Page 32 of Everyone’s a Liar

“No worries. If we’re late we’ll stop for dinner and a drink on the way home.”

Livia settled back in her seat. “Sounds great.”

Reaching the outskirts of New Orleans, Bryce exited off the highway and slowed to a crawl as she zigzagged through the streets. It was an older section of town where cars parked next to the curb, leaving a narrow path that was barely wide enough for the large SUV.

“Tell me about the intruder at your house,” Bryce demanded.

The knot returned to Livia’s stomach. Or maybe it hadn’t really disappeared, she just hadn’t noticed it.

“I’m not really sure if there was an intruder or not,” she confessed. “I had an alert that there was movement on my porch at three a.m. I suppose it could have been a stray dog, but I want to check it out.”

“Can you pull up the video on your phone?”

“No. Unfortunately, I set up the app so I get an alert if the camera is activated, but I didn’t bother to sync the video before I left town. I had the locks and security system changed after I caught Jacob in the house.”

“Good call.”

Livia agreed. The changes had felt excessive when she assumed she’d just been ghosted by Jacob. Now she wished she’d gone bigger and better with the security.

“I want to make sure no one got into the house last night and that there wasn’t any damage.”

“And it gives you a perfect excuse to spend a few hours away from the Willows.”

“There’s that,” Livia agreed. It hadn’t been a conscious decision, but there was no doubt she was always eager to escape from the shadows of the family mansion. “You know, it’s been strange being back at the Willows.”

“Isn’t it always?”

“Stranger than usual.”

“Why do you say that?”

Livia took a second to pinpoint to source of her unease since arriving at the family mansion.

“I think it started with my suspicion that Winston might be the second guy in my house,” she at last concluded. “And then wondering if Adrian might be involved.”

“Wait.” Bryce sent her a startled glance. “Adrian? Your uncle Adrian?”

“I saw him whispering with Winston.”

“That’s it?”

“No. It wasn’t just the whispering.” Livia struggled to pinpoint her suspicions. “I can’t explain it. It was more a vibe than anything. They were acting … ​weird. And then I found Helene roaming toward the swamps, and she was muttering about seeing my mother and the old chauffeur, Manny somebody-or-other.”

“She’s not exactly stable,” Bryce pointed out.

Livia heaved a harsh sigh. “That’s true.”

There was a brief silence as Livia recalled her awkward encounter with her aunt. It was more than just her fear that Winston was somehow connected to Jacob Pearson. The unease that kept her stomach in a knot was nothing new. It’d been there for as long as she could remember. But until the past couple of days, she’d refused to examine the unpleasant sensation. It was enough to know she would travel to the Willows, collect her portion of the trust fund, and leave without delving into the darkness that haunted the family estate.

Why bother? It wasn’t like they considered her as more than an interloper.

This time, it wasn’t as easy to ignore the bubbling tensions just beneath the surface.

“What is it, Livia?” Bryce demanded.

“I think deep down I’ve always sensed that my family was hiding something from me. But in the past, I assumed it had to do with my father. They’ve always refused to tell me anything about him.”

“Yeah, I always thought that was odd they kept that a secret,” Bryce agreed. “Did you check your birth certificate?”