Page 35 of The Atonement (Arrangement #3)

“No offense, Ains, but I have a little more experience with this than you do. I’ve managed not to get caught yet.”

“Barely,” I mumbled.

“The one time I panicked was when it was Stefan, and that’s because I wasn’t prepared and he was a cop. And because I never wanted you to see me like that. It changed things. But the rest you can trust me with. And you can trust me with the secret. I’d never do anything to hurt you.”

“You literally just tried to kill me.”

“ You gave me no choice! ” he shouted, then lowered his voice. “I just want us to be together. I need that. We need that.”

“What are you saying? You’re never going to tell me?”

“They’re safe, Ains. They’re safe. That’s all that matters.”

“No, it’s not all that matters,” I shouted across the car at him. “You lied! You lied to me. After everything I’ve done for you.”

“ For me? You mean to me? You tried to kill me, Ainsley. You tried to turn me in. You think I don’t know I need a little extra protection? I’m not stupid, okay?”

“So, what? You’re just going to hold it over me forever? Are you going to walk the dog, or do I need to make a call? ”

“What? Like you held everything over me, you mean? You ruined everything. Everything was perfect. I had these little…sections of my life. Everything stayed in its box. Everything was neat and tidy. And then you came along and you mixed everything up. And you brought all the boxes together until I had a mess. And now I have to clean up the mess that you made. So, yeah, I’m going to hold that over you if I have to.

But if you’re on your best behavior, I won’t—”

“I’m not a child!” I bellowed. “You can’t do this to me. You have to tell me. If you want mutual trust you have to tell me. Are they in the woods still? At least tell me that.”

His lips pressed into a thin line. I watched for his cheeks to flame pink, but they didn’t. He wasn’t lying. Then again, he wasn’t saying anything at all.

“Peter, please?” I lowered my voice. “Please just tell me. Please. It’s going to drive me crazy.”

“It’s better if we go back to the way things were.” His fingers gripped the steering wheel. “It’s better if you’re in the dark from here on out.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“Oh, I am,” he said. “Deadly.” He chuckled to himself, making me feel sick, then turned up the radio. “Now, just relax. We’re going to bring the kids home, and everything’s going to be fine. You’ll see.” He took my hand, squeezing it so hard I yelped when I tried to pull away.

Twenty minutes later, we pulled into the main parking lot of our park, and he looked around. “Where is she?”

“I don’t know. I don’t have my phone. ”

He glared at me and opened his car door. “This had better not be a trick.”

“How would it be a trick? You saw the text message.”

I reached for my door, too, but he was faster. He pressed the button and locked me in. “Don’t move. You don’t want to scare them…” He gestured toward his face.

I bit down just as I saw her car pulling into the lot next to us. “There she is.”

He saw the car as I spoke, his face growing ashen. “What the…”

Gina stepped out of her car, her phone in her hand. She saw me in the passenger seat, and I watched the horror flash in her eyes.

“What are you doing here, Gina?” Peter’s voice was casual, as if this was all totally normal.

“Let her go,” she said through gritted teeth.

“What are you talking about?”

“I know all about it, Peter. You’re lucky I haven’t called the cops yet.”

“Called the cops? Why? What are you talking about?”

She’d reached my door then, and I unlocked it. He didn’t try to stop me as I stepped out to stand next to her. “I should’ve known better when I saw you on that dating app. I should’ve seen you for what you are—a cheater, a liar, and an abuser.”

“Abuser? Now, wait a minute… I’m not sure what she’s told you, but Gina, you know me. You know I wouldn’t… I mean… You know what she did to me.” He held up his wrist, showing her the bandage .

I watched as he switched back and forth between anger and charm, the emotions flashing across his face like flashes of a camera, trying hard to convey his rage to me while still convincing Gina of his innocence.

“Save it,” she cut him off. “Look at her face. Are you honestly going to tell me you didn’t hurt her worse?”

I tucked my cheek into my shoulder. “Thank you for coming.”

“Of course. I told you I would any time.” She nodded, putting a hand on my shoulder. I winced, though it was one of the only parts of my body that wasn’t sore.

“I’m confused…” Peter said. “What did she tell you?”

“I told her everything, Peter.” I chose my moment to finally speak up. “How you’ve been cheating on me and abusing me for years. How I finally decided to leave you, but I’ve been worried you’d track me down.”

“I called her when you came to the office asking for the corporate card after you’d been off for a few days.

I knew something was up because you, like, never miss work.

I’ve seen enough true crime documentaries to know when men start acting shady, it’s usually for a reason.

I knew you’d had problems in the past, so I called just to make sure she was okay.

And she told me what you’ve done to her. ”

“Gina made me save her number and swear I’d call if I ever needed anything.”

“And then I went with you when you were looking for her to make sure nothing happened.” She rubbed my arm. “I would’ve called the cops if Ainsley hadn’t begged me not to. ”

“For the children’s sake,” I added. “But now, Peter, it’s over.

I’m going to walk away, go with Gina, and take the kids far away.

If you try to come after me, if you ever try to contact the kids, Gina will be my witness.

She’ll tell the cops everything. Maybe this time they’ll believe me.

” I drove home the final point. Though I hadn’t been able to get the answers I needed, I hoped this threat would be enough to keep him away from me for good.

“I already told Beckman everything,” Gina said, “on my way over here. Ainsley won’t press charges, so we’ll respect her wishes, but we want you gone—”

He shook his head in horror. “It’s my company—”

“Beckman’s president. He outranks you. If we need to bring the rest of the partners in on this, we will. Trust me, I’d be happy to. But it’s up to you.”

He took a step back, glancing in the car, and I worried he’d try something stupid. There were people around. Witnesses. And Gina had already said she’d told Beckman our story. But still, Peter’s impulses usually got the best of him.

“Let’s go,” I told Gina, urging her forward. When I looked back over my shoulder, Peter still looked dumbstruck, watching us move away from him.

He thought he’d won, but by some miracle, I’d managed my way out of it again.

“Thank you,” I told her once more as we slid into our seats and buckled up.

“You’re welcome. I’m glad you texted. Are you okay? We should really get you to the hospital. Those scrapes look really bad. ”

“I’ll be okay. For now, I just want to get to my kids.”

She didn’t seem to agree with the plan, but didn’t immediately argue. “Are you sure you don’t want to go to the police? Guys like that…they don’t usually give up without a fight.”

“He put up a hell of a fight,” I told her. “But going to the police will only hurt my children. I don’t want them to know what a monster he is. I just want him to leave us alone.”

She swallowed. “I get it. Really, I do. It’s hard to recover from that… To know that part of you came from someone like him.”

Something in her voice made me think she knew all too well what I was saying.

“But I want you to be careful. I never wanted to get you involved. He’s dangerous, Gina. Unpredictable.”

“You didn’t force me to get involved. I inserted myself into the situation.

I insisted you save my number. I wanted to help you, Ainsley.

I’m not worried about Peter. I can take care of myself.

” She was quiet for a moment, though she looked like she had something she wanted to say.

Finally, she spoke up. “I know this…this company. They helped my friend. Mujer . They help battered and abused women and kids. It’s super secretive, but this woman and her husband who run it, they’re great. I can put you in contact—”

“I’m okay,” I promised, reaching out and putting a hand on her arm. “You’ve done more than enough. I’m going to go away. Take my kids and go. I’ll be okay now, thanks to you. ”

She ran her tongue along her teeth. “Where will you go? Do you have family you can stay with, or…”

“I’ll figure out something.”

“Men like him don’t deserve to get away with this.”

“He’s lost everything he cares about, Gina.

His company, his marriage, his family. Peter may not be going to jail, but…

there are worse things.” I swallowed, stone-faced.

The reality of it was bitter. It wasn’t easy.

Peter hadn’t been wrong about how much I loved him, but that didn’t change the fact that I loved my children more.

“He’ll be alone for the rest of his life.

” I paused. “I know you don’t agree with my decision, but—”

“But it is your decision. And I respect it. Just…promise me you’ll be careful. Wherever you go.”

I smiled. “I will. I promise.”

“So, where can I take you?”

I gave her directions to my mother’s house, then rested my head against the window as she navigated us there, a pit in my stomach and throbbing in my head as I thought about the last time I’d told someone my husband was abusive. Poor Stefan…

That time, it had been to save my marriage.

This time, it was to save myself.