“I…I’m not sure.”
“Are you seeing him now?”
Nate glances over to the corner of the room, and I see his throat bob as he swallows. He shakes his head before looking down at the glass in his hands. He sniffs, wipes his face with the back of his hand, and looks at me with that same, pitiful, shattered expression. With a long huff of breath, he glances at his sister and whispers something to her.
“I think Nate and Cherry need to talk before we go any further,” Nora says as she stands.
Nate’s expression quickly changes back to horror.
“Nora, I—”
“Nataniele Carlo Orso, you need to come clean!” Nora snaps. “You need to tell her everything, and try to fix this before it’s too late. You’re lucky she hasn’t walked right out on you already. Is that what you want?”
“No,” he whispers, staring at his hands.
“Then tell her.”
He nods.
I consider moving toward the couch but hesitate. I’m not sure if I want to be left alone with Nate right now.
“Cherry?” He looks at me, his eyes pleading. “Can we…can we talk? Please?”
I cross my arms over my chest, not answering verbally but not leaving either. I do want some answers. I don’t know if it will change anything at this point, but I feel like I should hear him out. While I debate internally, the others exit the room slowly and silently, leaving Nate and me alone.
“What did Nora mean?” I ask. “What is it you need to tell me?”
“Are you still willing to talk to me?” Nate asks quietly.
“At the moment,” I reply, still keeping my distance, “but I have some conditions.”
“Conditions?”
“Yes. Honesty. I want total and complete honesty from you, Nate.”
“There are things I can’t talk about, Cherry.”
“Bullshit.” I glare at him, and Nate raises an eyebrow.
“Don’t you think that I deserve to know it all?”
“Not everything.”
“Then there is no point in talking.” I start to leave, but he jumps up and rushes to the door before I can get there.
“Don’t go!”
“You brought me into this, Nate!” I yell at him. “All I wanted was to find out who my parents are, but you are the one who brought me into this family and made me feel like I was a part of it. You did all that, but you’ve been lying to me the whole time, and I’m not going to put up with that anymore!”
Nate stands there, mouth agape and eyes bulging. He opens and closes his mouth as if he’s trying to find the right words. I continue to glare at him, and when he doesn’t respond, I start to make my way around him to the door.
“All right,” Nate says quickly, “I’ll try. I reserve the right to leave out some details though. Can you live with that?”
“Maybe.” I stop in my tracks but don’t lower my guard. “It’s a start anyway.”
He reaches out to me, but I don’t take his hand. Hesitantly, I follow him to the couch so we can sit beside each other.
“Let me start by apologizing for the beginning of this evening,” he says. “I’m sorry I overreacted.”
“Overreacted? That’s what you call it?”
“We’ve had spies sent by the Ramsay family before. When we found out you were being followed, I assumed they were watching you for a reason.”
“You mean by Aaron. Aaron was following me.”
“Yes. When Antony told me someone was following you, and that person was not only a guy you went out with but someone who was working for the Ramsays, I kinda lost it. That’s what started it. Then all this other stuff started coming out, and I thought…well, I guess since I’d been trying to manipulate you, I thought you must have been manipulating me too. I wasn’t thinking straight, and Pops…Pops kept telling me you were working against me.”
“Your dead father.” I don’t intend for my words to be so blunt, but I can’t help it.
“I didn’t know,” Nate whispers. He reaches for my hand in my lap, and this time I let him take it. “I…I don’t know why that was happening.”
“It was all in your head. Something inside of you didn’t trust me.”
“It’s hard to trust people,” Nate admits. “The thing is, I did trust you. I do trust you. It just scares me to put faith in someone else. Maybe Pops was just my paranoia about being wrong. He always told me I was wrong, and that didn’t seem to stop even when he was dead.”
“What about now?”
“He’s gone.” Nate glances around the room. “I hope he’s gone for good.”
I stare at his face, examining him intently. His expression isn’t one I’ve seen before. It’s a strange combination of fear and contriteness. I feel his hand trembling in mine, and I finally relax my fingers enough to wrap around his.
“When Antony showed me the file Micha had on you, it seemed clear. I was sure that if he knew about you, you must have known about all of us.”
“I didn’t. I don’t know anything about this, Nate.” I feel tears creeping back into my eyes. “I swear, I don’t. I never met your brother, and I had no idea he was investigating me. Aunt Ginny was still alive then, and I didn’t start looking for my birth parents until long after she died.”
“I believe you, Cherry. I’m sorry I ever doubted you at all. It was stupid of me. I should have trusted my instincts more than I did.”
This time, I can feel his sincerity. Though my anger hasn’t diminished, it’s subdued enough that I can think straight again.
“It was stupid. I’ve never been anything but honest with you.”
“I know. I mean, I realize that maybe if I hadn’t listened to Pops, I
