Page 88 of Lie With Me
“What were you thinking?” she nearly shouts, hands flying up.
“Look, it’s not what you think–”
“What I think is that she made a mistake inviting you. I know you took the breakup hard, son, but this is extreme. Neil’s talking about pressing charges,” her dad cuts me off.
“Listen, you can’t marry him, Emily. Okay? Just trust me.” My eyes flit to each of her parents before drilling into hers, trying to convey silently that we need to talk just me and her.
She doesn’t get the point. “Tripp, I know that I hurt you, and I’m so sorry, but–”
“That isn’t it! He’s not who you think he is, Em.” My blood pumps faster through my veins, fueled by adrenaline and the urgency to tell her what I know.
“Tripp, this isn’t looking good for you, honey.Don’t you have a beautiful fiancée somewhere you should be more concerned with?” her mother suggests. I hate that she’s right. I hate that I left Valentina in our room to deal with this.
“What do you mean Neil isn’t who I think he is?” Emily asks, ignoring her mom. Her tears have dried, and she looks at me curiously, like she’s finally willing to listen to what I have to say.
“Can we talk alone?Please?” I stress.
“Just say whatever it is you have to say, son,” her dad responds, moving to pour himself a drink from a crystal decanter seated on the top of a minibar along one side of the wall.
“I think it’s better if your daughter and I talk alone, sir. With all due respect, neither of you need to hear what I have to say.” I’m still looking at Emily, urging her to tell her parents to leave.
She still doesn’t get the point. “Just say it, Tripp!”
“Fine! You want me to say it in front of your parents? I will. Remember what you said when you broke up with me? Neil is a thousand times worse. We’re not talking ‘let’s explore some boundaries.’ The guy is a straight-up sadist.”
Emily visibly flinches. “No, he’s not! I would know!”
“Yeah, just like you knew what I liked, and we were together for a lot longer than you’ve been with him, Em. No offense, but you don’t know because you don’twantto know.” I speak softly, not wanting her to feel like she needs to get defensive any more than she already is. I can already see hershrinking in on herself as her hand drifts to her belly.
“What are you going on about, Tripp? Emily said you two broke up because you weren’t ready to start a family.” Her mother looks between her daughter and me as she unwinds her arm from around Emily and straightens in her seat.
My ex has the grace to look embarrassed as she sinks further into the sofa.
Instantly, I think of Lenni. I think about how she’s sitting alone in our room right now after I treated her like shit and left her to come warn Emily. I think about how I’m so sick of feeling like I always need to do what I believe is right and continue getting shit on for it. I think about how I wish we’d never come here this weekend and how I should have just washed my hands of this mess a long time ago.
“Well, if that’s what she said, then it must be true, right?” I huff out softly.
“What do you mean Neil is a sadist?” her father asks.
“Yes, Tripp. Whatdoyou mean by that?” Neil’s deep voice questions behind me.
I look over my shoulder to see that someone reset his nose, but he’s swollen, and there’s bruising under his eyes. It adds to the villainous grin that’s stretched across his face. I think about his hands on Lenni, and once again, my vision goes red. “End it, Neil. Emily doesn’t deserve this.”
There’s a shuffling noise outside the room, and my parents appear behind him, rushing in to join us. “What on earth were you thinking, Tripp? You can’t go around hitting people!” my mother cries, clearly not understanding what she just walked into.
“Neil, we’re sorry this happened, we really are. What do we need to do to convince you not to press charges?” Pops asks him.
But Neil is still grinning his Cheshire smile at me. “Did your prostitute of a fiancée tell you that?” He makes a tsking sound. “She’s breaking club rules.”
Dread shoots through me. My blood turns to ice as all eyes shift to me and everyone starts speaking at once.
“Prostitute? What is he talking about, Tripp?”
“What club?”
“Valentina is a prostitute?”
“Tripp, Son, tell me he’s lying?”