Page 121 of Manic

“I’m telling you now so you’re prepared going forward,” he said. “I’m going to the authorities whether you’re pissed at me or not. Luka is skimming money, and my father is dead because of him. It’s all in the reports I’ve collected.”

I shook my head, refusing to believe him.

My father had enemies because of who he was and what he owned, so this wasn’t the first time I’d heard something along those lines. They were nothing but rumors meant to destroy our family. But Noah, the man I trusted, had been investigating my father—my family—without my knowledge. My heart crumbled into a million, tiny pieces.

Another first.

This was the first place my heart had shattered.

Noah reached for me, but I stepped back, shaking my head again. Unshed tears collected in my eyes. I hated when my anger and heartbreak turned to tears, like the emotions had nowhere else to go. We’d only started dating a year ago, meaning Noah had been investigating my family while he was with me. A conscious choice. Had he sought me out to get closer to my father? Was our relationship even real?

“Was any of it real?” I asked. “Did you ever actually want me, or was I just an easier way to get into my father’s life?”

Noah stayed quiet, the weight of his unspoken words pressing down on my shoulders. I let out a breath as the realization of it all swept over me, my lungs constricting.

“You used me,” I said, my voice cracking. “You used me to get close to him, didn’t you?”

“Please, Sutton, you have to trust me.”

I let out a humorless laugh.

Did Noah even care about me, or was it all a ruse to get close to my family—to build his bogus case that had no substance? As I stared into his tawny eyes for answers, every amount of my trust drifted away in the wind. He didn’t need to say it; I already knew. He’d used me.

“None of this is true,” I said sharply, fire reigniting beneath my skin. “You’ve been investigating my family behind my back—you don’t just get to drop something like this and expect me to believe you. And now I’m supposed to trust you?”

Silence, long and uncomfortable, stretched between us.

“I understand how important it is to find whoever killed your father,” I continued, holding his gaze, “but convincing yourself that it was mine doesn’t make your father’s death go away. Let it go, Noah. Your obsession is clouding your judgement.”

“Let it go?” Noah gritted. “Luka is involved with something much larger than just skimming money. He’s⁠—”

“I will deny everything,” I clipped, blinking away my tears. “Whatever you give them, I will say you made it up. That you’ve been so consumed with finding your father’s murderer, you pinned it on the first person you saw because you want it to be him⁠—”

I gasped as my face jerked sideways, the burn of his palm searing my cheek. Tears of horror fell down my face as Noah towered over me, and I cowered, clutching my face as disbelief swelled inside me.

Noah hit me.

Fear squeezed my heart.

I’d never been hit before, had never experienced what it was like for my cheek to burn the way it did. From someone I loved.

Noah was the last person I thought who would do it, and he’d struck me without an ounce of hesitation. My entire face grew hot, the residual sting of his hand lancing up my jaw as I numbly stared at the water.

He was not large by any means, but he was still bigger than me. Stronger. And the force behind his slap had me trembling.

We were alone.

Would he kill me to ensure his father’s case was solved? How far would he go? At this moment, I wasn’t sure.

Then his voice dropped, and the Noah I once knew disappeared entirely. My pulse thumped hard beneath my ribs.

“Deny it, and I’ll ruin your fucking life,” he said, his breath hot against my face. “You will have nothing, Sutton. Do you hear me? I’ll add you to that list and throw your name in the pile, and you can rot in prison with your father. Your family ruined mine, and as far as I’m concerned, you’re complicit and can go right down with them.”

I turned my attention back to Noah, to the man I’d convinced myself I loved only to be betrayed in the end. If he was capable of using me, capable of hitting me…

He was capable of killing me.

I was manipulated for answers, and he would stop at nothing to get what he wanted. That thought alone had my world tilting.