Page 10 of Betrayed (Alternate Ending)

The next morning, when Brook came downstairs, Clark was at the kitchen table with a drink in front of him.

“Aren't you going to work?” Brook opened the refrigerator and removed a container of orange juice. She filled a small glass and sat across from Clark.

He stared at her as if she had sprouted antlers. "Go to work? On your first day back?"

“My absence didn’t seem to stop you from working before,” Brook pointed out.

“Brook!” Clark’s voice was filled with despair. “After you disappeared it took over a month for me to return to work, and then it was by doctor’s orders.”

Brook sighed and took a sip of her juice. She got up and went to the counter where she popped a couple of pieces of bread into the toaster. Clark followed her and grabbed her elbow. He tried to pull her into his arms, but she shoved away from him and backed up against the counter. "Don't!" Her eyes had a wild look.

Clark stepped away, his hands in the air. "What the hell’s wrong with you? Why are you being this way?"

"Why do you think?" Brook's breathing was erratic, and she worked to calm herself. "You insensitive jerk."

"Maybe I have been a jerk, but I love you, Brook." Clark grabbed his drink and downed it in a gulp, then slammed the glass on the table harder than necessary. "We're both a little unsteady around each other right now. It's been a long time. I won't push myself on you. But can't you give me even a bit of a break here? Act like I'm your husband and that you haven't seen me in months. Can't you do that, Brook?"

The toast popped up and Brook busied herself spreading it with butter. Suddenly she threw the knife onto the counter top, butter splattering the surface. She turned in anger to Clark. “You want me to act like you’re my husband? Tell me how, Clark. How do I act like the wife of a man who set me up to be raped by three filthy pigs while he sat around waiting for a payoff?"

“Brook!”

“No, you don’t speak now. I speak.” She took several deep breaths before allowing herself to continue.

“Let’s just cut to the chase, Clark. Our marriage is over. It ended the instant I learned of your involvement with those monsters.” Brook stared with decisiveness at Clark for a moment. “Yes! That’s right, it’s over. I want a divorce. I don’t love you anymore. In fact, I despise you.”

“Brook, no! You can’t possibly mean that. I just got you back; I can’t lose you again.” Clark fell to his knees and reached towards Brook.

“Just…don't. Don't do this to me, or to yourself. It’s over. In hindsight, it was over before I even got home.”

“When did we get to this point, Brook?” Clark stared at the floor. “When did we start slipping away from each other. Was it when you lost the baby? We can still get a baby, honey. We can adopt.” He looked hopefully into her eyes.

“It’s too late, Clark. Much too late. Oh lord, this is so hard.” Brook ran a hand over her face. "There’s something you need to know. Something I thought maybe I could get past if there was still anything left between us. But there isn’t. There is nothing left of this marriage.” She looked directly into Clark’s eyes and said the words she knew would cut him to the quick. True words. But hurtful, too. "Clark... I'm in love with another man.”

Clark’s face reddened and he climbed unsteadily to his feet. “Another man? Who the hell is he?”

Brook said nothing, but Clark read it in her eyes. “It’s that hillbilly on the mountain, isn’t it? You actually fell for some hick from the sticks? What a laugh.” He stood straight and spoke forcefully to Brook. “But it doesn’t matter! I won’t allow it. I love you. You can’t leave me. You can’t love another man. You're mine. You belong to me.”

Brook shook her head, picked up the discarded knife, and finished buttering her toast. She carried her breakfast from the room; the sounds of his pleading followed her through the long hallway and up the staircase.

“It’s just gratitude you feel for him!” he called after her. “It’s not love! You love me, and you know it. I know what you’re doing. You’re trying to pay me back for your pain. Okay, consider me paid back. Now you can forget him and remember how much I mean to you. How good we are together.”

Brook slammed the guest room door on his words and sat on the edge of the bed to eat. She was surprised at how detached she felt from her husband and her surroundings.

Chapter 57

"It's all over the fucking news!" Pete chewed his nails and watched Jase with an intent gaze.

Jase took a deep drag from his cigarette and blew out a thin stream of smoke, his eyes glued to the television. Images of Clark confronting the media with Brook's weary face in the background were on nearly every channel. He swore under his breath, reached for his cell phone, and tapped the screen. He reached a voice-mail and anger seized him. "D'Macio, you bastard. Answer your fucking phone. We've got a problem. A big problem. You better call me back, dude." Jase threw the phone away from him. It landed in an overstuffed armchair, unharmed. Taking a deep breath, he retrieved it and slid it into the back pocket of his jeans. His moves were tight, jerky. "You know what I think? I think D'Macio's cleared out. I think the son-of-a-bitch bailed on us."

Gina whispered to Pete in a too-loud aside, “I told you Jase was bad news.”

“Shut your skank up, Pete, or I’ll shut her up. Bitch shouldn’t be her anyway. She’s nothing but trouble."

Pete managed to quiet his girlfriend as he continued to watch the TV screen. Before long, Gina stood, grabbed her purse, and announced to the room in general that she was going shopping

Benny sat forward on the sofa of Jase's studio apartment, his usual cocky attitude replaced with nervous tension. "Ah, shit! Shit, shit, shit. Our asses are going to prison. All of us." He rocked forward and back, nerves firing like a hot-wired car.

"No, we're not. Bitch won't testify. She’d never want it to get out what we did to her." Jase stepped in front of Benny, blocking his view of the TV.

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