Page 80 of Six of Hearts
Her words hit me like cold water. "Wait." I sat up straighter. "Who sent me those photos?"
"What?"
"Someone sent me those photos. Someone who knew about Eva, who knew about Ronan's past, who had access to crime scene photos and knew exactly how to crop them to make him look guilty." My heart started racing again, but this time withanger instead of fear. "Someone wanted me to leave. Someone wanted to break us up."
"Holy shit," Khloe breathed. "You're right."
"And I let them." The realisation made me furious—at myself, at whoever had done this, at the whole situation. "I let some anonymous asshole manipulate me into abandoning the best thing that's ever happened to me. I let them make me doubt the man I love. I let them win."
"So what are you going to do about it?"
I stood up, suddenly filled with determination. "I'm going home. I'm going to apologise to my guys, and then we're going to figure out who did this, and we're going to make sure they never hurt anyone I love again."
Khloe grinned. "That's my girl. When are you leaving?"
"Now." I was already moving toward the bedroom to pack. "Right now. I've wasted enough time."
***
The drive back to Dallas felt endless.
Every mile, my determination wavered a little more. What if they didn't want me back? What if I'd hurt them too badly? What if the kids hated me for leaving?
What if Ronan couldn't forgive me for believing, even for a moment, that he was capable of murder?
My hands were shaking on the steering wheel—not from coffee this time, but from pure anxiety. I'd practised what I would say a hundred times, but none of it sounded right. How do you apologise for something like this? How do you explain that you were scared without making it sound like an excuse?
The Dallas skyline appeared on the horizon, and my stomach dropped. I was really doing this. No more hiding, no more running. I had to face what I'd done.
I drove through familiar streets, past the park where we'd taken the kids, past the grocery store where Gabriel had kissed me in the parking lot, past the restaurant where Liam had told me he was falling for me. Every landmark was a memory, a reminder of what I'd almost thrown away.
When I pulled up in front of Noah's house, I sat in the car for a long moment, trying to breathe. The house looked the same—white picket fence, manicured lawn, the home I'd come to think of as mine. But would they still want me here?
Only one way to find out.
I walked up to the door on shaking legs and knocked before I could lose my nerve.
The door opened, and Noah stood there.
He looked terrible. There were bags under his eyes, his hair was disheveled, and he was wearing the same shirt I'd seen him in three days ago. But when he saw me, his whole face transformed.
"Aria?" He said my name like he couldn't quite believe I was real.
"Hi," I managed, my voice barely above a whisper. "Can I come in?"
He didn't answer. He just pulled me inside and wrapped his arms around me so tightly I could barely breathe. I felt him shaking, felt the way he buried his face in my hair like he was trying to memorise the feel of me.
"You're here," he said against my neck. "You're really here."
"I'm so sorry," I whispered. "Noah, I'm so sorry. I should have—"
He pulled back just enough to kiss me, cutting off my apology. It was desperate and relieved and full of everything we hadn't been able to say. When we finally broke apart, we were both crying.
"I thought I'd lost you," he said, his voice cracking. "I thought you were gone for good."
"Never. I'm never leaving again. I promise."
He kissed me again, and I heard something crash in the kitchen. We both jumped, and Noah pulled away reluctantly.
