WANT TO KNOW A SECRET?

(19)

"Are you going to keep his car?" Nathan asked a few minutes later and I swore in silence. I hadn't thought of that but he was right, after what had just happened, there was no way I'd keep driving it.

I sighed.

Why did this keep happening to me? Well, at least Tyler had shown his true colors straight from the beginning. I could have let myself fall for him and realized it once it was too late.

Besides, I already knew he wasn't the perfectly controlled guy he pretended to be when he'd abandoned us at Ginger's the Friday before. The difference was that at the time I thought his anger was founded when today, both his aggressive behavior and his allegations were uncalled for.

How could I trust a guy who promised you the moon one minute and accused you of murder the minute after?

Why was I even wondering whether I could trust him or not? I groaned inwardly. I needed to stick to the plan I'd divided on Sunday and stay away from him and his friends, period.

Nathan was my priority, and right now, my little bro was crying in my arms.

"Do you want to go to Ginger's?" I suggested, unsure it would be enough this time.

"You don't have any money, do you?" He answered, which told me that a good burger was exactly what he needed.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures, Nate..." I shot back before getting my phone.

I selected the number I'd promised myself not to call, no matter what and clicked on the green phone icon. When the first ring echoed in my ear, I started second-guessing my decision and I was about to hang up when he answered.

"Poppy? Is that you?" Christian's concern was hard to miss.

It was too late now to change my mind so I took a deep breath and started talking,

"Hmm... Yeah... I'm really sorry to bother you but things are not going so well at the minute and you said I could..."

"What's happened?" He interrupted me mid-sentence.

"I'm not sure, really..." I said truthfully. "I think mine and Nate's background make us too different from your sons and their friends..."

"What happened?" He repeated.

"Mr. Vincent told me I was legacy, whatever this implies, last Friday, Landon told Tyler today and I don't know, in between that and Owen's rough patch, he lost it, said a lot of nonsense and well... I don't want to depend on him any more..." I left out the bout of violence on purpose.

"I'm going to have a word with him..." He said and even though I couldn't read his tone, I knew nothing good would come out from that.

"I'd rather you don't tell him I came to you for help, Sir..." I argued.

"I know how hard calling me must have been Poppy but trust me on that one..." He interjected and for some reason, I did.

"I suppose you're not going to tell me what's going on with my other son?" He then said.

"If only I knew... It's about me, apparently, something to do with a deal he made with my former best friend after he caught him with his girlfriend..." I heard myself tell him and cringed when I realized that they would now think of me as a snitch. They wouldn't get that the only reason I told Christian was because I hoped it would help sort out that situation, no, they'd see only the fact that I went to their Dad.

I grunted loudly.

"Now I don't have any idea about Owen's deal but would you like me to explain to you why Tyler reacted so strongly when you told him you were a Fitzgibbon?" I frowned. "Because you told him, right?" How could he know I had? When he was still silent a few seconds later I realized he was waiting for my answer.