The Truth Be Told (The Truth in Lies Saga #3) (24 page)

“You slept with Olivia?” I bleated.

Nate lifted his eyes, his chest rising and falling.  I could only imagine what was going through his mind.  “It’s not something I’m proud of, but yes.  You have to understand, I was drunk and pissed and stupid.”

I reached out, taking Nate’s hand.  “It’s okay.  I’m sorry I made you feel like that.”

He slipped his hand away from mine, his Adam’s apple bobbing hard with each breath.

“There’s more,” Drew pressed.

“Much more.”  He clasped his hands in front of him and turned to Drew.  “You see, that night, Olivia told me a story, one that was unbelievable to me until we ran into each other in Boston.”

“What do you mean?” I queried.

Nate ripped the paper sleeve from his cup.  He proceeded to fold it over in triangles, making a contorted paper football.  “After we finished,” he paused, shrugging his shoulders, “you know…she admitted to me it’d been awhile since she’d had sex,” he supplied.  “According to her, Drew hadn’t touched her in months.  She was pissed.” He closed his eyes, his head slightly shaking. “She told me how their last date was a pity date.  That he’d only taken her out because McKenzie encouraged him to.”

“Yeah,” Drew agreed.  “That was the night I allegedly got her pregnant.”

Nate dropped the paper football on the table and met Drew’s gaze.  “Allegedly is the perfect term, because Olivia realized she made a stupid mistake that night.  You see, she hated that you showed more interest in McKenzie than her.  And it was even worse that you only took her on a date because McKenzie requested it.  So she decided she was going to throw you off by making you believe McKenzie had a thing with Jared.  But there was one problem. You actually bought her line of bullshit.  Not that I can blame you.  There were many times I’d accused Jared of trying to move in on her.”

Drew snorted.

“What’s so funny?” Nate asked.

“He
was
trying to move in on her,” Drew stated, cutting his eyes to me, causing heat to rise in my cheeks.

“I’m not surprised.”  Nate shrugged.  “Anyway, you proceeded to get wasted.  So drunk, in fact, that you spilled your guts.  You told her you were in love with McKenzie but didn’t think she felt the same for you.  Olivia convinced you, somehow, that your instincts were correct, that McKenzie and Jared were giving things a try.  She dragged you back to the apartment and made sure McKenzie realized you two were together.  Once in her room, Olivia undressed you and put you to bed, but you were so far gone nothing happened.  Not long after that, McKenzie moved out and you broke up with Olivia.”

I waved both hands, trying to make sense of what he’d just said.  “Hold the phone!  You’re saying…?”

“Drew’s not the father.  He couldn’t be.  By Olivia’s own admission, he didn’t have sex with her.”

The squeal of Drew’s chair backing up sent shivers up my spine.  “Are you certain?  Olivia told you all of this?” he demanded.  Nate nodded his head.

“No.  No.  This has to be joke.  Tell me you’re joking, Nate.” I pointed my finger at him, tears brimming my eyes.  “Olivia wouldn’t do that to me.  We’ve been through too much.  No.  You’re lying.”  I tried to quell my sudden panic, but it nipped at my chest with such ferocity that I found myself struggling to breathe.  My world had just flipped upside down.  Everything I thought I knew was wrong.

Nate licked his lips, his eyes filling with tears.  “I’m not lying.  She and I made jokes, and I’m so sorry for this, McKenzie.” He scratched his scruffy cheek. “About how you would never touch Drew because you’re such a martyr.  You’d rather suffer than hurt someone you loved.”

“You made fun of me?”  Dismay and confusion swirled up inside me.  This was simply too much for me to take.

“I’m so sorry.  I was mad, my pride wounded.  But, McKenzie, I was wrong.  You deserve happiness.  He makes you happy.”

“Is that all?” I demanded, feeling sick to my stomach.

“Is what all?” he asked.

“Have you told Drew and me everything?  Or are you holding out?”

He rubbed his nose with the back of his hand.  “I’m not holding anything back.”

“So, Drew’s not the baby’s daddy.  You are?” I clarified.

“Unless she was sleeping with someone else…”  Nate choked back a sob as he continued. “But I swear, McKenzie, I had no idea she was pregnant until I ran into the two of you in Boston.  I tried contacting her while there, but she refused to speak to me.  That’s when I started putting the pieces together.  You have to believe me.”

I raised my hand, tears streaming down my face.  “All of this,” I waved around, “everything we’ve been through was because of your twisted pride?”

“No.  Not mine.  I let you go.  Especially after seeing how happy you were in Boston.  You look so beautiful in love.  He’s what you need.  I couldn’t let her steal that from you.  I’d done so much to hurt you in the past, I needed to redeem myself.”

Something inside me snapped.  It was pointless to try to contain my emotions.  My pain, my hurt, my anguish exploded inside me, morphing into something I’d never felt before.  Hatred.  Pure, unadulterated hatred.  I hated Olivia for putting Drew and me through this.  I hated her for treating me like a servant when she knew all this time the baby wasn’t his.  And most of all, I hated her for playing on my sympathies, for using my own heart against me.  I was angry with Nate for his part in this, but realized, in the end, she played him just as much as she did Drew and me.  She made me look like a fool.  I defended her.  I trusted her.  It was I who sought redemption for our friendship, and yet she threw it all back in my face like some twisted joke.

“Excuse me,” I muttered.

“Mickie?”

“McKenzie?  Wait!”

Their voices were ghosts to me.  Hatred fueled me.  There was only one thing I could do.  It was time I came face to face with the wicked bitch herself.  She would answer for everything she’d done.  She would look me in the eye and confess everything, and nothing, not even God, could stop me from confronting her.

Andrew

“Fuck!  She’s running away,” Nate clamored.  He ripped at his hair, his body buckling forward.  “I didn’t mean it.  I only wanted her to know the truth.”  He howled.  “Jesus!  What have I done?  She doesn’t deserve this.  This is all my fault.”

“Calm down.  She’s not running away,” I stated, my hands held out flat in front of me.

Nate looked up at me, his eyes wild with distress.  “She is.  She always runs away when she’s hurt.”

“She’s more than hurt.  She’s pissed.  She’s not running away.  I know exactly where she’s going.  Now, I need you to calm down.”

“Calm down?  How the fuck am I supposed to do that?  Better yet, how the hell are you so calm?”

It was a good question.  One I really had no answer to.  Inside, I was a mass of conflicting emotions.  I felt angry, hurt, confused, but most of all, I felt relieved.  All of my fear, my worries, vanished when he uttered those simple little words that confirmed what my heart already knew.  I wasn’t the baby’s father.  There was a reason I felt no connection to the child.  I wasn’t broken or twisted by my past.  There wasn’t something terribly wrong with me.  My hatred toward Olivia wasn’t clouding my judgment.  The fact of the matter was, I wasn’t the baby’s father.

“I’m more distraught than you realize.  But right now, I need you to calm down.  McKenzie and I need something from you.”

“O-okay.  What do you need?”  He sucked in air, his bottom lip quivering.  

“I need to know what your intentions are regarding the child.  Do you want my services to gain custody?”

“Why do you think I want custody?”

“I don’t.  That’s why I’m asking.”

Nate clenched his teeth, his despair turning to anger.  “Jesus.  You heartless asshole.  You don’t care about your girlfriend.  You only care about my business.”

I slammed my fist on the table, standing halfway up, hovering toward him.  “You listen here.  You don’t know the first thing about me.  I’m worried sick about Mickie right now, but before I choose my next move, I need to understand yours.  You see, you changed everything today.  I’m fucking free of that bitch, but she’s going to pay for what she’s done to you, to me, and most of all, to McKenzie.  So, if you’re serious, truly serious about taking custody of the child, I need to know now,” I demanded through gritted teeth.  “Otherwise, there are other legal matters I need to tend to regarding Olivia.  She’s going to regret ever hurting McKenzie.  You understand?”

Nate leaned back in his chair, trying to put distance between us.  I wasn’t about to have it.  I was calm but furious, and on the verge of losing control.  I might’ve handled myself throughout his little tale, but the whole while I fought my inner demons.  I wanted to strangle him for having any part of this mess.  He supposedly loved McKenzie at one time, but his vengeance proved there was no true love in his heart.  Pride consumed him.  “I want custody,” he stated, his timber low but certain.

I nodded.  My anger for Olivia wanted to destroy her, but there was still the child to think about.  There had to be some good in Nate.  He did care enough to confess to McKenzie and me.  Time would be the judge of him, whether or not his desire for the child was out of love or retribution toward the woman who attempted to fuck us all over.

“Good.  Now, pull yourself together.  We have to catch up with McKenzie.  She’s about to face off with Olivia, and she’s going to need our support.”  I stood up, collected the cups from the table, and disposed of them.  As I made my way to the door, I looked back at Nate.  “Well, are you coming?”

He jumped up from his seat, almost knocking it over in his haste, and rushed toward me.  We left the building, each taking our own car to Olivia’s condo.  

The moment alone allowed me time to reflect on my need to make Nate confide in me his desire for custody.  It was my revenge.  Olivia had used this child as a trap, a way of keeping me.  I didn’t understand why she would want such a thing.  It couldn’t be for money.  She had that all on her own.  It wasn’t love, either.  Any fool could see I was a toy to her, which I didn’t complain about at the time because that’s all she was to me.  So, what was her driving force?

We parked our cars, side by side, in the garage and rushed to the elevator.  Fourteen floors up seemed like a long way, but it became even longer with the amount of tension mounting inside me.  My girl was in need.  She was hurt, and while I was pissed, I was more concerned about her than me.  I could handle Olivia.  She’d played with fire and was about to get burned, but McKenzie’s ideals had been shattered.  This was her friend, someone she trusted, and now she had to face that her friendship was a sham.  

The elevator doors opened and I could hear McKenzie’s voice echoing through the hall.  Nate and I cut a glance at one another and rushed to the door.  I reached it first, throwing it open.  I found McKenzie, towering over Olivia, who sat in her favorite chair.  Olivia caught sight of me and yelled, “What the fuck is wrong with her?  She’s lost her damn mind!”

McKenzie jerked around to me, her blue eyes filled with burning hatred.  “Stay out of it, Andrew.”

Oh, shit.  I got the full name.  I raised my hands and stepped back, almost running into Nate.  Olivia caught sight of him and laughed.  She stood up, forcing McKenzie to take a step back.  “Now it all makes sense,” she sneered.  “So, you told them your silly little tale.  Figures.  You’re so predictable.”

“Shut up!” McKenzie warned.  

Olivia turned her focus to McKenzie.  “Are you really going to believe a man who cheated on you God only knows how many times over your best friend?  C’mon, Kenz.  We’ve been through so much together.”  The sickeningly sweet cadence of her voice curdled my stomach.  “He’s lied to you before.  What makes you think he wouldn’t lie to you about this?   He left you all alone when you were at your worst.  I was there for you.”

McKenzie’s lip trembled, her eyes swelling with tears.  “His pride’s hurt.  You’re in love with someone else.  Of course he’d lie to get back at you,” Olivia admonished.

“Cut the crap, Olivia,” Nate squelched.  “They know the truth.  I told them everything, so stop lying.”

“Well, of course you would,” she snarled.  The sound of her voice was like ice water running through my veins.  “Everyone has to come to poor little McKenzie’s defense.  It takes two men to fight her battles.  Gah!”  Olivia threw her hands in the air.  “What is it about you?  You bat your eyelashes and they fall at your feet.  I’d ask if your pussy was made of gold, but I’ve seen you naked.”

“Back off, you manipulative bitch,” I growled.  I stepped forward, prepared for a verbal battle.  Olivia had wits, but she was no match for me.  No one attacked someone I loved without repercussions.

“I’m the manipulative bitch?” Olivia laughed, venom lacing her tone.  “My best friend made a play for my boyfriend, and I’m called the manipulative one, she huffed.  “You want to call someone a manipulative bitch, point your finger at her.” And she did just that.  

McKenzie stood there, locked between Nate, Olivia, and I, helpless anger bubbling from every pore in her body.  It engulfed each of us in an alarming manner.  I’d seen her angry before, but this was a whole new level.  McKenzie was enraged.  Her jaw clenched, her face red with rage, grinding her teeth.  

“Boyfriend?” I seethed.  “I was never your boyfriend.  I was your arm candy.”

“This was all a game to you, wasn’t it?  Well, guess what?  You lost,” Nate added.

“Stop it!” McKenzie screamed, flailing her hands out over her head.  We all shut up, turning to look at her.  She stalked toward Olivia, hatred smoldering in her eyes.  “I want to know why!”  She slammed her fist into the wall.  I worried she might’ve hurt herself, but she didn’t even wince.  “Why would you do this?  How could you be so fucking cruel?”

Olivia crossed her arms over her chest, her sneer haughty and vile.  “Are you sure you really want to know why?”

“Yes,” she hissed, a bite to her voice.

Olivia pursed her lips.  “Because I could.  You see, I knew from the beginning Drew was attracted to you.  Hell, the man was drooling all over you that first night.  He even gave you his damn phone number.”  She turned to me. “Who does that, by the way?  Asshole.”  Olivia moved to the armchair and dropped down into it again.  She propped her feet up on the coffee table.  “But I also knew you’d be too much of a saint to make a move.  I watched as the two of you grew closer and closer, realizing that he was buying into your sweet, innocent act.  You’ve been pulling that shit since college, and someone had to put you in your fucking place.”

McKenzie flinched.  “You hate me that much?”

“Oh, honey, if you only knew,” she snapped.  

“Basically, what you’re saying is that if you couldn’t have me, then no one could?”  I questioned.

Olivia snorted.  “Get over yourself.  I don’t care who you fuck as long as it’s not
her
.”

“Then why even stay friends with me?  What was the point?”

I approached McKenzie, circling my fingers around her shoulders.  She shivered under my touch, which made me want to rip Olivia apart with my bare hands.

“It’s simple really.” Olivia lifted a hand in a shrug.  “You’re handy to have around.  With you, I had myself a little lap dog who never talked back.  You cooked, you cleaned, and you even sewed.  Seriously, you’re a regular Suzy homemaker.  I’d have been a fool to let you go.  Besides, you’re not worthy of him,” she stated as she pointed at me.  “And I was determined that you two would never get together.”

“That’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard,” I scoffed.  “Like you had any control over us.”

“Really?  I thought you were smarter than that, Drew.”  She looked up at the sky, a vicious smirk curling her lips.  “Then again, I did have you convinced that Jared was making a play for her and that they’d be the perfect couple.”  She laughed.  “It’s funny really.  You were so upset about it that you turned to the bottle.  You blathered on and on about how much you loved her.  It made me sick, so I used your stupid, drunk ass to put on a little show for our darling McKenzie.  I just never expected her to move out.  Silly me.  So, I had to come up with a better plan, and dumbass over there gave me what I needed—a sperm donor.”  Her laughter grew louder and more hateful.  Nate jolted forward, his fists balled, ready to strike.  McKenzie reached out, preventing him from moving any further.  “It did the trick, too.  She ran away like she always does, because she’s nothing more than a spineless twit who cowers to the world.  And if you hadn’t gone off to get her, she’d still be gone,” Olivia tsked.  “You’re both so fucking predictable, but you surprised me, Drew.  I didn’t think you had the balls to man up and jet off to Texas.”  She snarled when she said my girl’s home state, as if she smelled something foul.

“I just don’t get this.  Why all the lies?” McKenzie fumed.

Olivia smacked her hand over her face, shaking her head.  “God, you’re an idiot.  What he sees in you, I’ll never understand.  I told you, you don’t deserve him.”

“And you do?” McKenzie demanded, her words sounding strangled.

Olivia pushed herself out of the seat, coming nose to nose with McKenzie.  “Yes, I do.  I’m part of his world.  I understand the life he comes from.  I have class, money, and connections,” she ticked off on her fingers. “You’re nothing more than a frumpy, penniless school teacher.  Hell, you’re so pathetic you teach retards for a living.”

McKenzie’s chest heaved.  I reached for her hand, but she pushed away from me.  Her tiny frame coiled like a lion ready to attack its prey.  A savage cry of primal anger ripped from her throat.  McKenzie twisted her body, pulling her left hand back.  Her palm flattened and her fingers pressed together.  With a quick yet calculated blow, her open hand made contact with Olivia’s cheek.  It sounded like thunder clapping in the sky the moment she connected with Olivia’s skin.

Olivia waddled back, cupping the imprint that McKenzie’s tiny hand left behind.  Her eyes bugged out and her face turned a bright shade of purple.  McKenzie’s breaths came in deep, jagged huffs.  I reached for her, pulling her into my arms.  “How dare you!” I wheezed, my teeth gritted so hard my jaw hurt.  “You place yourself above everyone when you’re nothing more than a con artist.  What was your plan, anyway?  You knew I wanted a paternity test.  How did you figure you’d get past it?”

Olivia rubbed her cheek, shell shocked by McKenzie’s outburst.  “Her,” she snapped.  “I knew I could convince her to talk you out of it.”

“And what about me?” Nate pressed.  “Were you ever planning on telling me about my child?”

“Who says it’s yours?” Olivia vociferated.

Nate covered his mouth.  McKenzie’s whole body trembled against mine.  Anger radiated from her, volatile and explosive.  “Stop it!  Stop fucking with people’s heads.  Be honest for once in your life.  Tell the man if the child is his!”

Olivia pushed her belly out, rubbing it, a snide smirk twisting her features.  “Fine.”  She focused her fury on Nate.  “Yes, the baby’s yours.  Happy, now?  You’re going to be a daddy.  As if you could ever be a real father.  You couldn’t even be one for a woman you claimed to love.”

“What’s wrong with you?”  Outrage surged through me.

McKenzie pressed her hand to my chest and stepped away from me.  Her lips flattened in a grim line as she stepped toward Olivia.  Complete and utter anger etched across her face.  “All this time I’ve defended you.  Everyone told me you were evil, conniving, and I stood up for you.  I told them to give you a chance because I knew things about you that they didn’t.  But look at you.  You’re everything they claimed you to be and more.  Our friendship was always one sided.  Me doing for you.  You used me.  You manipulated me.  You treated me like a servant, and I, being a fool, let you.”