Page 151 of Ruthless Creatures

“His wife and kids.”

Her lips part. The clock ticks. My heart bangs inside my chest like a drum.

“His …wife.”

“He was married when he went into WITSEC. Claudia still lives in the same house. Has no idea what happened to him. He left everything behind, including her.”

Her voice raw, Nat says, “And his children.”

“Yes.”

“He was married with children when we were together.”

“Yes.”

“He embezzled money from the mafia, turned state’s evidence, put Max in jail, abandoned his family… then came here with a new identity and… and…”

“Met you. Proposed.”

Gripping the phone, she lowers it to her lap and closes her eyes. Then she sits there, not moving or saying anything, pale as a ghost and just as lifeless, except for the vein throbbing wildly in the side of her neck.

I’d slit my wrists and bleed out on my knees in front of her if I thought it would make her pain go away, but I know it won’t.

The only thing I can do is keep telling her the truth.

“We didn’t know where he’d gone until last year. Then we made a contact inside the bureau. Someone willing to trade information for cash. He let us know where they’d relocated Damon, gave us his new name, everything. But by then, Damon had already moved on.”

“I’m guessing that moving on happened just over five years ago, right?” Her laugh is small and bitter. “Right. The day before our wedding. Oh god.”

I don’t know what to say, except, “I’m sorry.”

She opens her eyes and stares at me with this hard, hateful look. It’s so vicious I almost take a step back.

She says, “And you knew. All along, you knew all of this.”

“Natalie—”

“Don’t speak. You don’t get to speak to me anymore.”

“Please. Let me explain.”

Shakily, she stands. She holds the phone out in her trembling hand. “Take it and get out.”

“Listen to me, baby—”

“Get out of my house!”

That scream might as well be a bullet for how much it hurts me. I stand there helpless, shaking my head.

Breathing hard, trembling all over, she says, “You were supposed to kill me, weren’t you? That’s why Max said you betrayed him. You were supposed to come here and find out if I knew where David hid the money or where he went, then kill me, just like Viktor. But instead…”

She laughs. It’s the worst sound I’ve ever heard.

“Instead you decided to do things differently. You decided to have a little fun first. So you fucked me. Made me fall in love with you. Gave me a ring and told me a million pretty lies.”

I say firmly, “No, Natalie.No.”

“When were you going to start asking me questions about him? Working it into the conversation in subtle ways?”