Page 141 of Pretty Little Thing

Thirty-Four

Clive

“Nora, I’m sorry.”

She takes a short step back and adjusts her robe, tightening it around her like armor to protect herself. From me.

“Sorry about what?” she asks.

“I didn’t think he’d…”

I pause, wanting nothing more than to hold her but she’d never let me get close. Not right now. Not with that rage boiling beneath her eyelashes.

“Do you know this guy?” she asks.

I could lie. I could say Alex was just some co-worker of mine who got jealous over her. I could say he was a disgruntled customer banned from Red Brick looking for revenge of some sort. Some insane lunatic. But why bother protecting a man who lied to me, too? Why dig myself in deeper when I could just come clean and hope she believes me?

“Alex and I were in the Army together,” I say. “He’s the man who shot up my leg and ruined my career.”

Nora squints in confusion. “So… what does he want with me?”

“A few months back, I got a job working janitorial and maintenance at the gym. Little did I know, Alex worked there, too. We got to talking and catching up since Iraq and he found out about my situation. He wanted to help. He blamed himself and told me he’d make it up to me. Some weeks later, he tells me about this data entry job. He’d apply for it himself but he didn’t qualify with his criminal record, but I did.”

“Black Book?” she asks.

I nod. “I got the job. I was really happy about it. Thought it would lead to something better down the line. But when I told Alex, he told me the real reason why he wanted the job. Apparently, he had a buyer. Someone with deep pockets in the market for a lot of user-generated personal information. He asked… he asked me to get it for him and we’d split the money fifty-fifty.”

Nora looks down, her eyes heavy with thought. “You… you were going to steal from me?”

“But I couldn’t go through with it.” I step forward. “Nora—”

“Don’t come near me.”

I stop. “Please, hear me out. Okay?”

“Clive, a data breach of that level would have destroyed me. I would have lost everything.”

“I know.”

“So, what? You just didn’t care?”

“I didn’t know you,” I say.

“Okay, so thievery is excusable when you don’t actually know the person?”

I exhale. “I was in a bad place, Nora. I wasn’t thinking straight. You know. You weren’t born into wealth, either. Imagine someone dangling a million dollars in front of you when you weren’t even sure where your next meal would come from.”

“So, when I walked in on you in my office, that’s what you were really doing?” she asks. “Trying to rip off my client list?”

“Yes.” My voice breaks. “But I couldn’t get it because you… you take it home with you.”

“Oh, my god.” She touches her stomach and recoils in disgust.

“Nora, I—”

“You violatedme.”

A tear rolls down her cheek, stabbing me in the heart.

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