Alison Storm

Chapter 13

Alison

How can he not know?

If he's working together with his father...he would know. Right?

"You mean Lisa?" he asks. I nod. "She's not my mother. My mother moved to Paris when I was two years old, I told you that. Lisa did almost marry my father though." Well, I guess my father will be glad to hear that.

Rhys rests his elbows on his thighs, leaning his forehead against the palms of his hands. "Allie, I swear I had no idea. All I've been told—"

"I know." I get up from my bed and walk right over to him. As I kneel down in front of Rhys, his eyes instantly meet mine. I rest my hands on his knees for some stability. "Rhys, right in this moment, your father is being questioned by the police while another team is searching both of your houses. If I didn't know any better, I'd say they're minutes away from sending him right to Lisa."

There's no other way around telling him. I mean, I guess I could've been a little more sensitive...but I've never exactly had to tell anyone something like this. I have absolutely no idea how to even say this without sounding like a bitch.

"Searching my house?" he asks, being surprisingly calm for someone on the receiving end. "What the hell are they trying to find?"

"As for your father's house, proof of your father's excessive stalking. Possible plans, et cetera." How did my life even turn into this? When did I go from running away from paparazzis to telling people their parents are shitty.

Thank god mine aren't.

"Your house, well, cause there's still a possibility that you're in on your father's plans. And I suppose to find evidence for your father's fake business."

"Okay," he says in a breath, slightly bobbing his head. "What about me and prison? I helped him, didn't I?"

I shake my head, then shrug. "I doubt you ever truly knew what your father was up to. I don't think you tried to harm anyone."

"No, I...I thought I was coming here to protect you. And then after your father told me I wasn't, I stuck around because he asked me to." His voice is filled with pain, but as it seems, for all the wrong reasons.

He only started to get upset now, not when I told him about his father.

Without thinking, I cup his face with my hands, only to be pulled right onto his lap. His arms sneak around my waist, holding me to his body.

"Why aren't you more upset?" He should be. God knows I would be if I found out my father was a bad person. Though, I think we can all agree that he isn't.

"Because I don't care if my father goes to prison. If everything you told me is the truth, he certainly deserves it. And I can't even come up with reasons why it shouldn't be true. I mean, I've been forced to study your family ever since I was five or six. It never made sense to me, but it sure does now."

Rhys's hand on my hip, the way his thumb gently caresses my skin over my skirt sends a shiver down my spine. "Rhys?"

He hums, looking deeply into my eyes.

"I tried to hate you. For everything."

"I sense a but."

I nod. "I tried to hate you because for a split moment I thought you wanted to be my friend. Then I found out the truth. I tried everything...but the more time we spent together, the more I found you being in your head." A slight smile appears on my lips, and even if I wanted to make it go away, it simply wouldn't leave. "You thought about me and your lies, didn't you?"