Page 16 of Hush Money

“Lucien,” I hiss at him before turning to Ravenna. I don’t know how I’m going to dig myself out of this giant mess, but I feel like I need to try. And I also owe her the truth. I’ve never been a liar. I’m not going to lie to her face. “I’m sorry. I never wanted to cause you pain?—”

“Don’t apologize, Tamsyn,” comes Lucien’s sharp voice behind me. “You did nothing wrong.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” I say.

Ravenna drills in on me with those bright green eyes, her voice pitching higher. “You live here now? Is that it?”

I open my mouth to answer. I guess I’m hoping I’ll drum up some sort of plausible explanation in this overwrought moment—but Lucien steps in front of me and pushes me back in the exact same protective maneuver I just used on Ravenna.

“Don’t talk to Tamsyn, Ravenna,” he tells his wife. “Talk to me.”

“Fine,” she says, wiping away a tear. “Tell me what’s going on.”

“You and I are married,” he says briskly. “For now. We’re going to take you to the hospital and get you checked out. I expect them to confirm that you have a concussion, so you can stay here for a week or two until you recover. And we’ll call the police and let them know what’s going on. They’re going to want to talk to you. Understand?”

“But what about you and Tamsyn?” she says, her voice catching on my name.

“That’s none of your business. Nothing has changed from two years ago.” His tone is truly arctic. It’s a wonder the chill doesn’t crack the windows. And he doesn’t bother trying to hide his revulsion for her. “I told you before you disappeared that I want a divorce. I still want a divorce. That has nothing to do with Tamsyn. That was all in motion before I met her.”

“But you’re in love with her?” she says, shrill now.

It’s hard enough to stay quiet while this conversation plays out in front of me. But the addition of the L-word ups the stakes exponentially. I don’t think he’s fallen in love with me, or anything like that. Not this quickly. Even my naïve and romantic heart isn’t that foolish. It’s just that I feel as though I’ve never needed anything the way I need to see his reaction to the suggestion.

But I should know him better by now. His gaze flicks to me and then quickly back to her. His color deepens, probably from his being put squarely on the spot like this, but other than that, his inscrutable expression gives nothing away.

“Like I said, my relationship with Tamsyn is none of your business. You and I are going to call our lawyers and we’re going to get a divorce.”

“No, Lucien,” she says, shaking her head.

He dismisses this resistance with a flap of his hand. “I’ll set you up wherever you want to live. Paris. Dubai. Wherever. Hell, I’ll do you one better. I’ll do all that with no questions asked about where you’ve been. That’s your business. But this marriage is over.”

“We still love each other, Lucien,” she says. “Please.”

I find her pleading excruciating. I’m terrified that she’s going to drop to her knees in a second. But Lucien remains unmoved. “Over.”

There’s a pause. And then, to my uncomfortable surprise, she breaks into laughter. It’s got more than a tinge of hysteria to it, especially considering the way her tears continue to fall. I find it wildly disconcerting. Luckily, it trails off quickly, leaving her to look more stricken than ever.

“Tell me something, Lucien,” she says, eyes glittering with tears. “Why do I love you so much when you’ve always been so cruel to me?”

Crooked smile from Lucien. “Save it. We need to get you to the hospital. Let’s go.”

“I’ll get out of your hair,” I say, suddenly desperate to get away from both of them and all this turmoil. Lucien’s and my secret is out now, and he didn’t deny me. It’s everything I could have hoped for, yet I still hate myself for having hoped for it. I may be young, but I’m smart enough to know that I can’t build my happiness on someone else’s misery. Karma will have something to say about that. “I know there are medical privacy issues, but maybe someone could send me a text to let me know what the doctors say. Thanks.”

I think it’s a pretty good parting line, so I take off without waiting for a response from either of them. Unfortunately, Lucien is hot on my heels.

“Tamsyn,” he says, catching up to me on the other side of the threshold and tugging me behind one of the pillars for a modicum of privacy. “I didn’t want you to see that,” he says, keeping his voice low.

“I’m sorry I did.”

Shadows collect over his expression. “I thought it was best to lay things out for Ravenna, so we all know exactly where we stand.”

“Maybe,” I say, giving him a hard stare so he’ll understand how disappointed I am at what I just witnessed. “But I think it’s ironic you were telling me about her alleged cruelty last night. You were doing a pretty good impression of cruelty yourself just now.”

He blows out a harsh breath. “Tamsyn…”

I don’t want to hear it. I can’t handle any more drama for the foreseeable future. I’m all maxed out. “I’ll see you later,” I say, turning and continuing my way.

I hurry up the staircase as quickly as I can without breaking into an actual run. I keep my head down, noticing for the first time the distant sound of other voices in the house. I guess the staff has returned. I also realize that several of the lamps that were on last night before the power outage are now back on. Which means they fixed the power lines.

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