Page 85 of Beautiful Secrets

But he makes sure to lock the door from the outside, first.

“Men,” Sarah sighs. “So dramatic.”

She smiles at me as she comes back to the couch, but it’s not as bright and cheery as it should be.

“What did Cole do to your husband?” I ask.

Sarah is reaching for her cup of tea, and freezes in the process. “What? Nothing.”

“He does not trust him.”

“Well…We have a history. Me and Cole.”

“Yes. You dated.”

“No, it’s more than that.” She frowns a little and then takes up her cup, hiding behind it. “Cole was very different before—”

“The…hospital? I cannot think of the right word.”

Sarah nods. “Yeah, the hospital.” She makes a point of looking at the little girl, although the child still seems wholly engrossed in her book. “I don’t think you would have liked him before. Not many people did.”

“But you were his girlfriend.”

“I…” Sarah licks her lips. “I was different back then too. I didn’t know what I was looking for but Cole…he can be very charming when he wants. He made me think I’d found it.”

I take a sip of my tea. “What did he do?”

Sarah immediately shakes her head, and then presses a hand to her stomach. “That’s all in the past, Mika.”

I frown at her. “But—”

“Everyone deserves a second chance, especially if they’re willing to change.”

“Everyone?” I say coldly. My mind flashes to Yuri’s dead eyes. His cruel hands. I can still smell the musty, earthy stink of that shed. “No. Not everyone.”

But she nods decisively. “If I hadn’t met Cole, I would never have met Derek.”

I don’t know how to answer that. After all, I could say the same thing about Yuri, surely. That encounter set me on a wholly different path to the one I’d been on.

But was this new life of mine any better than the old? I left seeking freedom, but I am yet to find it.

“When will Cole be back?” I ask, desperate to shift my mind from such horrid thoughts. Desperate to get back on track with my plan.

“I don’t know, hon. I’m not sure how far away his hotel is.”

If that is even where he is going. He could be anywhere, doing anything. Unless he had a specific reason for going back—

I blink at her, my heart suddenly racing. My papers! He would have to return them with me, of course.

Another sip of tea, casual as I can manage. “Yes. I am sure he will not be long.”

She glances at me, smiles vaguely. “I’m…confused,” she says. “I know I don’t know you very well, but you don’t really seem that keen to go back home.”

I shake my head. “No.”

Her eyes go wide with sympathy. “But you don’t have a choice,” she says quietly.

Another shake. “No.”