Page 83 of Killing Emma

I swallow the lump in my throat. He appears so… genuine.

“Em?” His brows furrow. “Why do you have that thing on your face?”

My teeth start to chatter, and all the confidence I had starts to slip. “Can I come in?” My voice comes out wispy and weak.

“Of course,” he says, giving me a sympathetic smile.

Hands shaking, I start to doubt everything. Jared doesn’t act like someone who wants me dead. He acts concerned—the same way he used to after my mother passed away.

“I should probably call the police,” Jared says carefully as I step into the entryway of his picket fence home. My eyes flicker to a picture on the entryway table. It’s him.

And Melanie.

It doesn’t sting like I expect it to. In fact, I don’t feel anything at all.

“I can put that picture up,” Jared reaches and flips it facedown. “I know how bad it hurts to see that…”

“It doesn’t hurt,” I tell him, reaching up and removing the mask on my face. “Not at all. I’m happy for you.”

“You… You are?” Jared’s eyes light up. But the longer I study his expression, the more I question it. The more I question everything.

“Why did you do it?” I blurt out the words as Major sits down on my foot. “Why’d you hire someone to kill me?”

Confusion crosses his face—and then he laughs. “Let me call someone. I think you’re having another one of your episodes.”

“What? I don’t have episodes.” My fists clench at my sides.

“Yeah, you do,” he says quietly. “You always have, honey. It started after your mom passed. I think you need to be looked at.”

“Stop talking like that,” I snap, my memory suddenly flooding with reminders. “I was grieving not fucking ill.”

“Whoa, strong language,” he gives me a look—his look. The one that comes out when he thinks I’m being too much. “Calm down, Emma. I just need to call the police.” He picks up his phone, but I lunge for it, knocking it out of his hand. He startles backward, slamming into the wall. “What the fuck are you doing?”

“Answer my question,” I demand, kicking the phone away. It skids across the floor and thuds against a wall. “I know you put a hit on my head.”

“Stop acting like this,” he grunts, trying to slip past me. I shove him back, and unlike Luca, he loses his balance and crashes backward, his body landing against the cabinets in the adjoining kitchen. “You’re unstable, Emma.”

“No, you’re a fucking coward, playing the nice guy so you don’t get caught,” I seethe, lingering above him.

He peers up at me. “Is that what you think, huh? You think I’m the bad husband? I babied you until I couldn’t any longer, and you just wanted to play the victim. I was fucking sick of it.”

“No, you got sick of me not acting like a perfect trophy wife.”

He eyes his phone in the corner of the kitchen and makes a move, but Major is faster, blocking him in with a snarl.

“Holy fuck, Emma, keep your dog under control.” He raises his hands in surrender.

I roll my eyes and retrieve his phone, unlocking the screen to a picture of Melanie. “Cute background,” I comment. “Does she know how much credit card debt you’re in?”

“Shut up,” he snaps.

“No,” I laugh. “I don’t think so.”

“You’re better when you keep your mouth shut,” he sneers.

I smile. “Ah, there it is. The monster you’ve been hiding for a decade.” I lift his phone up and then smash it against the granite counter. However it only cracks the screen.

“What the fuck?!” Jared screeches, Major growls. “What’s wrong with you?”

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