Page 188 of Hexed
“Don’t call me that,” I bite out. “You don’t get to call me that anymore.”
Fisher takes a giant step toward me. “If I didn’t give him what he wanted, they were going to kill my kid. That’s my kid!” He smacks his chest.
“Well, you’ve always been pretty fucking gullible,” I snap back. “There is no kid, Fisher.God. Don’t you think they could find a random girl? Or manipulate a photo?”
I scoff and turn my head to the other side of the table. Because of course it was him. I told him so much on that phone call when I was in New York, and it wasn’t even a day later that Enzo’s father showed up to tear us apart.
It was Fisher who told them I was there. Where I was staying. Everything…was all Fisher.
“They’re lying to you,” I say sadly. “I know you want to believe them, but, Fisher…they’re using your vulnerability to manipulate you.”
“Oh, and you’re not?” he spits, moving until he’s right next to the table. “You don’t tell me shit. You have me here running things for you, but you never tell me the whole story. Just bits and pieces that suit you, that cater to you, that make you look good.”
“I was protecting you, you moron!”
“I don’t need your protection.”
“Clearly.” I shake my head again. “I’m telling you right now, Fisher, if Aria was pregnant, if she was truly pregnant, your kid isn’t out there. There’s no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. And Uncle T didn’t send her away.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do, actually. I was there when he lost his mind over her being gone, and I was sent to check in on her all the goddamn time. I saw Aria just a few months after she left, and for the record, she was very much not pregnant and very much there on her own accord.”
He grits his teeth, nostrils flaring. “How do I know you’re telling the truth?”
I exhale heavily, hurt piercing through my chest, because how can he ask that? “Maybe I’ve left some things out for your protection, but I’ve never lied to you. They’re playing you, and you know what hurts the most about it? You just took them at face value, threw away years of our friendship, threw away my life, without even making sure it was worth it.”
His eyes well up, tears lining his lower lids. “I didn’t have a choice.”
“There’s always a choice, Gup.” A sudden thought hits me. “How long?”
“What?” he asks.
“How long were you feeding information to my uncle? Since Aria came back like you said or longer?”
“Since Aria came back. Daddy T had you…” He swallows and looks down. “He was setting you up. Having you spend time with E in case things went south. They could still kill him and pin everything on you.”
My mouth pops open, a short burst of air escaping.Of course. That’s why he had me on babysitting duty. Insurance.
And Fisher knew the whole time. Wasbetrayingme the whole time.
“So you had plenty of time to verify things, to come clean to me…and you didn’t.”
A tear escapes his eye, and he wipes it away. “I wanted to, so many times, but I…I just couldn’t take the chance. They put me in an impossible situation.”
I hate that I understand, because as soon as he says that, I’m filled with regret over all the things I didn’t tell Enzo when I had the chance. If Fisher’s a coward, then so am I. Doesn’t make it hurt any less, though.
“You told Uncle T about New York,” I confirm.
He nods and looks down at the floor again.
“And he told Carlos Marino.”
Another nod.
I think back, trying to remember everything I told him on the phone. I kept it vague, but one thought keeps repeating in my mind. A single line.
There are going to be some changes.
