would lead to Lily getting away and showing up here.” She looked from me to Hayle. “I’m so sorry.”
Vincent covered her hand with his, his expression softening as he looked at her. “It’s not your fault. You merely helped me go through with what I should have done long ago.” He turned his gaze on me. “And I should have realized that Lily would have already devised a way to slip away.” His mouth re-shaped into a scowl. “It took the facility hours to figure out that she’d left the property, and by the time they notified me, it was too late to warn you.”
I nodded, as though I understood. But, really, I didn’t. How had Glinda convinced him to do the opposite of what he’d been saying since Thanksgiving?
As though he’d read my mind, Leo spoke next. “So, you’re telling us that you suddenly had some sort of crisis of conscience and decided to tell the truth for once? Why do I find that difficult to believe? What’s in it for you?”
“There is something in it for me,” Vincent answered. “But I have to start at the beginning to explain.” His gaze grew hazy, as though he was no longer in the room with us. “Almost two years ago, I had a long layover in Atlanta and decided to spend it in the closest bar. When a beautiful redhead sat down next to me, I wasn’t really paying attention…until she started having a panic attack.” He blinked away the memory before turning a smile on Glinda. “And I couldn’t resist offering my assistance.”
She grinned back at him, her cheeks pinkening as she turned to us. “You see, I was about to get on a plane to Austin for my cousin’s wedding. But I’m not just afraid of flying—I’m petrified of it. I’d convinced myself that I was a grown woman and that it was past time for me to get over my fear. Once I was at the airport, though, I panicked. I went to get a drink, thinking that would help me calm down, but by the time I sat down at the bar, it was too late for that. I was in full-on panic mode.”
Vincent linked his fingers through hers. “Long story short, we hit it off, and I ended up renting a car, driving her all the way to Austin, and acting as her impromptu date to the wedding. It was shortly after Tristin went away, and I think I’d been looking for any excuse to stay away for a few more days.
“Over the next couple of months, I made several stops in Atlanta on my way to or from other destinations for business. Though we didn’t get to spend much time together, we both fell hard and fast. So, we got married.”
“And you never thought to tell us about any of this?” Leo asked incredulously.
“No, because I wasn’t only keeping Glinda a secret from you, I was keeping my entire life as Vincent Sharpe a secret from her.” His perpetually steady, confident voice grew less so. “I’ve been leading a double life this entire time, until the day after Christmas, when I finally told her the truth.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Thea
My mouth popped open yet again. Holy shit. There had been times when I’d thought that Vincent seemed like two different people. But I’d never imagined it could be true in a literal sense.
“What do you mean by double life?” Tristin asked. “You’ve been pretending to be Victor Smith or something?”
“Vince Scott, actually. My carry-on bag is monogrammed, so I had to think fast.”
“But, why lie?”
“Because he wanted to keep her a secret from my mother,” Hayle answered, his body stiffening next to mine.
Vincent nodded solemnly. “Ever since Amber was killed, I knew I couldn’t risk bringing another woman into my life.”
“But you told me you didn’t know that Lily was responsible,” I said.
“You’re right. I didn’t know, but mostly because I didn’t want to know. I wanted to be able to plead ignorance, for Hayle’s sake more than anything.”
Hayle released a soft snort at that. “Apparently, you didn’t care about me anymore when you decided to turn her in today.”
“That’s not true. I spent all of these years thinking you would be better off believing your mom was the sweet, somewhat flighty woman you’d always seen her as. But, after speaking to her doctor about her mental break that day you and Thea went to see her, I realized the cat was out of the bag. You’d