“You heard all that?”
I’ve stepped quietly from the bedroom and into the living room to find Dallas standing by the window. He hasn’t turned to look at me. He’s just standing, frozen, looking toward the roof of the next building over and at the tiny sliver of Central Park we can see in the distance.
I come up behind him and curve my arms around his waist, then rest my head on his back. “He can’t prove anything,” I say. “He’s just guessing. Positioning. It’s more about me than about you.”
He turns, then kisses me tenderly before leaning back to look into my eyes. “That’s true. But he’ll be like a dog with a bone on this, because he knows he’s right even if he can’t prove it. Yet. And he’ll keep digging and digging. He won’t give up, Jane. He won’t give up because of you.”
I swallow, suddenly cold, because he’s right.
“He’ll keep at it until he gets enough proof to arrest me, and once that happens, I’m done. Hell, I’m essentially done now, because he damn sure has me under surveillance.”
“Dallas, no.” I understand what he’s saying—it makes perfect sense—and yet I can’t quite process it. This is who Dallas is. What he is. And yes, I understand the irony of that thought. Because god knows I believed Deliverance was vile in the beginning. But that was before my eyes were opened, and now I understand what Deliverance does, not to mention how Dallas’s role in that mission has shaped the man he’s become.
“If he can prove this,” Dallas says gravely, “he’ll have me in a cage so fast it makes both our heads spin.”
I swallow and cling to his arms. He bends forward, then pulls me to him and holds me tight. “After all this,” he says, “after everything we’ve been through, I can’t stand the thought that this is what breaks us.”
“If it comes to that, we leave,” I say recklessly. “We run.” I can’t bear the thought of being without him, either.
But Dallas only laughs. “Break another rule? Embarrass the family again? Take you away from Lisa forever? From Brody and Liam and Archie? Baby, I said I would protect you always, and I meant it. Even if that means protecting you from my mistakes.”
“It won’t happen,” I say firmly. “I’ll talk to Bill. I’ll fight. We’ll make Daddy hire the best attorneys, and—” I cut myself off on a sob.
“We have to tell them,” I say. “About Colin and Adele for sure. Maybe about everything.”
Dallas nods. “I know. Even if Adele’s flown the coop, we still need to tell Mom and Dad about her. And about Colin. They need to know.”
“Dad will feel vindicated,” I predict. “But Mom—Dallas, it’s going to completely wreck her.”
“It will,” he agrees, looking as miserable as I feel. “But what choice do we have?” he asks, and I have no answer. Because he is right.
It is time. Time to break our mother’s heart.
