“Because I was being selfish.”
He frowns. “Nonsense!”
“Maybeself-centeredwould be a better word.” I sit down next to him. “Hear me out. I saw myself as the victim.”
“Because that’s what you were.”
I shake my head. “I was collateral damage. My parents’ real victim was a young Bulgarian man, Ivo Georgiev. Their ridiculous cult cost him a lot more than it cost me. Unlike me, or you, for that matter, Ivo didn’t make it out alive.”
Darrel sits back and nods slowly.
“Ivo’s poor parents are still searching for his body,” I remind him. “They deserve to know what happened to their son. I, as a Jezequel, owe it to them. I owe them the chance to find his remains and bury him. To say goodbye. To get closure.”
He says nothing, but his eyes tell me he can see my point.
“It’s up to Ivo’s parents to decide if they can forgive Mom, Dad, and the Bauds,” I add. “I have no right to do that on their behalf.”
“Your parents will probably serve time.”
“I know.”
He nods. “I just wanted to make sure you did.”
“Do you think I betrayed them?”
“No,” he says firmly. “I think you gave their souls a chance.”
An immense wave of relief washes over me at those words.
He takes my hand. “Stella, I’m staying.”
The statement is so unexpected that I lose my tongue.
He smiles at my stupefaction. “I’d like to live with you, if that’s agreeable.”
I shut my gaping mouth and narrow my eyes. “What, just like that?”
“Just like that.”
“What about your supersecret super-important job?”
“I was offered a big promotion last week.”
“When will you start?”
“Never,” he says. “I quit.”
My capacity for speech fails me once again.
Darrel strokes my hand, gazing at me with so much tenderness that my heart almost stops.
Did he quit to be with me?No, that can’t be. That would be too good to be true. I can’t let myself think that.
He scoots closer. “I quit my job so I can be with you. That’s what I was going to tell you earlier. I love you, Stella.”
Way, waaay too good to be true!
“All my life,” I say, “I’ve been lied to by the people I loved. It was all fake—my memories, my DID, my engagement—every fucking thing!” I draw in a breath. “Please be careful when you make declarations like that!”