Page 138 of Ruthless Intent

“My relationship with Scott has nothing to do with you.”

“Was nothing to do with me. We’re married, so now it’s everything to do with me. And don’t think the reporters won’t have discovered it.”

Oh god, would they have reached out to him? To my friends?

“Have you been checking my cell for messages? Has anyone tried to call me?”

His smirk makes my blood run cold. “That’s not your concern.”

“Have you spoken to them?”

He ignores me and stands up. “I need to go and speak to the reporter who’s interviewing me.”

“Zain!”

“Make sure you play your part, Ashley.”

He walks out, leaving me alone with his lawyer.

“I hate him.”

Peter looks at me. “As his lawyer, I can’t really talk to you about him. All I can say is that he’s been through a lot, and not everything is always what it seems.”

“What does that mean?”

“He’s not an evil person.”

“He blackmailed me into marrying him.”

“I know. I wrote the contract.”

“Why? Why did you do it?”

“I can’t answer that.”

I glare at him.

“Do as he asks, Ashley. Play your part. Try not to let yourself be blinded by who you think he is.”

“He locked me in the bedroom where my brother was murdered, and forced me to stay there for the entire night. That tells me who he is.”

He got down on his knees and made me come, then carried me to bed and wished me goodnight.

“It tells you who he had to become.” Peter’s voice is firm. “Have you ever visited a maximum security prison? Do you know what a typical day was like for Zain in there? Do you have any idea how terrifying and confusing it must have been when he was first convicted? An innocent man sent to a prison that houses some of the worst people in the world. A young man. Twenty years old, and mourning the loss of his two best friends. Ask yourself how you would have coped. What would you have to do to survive fourteen years inside a place like that?”

“Then he shouldn’t have—” I snap my mouth closed.

I was about to say he shouldn’t have murdered my brother … but he didn’t. It’s an automatic response to what I’ve believed for the past fourteen years. I watched his interrogation. It’s so clear that he’s innocent, that I actually don’t understand why they arrested him for it.

“Can I ask you something about the first trial?”

“I wasn’t Zain’s lawyer for that, but I can try to answer. What do you want to know?”

“I wasn’t allowed in the courtroom for anything other than giving my testimony. My dad said he didn’t want me to hear about what happened to Jason, and I remember the lawyer saying it could sway what I said on the stand.”

Peter nods. “That’s right. Especially with how young you were.”

“Was it really all my fault?” It’s something I’ve been wondering all week, something that Zain has made it clear that he believes.

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