Page 15 of Hush Money

Strangled sound from Ravenna. “This is your proof that I was cheating on you? That doesn’t mean anything, Lucien. You think you saw something, but I’m sure there was an innocent explanation.”

“An innocent explanation for him adjusting himself?”

A deathly silence follows as she recalibrates, scowling and stiffening her spine.

“So you have no real proof that I ever cheated on you, is what you’re saying,” she says with a tinge of anger.

She’s right, but I hate to admit it. That’s another thing about Ravenna. She’s always half a step ahead of me and of the private investigators I finally hired to make sure I wasn’t losing my mind. These things always happened out of the corner of my eye and in the shadows. I never had definitive proof or even a true gotcha moment. That’s how good she is.

But I’m older and smarter now, with plenty of battle scars to show for my experience. “I don’t need proof. I know.”

“Well, I know that I love you and I want this marriage, Lucien.”

“You want my money and prestige. Which is all you ever wanted.”

“How can you say that?”

“Save it. I finally had enough. It took me a long time, but I finally got there. After the party was over that night, I told you I wanted a divorce. You laughed and said you’d never let me go. Does any of this ring a bell? Two days later, you took the boat out and disappeared in the storm. And I knew you weren’t dead. I knew it. It was all too convenient. I hired the best investigators. I did everything I could think of to find you.”

She hurries over again and reaches for my arms. I yank them back, but she keeps coming, undeterred, her eyes aglow with the worshipful adoration that used to fool me back in the day. Now I see it for the manipulation that it is.

“Because you wanted me back. I know you did.” She even pulls out the sex-kitten voice to use on me. It’s like she’s working her way through a list of her seductive greatest hits. “And now I’m back and we can start over again, Lucien. Because we still love each other. We always have. Always will.”

“You misunderstand.” Sneering, I take her cold hands—funny thing about Ravenna; her hands were always cold—and shove them away from me. “I didn’t look for you so hard because I wanted you back. I looked for you so hard because I wanted to make sure you were dead.”

There’s a gasp from the doorway, the sound like a bomb drop in the ringing silence after the vitriol I just spewed. Startled, I whip my head around and get exactly what I deserve for my nastiness: Tamsyn backing away as she stares at me with open shock and horror.

It’s the kind of look I’ve always dreaded from her. The kind of look that tells me she finally sees me for exactly who I am—the kind of twisted man who could never possibly deserve her.

CHAPTER SEVEN

TAMSYN

I stare at the unfolding scene, aghast.

I foolishly thought that I’d used up my lifetime supply of shocks in the last twenty-four hours, but Ackerley seems to have an unlimited stock of them. I can’t believe that this is Lucien. I had no idea that his beloved face could generate so much open hostility and such an ugly sneer. But there it is, all directed at Ravenna.

I can’t just stand there doing nothing, so I spring into action and hurry over to stand between them and protect her. It’s not that I think he plans to hit her or anything like that. It’s just that he’s so big and she seems so delicate and heartbroken. In this awful domestic moment, I feel like I don’t know anything about him, much less his marriage. I just know that I can’t watch this.

“Stop,” I tell him.

“Tamsyn.” He seems dismayed as he clears his throat. “You’re back. Where were you?”

I shoot him a warning look because he’s showing way too much interest in my activities in front of his wife. “I just got a little fresh air,” I say, trying to keep it brisk. “It’s a good thing I’m back. It looks like you forgot that we’re trying to keep Ravenna calm until we can get her to the hospital. You can take her now. The workers got the road clear.”

With that, I turn to see how Ravenna is doing, because she’s been awfully quiet for the last few seconds. But the sight of her widening eyes and dawning comprehension freezes me to the spot.

“Oh my God.” She presses both hands to her mouth and backs up a step as her gaze swings between me and Lucien. “Oh my God. I get it now.”

“Get what?” Lucien says, taking an admirable stab at sounding bored and indifferent. But he doesn’t fool me, and I’m betting he won’t fool her, either.

“Who is she?” Ravenna says, all her attention on Lucien now as she sidesteps me and throws a sweeping gesture my way. “The reason you’re being so cruel to me? My replacement?”

He holds his hands up. “Ravenna. Calm down.”

“I understand,” she says, choking on her sudden tears. “She’s beautiful. Young. Innocent. Sweet. Like I was.”

Derisive sound from Lucien. “You were never innocent or sweet, Ravenna.”

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