and if I don’t put a stop to it, Ryker might try to make him leave himself. “Manu, can we please talk?”
I plead with Ryker with my eyes. “It’ll be okay.” I know Dante and I left on bad terms, but he’s been my best friend for years. He won’t hurt me. Ryker’s jaw tics, but he gives me a sharp nod. I shouldn’t have to remind him, there’s also at least six Secret Service Agents within reach if he was to try something. They’ve become part of my world.
I walk past Dante out the door, and he follows close behind. The sweet smell is replaced with car exhaust and city noise. “It’s good to see you,” he says, shoving his hands in his jeans pockets. I’ve never seen him in a pair of jeans. Or something that wasn’t flowers and plaids. It’s weird.
“You look different.” Between his short spiked haircut and muscles, he didn’t used to have, I wonder where he’s been and what he’s been up to.
He tugs on my straight and styled hair. “I could say the same for you.”
I let out a humorless laugh. “I am a different person. Literally.”
“I heard.”
Who hasn’t?
“Where have you been, Dante? When I went back to the island Ari said you had disappeared after the fire. Did you burn my house down?” When he grips the back of his neck and paces, I know the answer. “Why, Dante? I don’t understand.”
He turns to me but focuses on the people walking across the street rather than me. “Your dad told me to.”
I cross my arms in front of me as I do a double-take. “What? Why would you do that? Why would you listen to him?” Dante thought my dad was a loony old man, so why would he commit arson for him?
“Aspen, I’ve worked for your dad since I was eighteen.” My breath catches in my throat and I fight to stay standing as my knees buckle. He reaches for me, but I push him away.
“What?” I whisper and then slap him in the chest as rage replaces the shock. “You were the one thing that was real on the island,” I scream. He grips my hand that's slamming into him, his warmth burns me.
“My love for you has never been a lie.”
I jerk my hand out of his. “Love? Love doesn’t lie, Dante. Don’t stand there and tell me you love me. Did you know my actual identity?” Tears burn my cheeks as I stare at him, waiting for an answer.
“No. I swear, Aspen, I didn’t.”
“What did you do for my dad then?”
He rubs his temples. “Watch over you.”
I gasp as unexplained things make sense. My dad always found out about everything. Him getting sick at the exact moment I was planning a trip to the US. Or the men I had affairs with. He knew everything because Dante told him.
Rage spirals around my spine, twisting to an unbearable pang. “Is that why you thought I was yours?” His last words on the island flicker through my mind. “You had earned it? Earned me?”
I stumble backward a couple steps when he doesn’t answer, regret washes over his face. I turn to walk away, stunned. How did I never see this?
“I never meant to hurt you, Manu.”
I whip around. “Don’t. Call. Me. That.” When the door to the bakery opens, Halli walks out and leans against the wall, watching him like a hawk. Dante watches her with a scrutinizing stare. She’ll kick your ass, I silently swear.
“I’ll leave. I just needed to tell you everything. You might not believe me, but you were my best friend. And yes, I hoped that you would fall for me as hard as I did you.”
My breath shakes at his unforgivable words. There’s nothing I can say to make this better. Dante is no longer in my world. He’s another man from my past who felt like they owned me. Who planned my life around what fit them best. But that’s my old life. The one that is still trapped on the island. That’s not me.
I’m finally free.
He looks up at the sign for my bakery. “You got your dream.”
Through the window, I see Ryker watching me from inside. Worry etched in his features. I flash him a smile and nod even though he has no idea what I’m nodding about.
“I did.”
All of it.
Watching Dante walk away that day, it was as if I was putting my past life to rest. It was a part