Page 141 of Secrets (The Sins Trilogy 2)
If Tony and I knew each other, why didn’t he say so? And his brothers, too! If I’m from Tempérane like Tony, Edgar and Harry would’ve known me too, but they acted like they’d never met me before. Did Tony ask them to do that? No, no, I tell myself as soon as the question surfaces. What is this, some huge conspiracy? I’m not important enough for that.
And Yuna! Wouldn’t she have called me Ivy if that really were my name? It isn’t like Tony hired her to fake a friendship. She’s genuine…and plays the meanest Rachmaninoff, Liszt and Chopin!
And the girl in the blue dress? Tony doesn’t know her. I told him how important it was to find her, and he said he couldn’t help.
Because he didn’t know. If he could, he would’ve done everything in his power to find out who she was. He loves me. He adores me. I look at the ring on my finger. The symbol of everything he feels for me.
Marty’s doing this as a final blow against me and Tony. Marty knows I don’t like him. He blames Tony for investors abandoning Peacher & Son. He’s just angry he doesn’t know how to attract investors like his dad did.
“You’re pathetic. Don’t ever come near me again,” I say, turning away.
“You stupid cunt, shut up and listen!” He starts toward me.
The door opens, and Bobbi pokes her head in.
Marty comes to an abrupt stop. “Use the other one on the second floor,” he says.
Her gaze flicks to him for a fraction of a second, then returns to me. “The car’s here.”
The car. It jolts me, and I start moving. I have to go. If I leave this horrible space with two stalls and two tiny sinks and Marty sneering at me, I’ll be okay.
My legs tremble as I walk out. When I’m past her, she lets go of the door, and it closes behind me. Suddenly, my knees buckle. I slap my palms against the wall for balance, Bobbi’s arms supporting me.
“What did he do to you?” she asks.
I shake my head. I can’t tell her.
“I’m going to kill that weasel.”
“Don’t. I just need a minute. Feeling a little dizzy.” And clammy.
Bobbi reaches into her jacket pocket and gives me a handful of M&M’s. “Here. Eat these.”
I take them and dump every single one into my mouth. The sugar tastes good. So does the chocolate. The area stops spinning, and my muscles no longer feel like old rubber.
But now that I can stand upright without the hall spinning, my mind whirs faster, processing Marty’s lies.
Because they are lies. There’s no way my real identity is Ivy Smith or that Tony knew me from all those years ago—
The Ivy Foundation.
Everything inside me freezes. Yuna said she started it to provide financial help to Korean kids who study classical music. I didn’t think anything of the name, but…
When I was having my first nightmare about the girl in the blue dress, I was with Tony. And when he woke me up, he called me Ivy.
Suddenly I can’t move. If I leave, I have to face Tony. And I’m going to want to know for sure. I can’t not confirm.
Come on. Marty’s lying. The name of Yuna’s foundation is a coincidence. You don’t think she should’ve named it after you, do you? And Tony said he misspoke in panic. Are you going to believe Marty over Tony?
But…
I press the heel of my palm against my forehead. Marty is a jerk, but he isn’t stupid. He wouldn’t lie about something that could be disproven in seconds. But who can confirm for sure?
Not Tony or his brothers. Not Yuna. No one from the high school I supposedly went to, since that’s a lie Sam made up. So who else is left…?
My brain churns through everyone I can think of, throwing up one objection or another as to why I shouldn’t contact them. Ugh. There’s nobody who can tell me for sure? Did I go to a middle school then? How about somebody from Almond Val—
Curtis!
