Miller & Co email.

Earlier today, Dad glanced at the PDF, but I closed it before he had a chance to read it, and then when I left, I?—

Did I lock my computer? I always lock my computer. It’s a habit. At my level within the corporation, there are too many people who would take advantage of an open computer. I locked it, I’m sure I did.

“I don’t know how he got it,” I confess.

“It’s your father’s company. It wouldn’t be hard for him to read your email, but how would he know to look?” Dare stares at me like I’m someone he doesn’t know.

Guilt gnaws at me. “I didn’t tell him. The only person I told was Orion because I thought...” I trail off.

When I saw those messages, I didn’t even stop to think that it could be his sisters. I immediately assumed it was another woman, that he loved someone else, but now I realize how stupid my jealousy was. I’ve had Orion trailing him for a year, and I’ve spent almost every day of the last few months with him.

My gaze flies to meet his. “I swear I didn’t give it to my dad.”

Dare’s eyes harden. “Leave,Rose.”

“Dare,” I say, trying to make it all make sense. The number wasn’t from a woman he was seeing; it was from his sister and they were attacked. But why would my dad try to kill his sisters? And what about Irene?

My breathing grows heavy, and the harder I try to slow it down, the more difficult it is to breathe.

How do I know this isn’t orchestrated? Phone calls can be faked. It could all be a ruse.

If I believe him, which I desperately want to, Irene is safe, but that means my dad lied about that too. But Dare hasn’t given me any proof. Only his word.

Can I trust it?

Do I believe him?

I shiver and look at him, struggling to figure it all out. My head is so fucked up.

What about us? Would Dare really say all that terrible stuff about me to protect me from my dad?

“Was any of it real?” My voice is thick with emotion and my heart trembles in my chest like the final leaf of autumn waiting to fall from the tree. All it would take is one word to strip me bare.

Dare places his hands on either side of my face, far more gentle than I expect, given the tension coiled around him. “More than you know, but I can’t even look at you right now, Rosalynn,” he confesses.

I take a quick breath, pressing my hand to my chest. The use of my full name cuts deep. I glance down to see if he stabbed me, but no. The only weapon here is the way he takes a pointed step back, creating a divide I don’t know how to bridge.

“I need you to leave.” He walks away from me, unmuting his phone and talking to whoever is on the other end of the call.

Dare leaves me standing in the foyer.

Leaves me questioning everything.

Leaves me regretting every word I said.

I step toward him. “Dare.”

“Go, Rose,” he demands.

And so, I do.

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