Page 137 of Kept in the Dark

David leaned in. “I wasn’t seeing Nicole.”

“Don’t lie to me! You were leaving on trips and working late hours. You were doing the same thing you did with Nicole when Morgan was alive. I was there, remember. I was in charge of your books, so I knew when you were having an affair and when you weren’t.”

He froze and his blue eyes darkened. “You told Morgan on purpose, didn’t you? The night she died, she told me you were the one who mentioned I was seeing Nicole. I thought you had no idea the history we had. But you did, didn't you?”

Lauren smirked. “You were never going to leave her, so I helped speed the process along. I freed you from the marriage you hated, Darling. She was suffocating you and I saved you.”

David shook his head.

“Not like any of it mattered, you still went back to Nicole. But she was never good enough for you. She didn’t love you like I do. I killed for you. Would your whore do that?”

David slammed his hand on the table and Lauren jumped. “Don’t you ever call her that or I’ll kill you with my bare hands. She was everything to me and you took her from me.”

Lauren saw red. Hot rage burned through every inch of her. No one would threaten her.

She narrowed her eyes at him and grinned. “That’s what I did to your precious Nicole. She didn’t even see it coming.”

David started; breath caught in his lungs.

Good, she had his attention.

“She invited me in, you know. She wanted to see what the new Mrs. Gallagher had to say to her. She just didn’t expect me to end her life.”

She inhaled, remembering the smell of iron and the warmth of the blood that soaked her clothes. Lauren traced her hands with her fingers, feeling the blood of her enemy as if it were still on her skin.

David shifted and she continued, “At first, I wanted to strangle her like I strangled Morgan.” She giggled. “A little poetic flair. But she somehow overpowered me. So, I got a knife from her kitchen and stabbed her until my hand cramped.” Lauren lifted a brow. “She called out for you, you know. But it only came out as a gurgling sound as blood filled her lungs. She wept a single tear and then her chest stopped falling as her heart gave out.”

She grinned, proud of her dirty deed.

The Beast had been pleased that day.

Her husband was grasping at control, but he wasn't strong enough. She could see his rage, feel the fire inside of him. He wanted to kill her. Part of her wanted him to try so she could prove who was the superior monster.

He narrowed his eyes and stood up, towering over her. “I wasn't seeing Nicole again. I have cancer. All of those meetings and late nights were because I was at the doctor getting pain therapy and taking care of my estate so that you would inherit it all.”

Lauren stilled; her lungs gasped for air. “Cancer? What do you mean?”

In that moment, nothing else mattered to her. Not his betrayals, not his hurtful words, not his anger toward her. Not even Nicole or Morgan mattered.

He couldn’t be dying. They had a life together. They were supposed to be together forever. Didn’t he know monsters don’t die?

She had beat death, he would too.

David walked to the door and tapped on it. “Goodbye, Lauren. You won’t ever see me again.”

Panic filled her body as she clawed at the chains, “David, no. You have to come back. You can’t leave me here! We’re soulmates, Darling.”

The officer opened the door for David to leave but he turned around and said, “Lauren?”

She stopped. Had he seen her desperation, realized their love was too strong for him to leave, that they were destined to be together?

Lauren said, “Yes, my love?”

“I loved Nicole more than I could ever love you.”

He walked out the door and she tried to follow but her chains kept her in place. She frantically began fighting against them, blood dripping from her wrists, as she screamed, “David, please! You don’t mean that. We can make this work.”

She began to hyperventilate. He couldn't be dying. They had so much to live for. They had hopes and dreams.

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