Chapter 177

YENA

Lucy watched her reflection carefully in the trifold mirror while moving around the layers of the skirt I was fitting on her. “I don’t remember how I had it,” she said. “Was it like this?”

“Yes. That’s perfect.” I hurried over and knelt beside the pedestal, pinning the fabric into place at the most flattering angle over Lucy’s hip.

“So Cindy couldn’t make it today, huh?”

“Yeah, she was too busy.” I finished pinning the skirt into place and took a couple steps back to look at it from a distance again. “I knew it wouldn’t be easy to get her away from the orphanage. She said she’ll try again tomorrow.”

“I had fun with her last night. She’s super nice.”

“Yeah, I’m glad Nolan invited her to the dinner party. That was a fun surprise.”

“He is super sweet, too, Yena.” Lucy met my eyes in the mirror. “It was really nice to finally get to hang out with the two of you together. I can’t believe I thought…” She darted her eyes away as her voice trailed off.

“You thought what? I’m done with the skirt, by the way. We can get you out of it.”

Lucy nodded, unzipped the side closure and started shimmying the half-constructed skirt down her legs carefully, making sure not to loosen the pins. I guided the garment off as she hopped out, carried it over to a work table and laid it there flat.

“Oh, Yena.” Lucy sighed. She sat on the couch and looked over at me, frowning. “It seems so silly now in hindsight.”

“What does?”

“Adan had me believing some very not-true things about Nolan. He was so sneaky about it, Yena, I can hardly remember how he even brought up the subject so often without me noticing. But it seems so ridiculous, now that I’ve actually met your husband, and I can’t believe I bought into any of it.”

“You’ve got to stop beating yourself up, Lucy. Adan was a really good liar. I believed him, too. Even when I really, really shouldn’t have.”

There was a knock on the door, a soft one I recognized as Nolan’s.

Lucy, dressed at the moment in a tank top and thin leggings, got up and started pulling on some more clothes.

“Hey.” I swung the door open and smiled at the sight of my handsome husband.

“Hey, beautiful.” Nolan bent to give me a kiss.

His energy felt very heavy. “You okay?” I asked. “Want to come in and hang out?”

“I’m fine.” He dared a glance at Lucy. She was just pouring herself a fresh cup of tea, paying him no mind. “I just got back from paying a visit to the prison,” he whispered.

“Right.” I could only imagine what that must have been like. “Come in.” I took Nolan’s hand and dragged him into the studio.

“I don’t want to interrupt,” he said politely.

“You’re not interrupting!” Lucy called out. “Please come in, Nolan.”

“We just finished something anyway,” I told him. “Perfect time for a break.”

Lucy, looking cozy in a fluffy, oversized sweater, sank into a corner of one of the couches with her teacup in hand. “I’m glad you stopped by,” she said. “I want to thank you again for my new phone. I love it.”

Nolan waved her off. “It was no problem. The least I could do to thank you. Really.”

Lucy gazed down into her teacup. “You say that like I did you a favor, but…”

“You did.” Nolan took a seat on the couch opposite Lucy. I sat beside him and let him hook an arm comfortably around my shoulders. “You gave us what we needed to find Adan and bring him in. That was huge, Lucy. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

She frowned. “But maybe you wouldn’t have been in that position in the first place if it wasn’t for me…”

“Lucy, stop.” I shook my head at her for the millionth time. “None of this was your fault.”

“I should tell him,” she whispered, meeting my eyes. “I should tell Nolan what I did.”

“Nothing you did or didn’t do,” Nolan interjected, his voice firm, “caused my brother to commit the crimes that he committed.”

“I know that.” She sighed. “I just feel so guilty for letting him get information out of me…”

Nolan and I were now shaking our heads in unison.

“Ladies,” he said cautiously, removing his arm from around my shoulders. He wiped his mouth with his hand, something he did when he was nervous. “I think it’s time I tell you both a story.”

“Do you remember that little bar we went to in the human world, on the last night of our honeymoon?”

I almost laughed at the memory of that night. “Yes, I do. You got wasted.”

Nolan winced, embarrassed. “Yes. Well, before that… you remember that wall of photos at the bar?”

“Sure. We took a picture of us and pinned it up on the wall. Everyone did.”

“And do you remember the photo you saw, of that man you said looked like me? The one we discussed with the bar owner?”

“Whoa. Wait.” This was something I had not thought about for a long time. “Oh, my Goddess. That was Adan in that picture, wasn’t it?”

Nolan nodded. “Yes.”

“But didn’t that guy say the couple in that picture was dead? That they were murdered?”

“He did say that. And I looked into it. The woman in the photo, that was the human woman that Adan ran away with, all those years ago. They were together for many years before… before what happened.”

Lucy was puzzled, missing a lot of the story’s critical info. “What are you saying?”

“The long and short of it is this.” Nolan leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Adan’s lover of many years was murdered shortly before he moved back here last year. Her body was found alongside that of another victim—a male. Adan must have planted his identification on that male victim’s body after he killed the pair of them, to confuse the human police and essentially fake his own death.”

“So…” Lucy set her teacup down with shaking hands. “So he killed his old girlfriend, is what you’re saying.”

“I’m not telling you this to scare you. But if you are sitting here thinking that you’re responsible for any of Adan’s actions, please, you must let that go. There’s nothing that this man wouldn’t do to get his way.”

“And the only thing that matters to me,” he continued, “is that you are okay. You have no idea how relieved I am, Lucy, that you got away from him unharmed.”

Silent, frightened tears started streaming down Lucy’s face.

“I’m so sorry,” Nolan said. “Should I not have told you?”

“No, no.” Lucy snatched up a box of tissues from an end table and started patting her cheeks dry. “I’m… it’s good that I know. I get the point you’re making. I think I needed to hear that. It’s just scary.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about this before?” I asked.

Nolan frowned. “I wasn’t sure if you would believe me. Adan had you convinced, for a while, that he was someone else. Plus, I couldn’t prove anything about what happened overseas.”

“This is crazy.” I rubbed my eyes, pushing away a few budding tears of my own. “Lucy, are you okay?”

“You know what,” she said, sniffling, “I think I actually am. Thank you, Nolan. I kind of feel validated, about some of the stuff that happened between me and him… like I understand it better.”

Nolan nodded warily. I could tell he still wasn’t sure if he had, in fact, done the right thing by telling us this very upsetting story.

Lucy blew her nose noisily. It was like a trumpet sounding to signal the end of this dreary conversation. “Okay,” she said. “How about we talk about something more cheerful?”

“That’s fine with me.” Nolan glanced across the room at the dressmaking dummies that were heaped over in half-made designs. “What are you girls working on today?”

“Oh, a new collection,” I said. “It’s still in its infancy, though. Not much I could show you right now.”

I winked at Lucy when I caught her eye. She suppressed a devious smile, then busily resumed sipping her tea.

I hadn’t told Nolan about my plan yet for the project I was working on with Lucy and Cindy.

It was going to be a surprise.