Page 51 of My Wife

Tommy shrugs, the gesture so impish and, well,Tommythat I know it’smyTommy despite all other evidence to the contrary. “Yeah, I know. Sorry. I know it went against what I was supposed to do, but fuck me, Clay. Even when I forced him to spill his guts, he still insisted that Cyn came onto him that night. He needed to suffer.”

“I figured. That’s okay. He’s dead now.”

“I saw.” Tommy points his finger at Clay. “Nice work. You’re a natural with a knife.”

“Guns are too easy,” Clay answers, and I can’t shake the feeling that I’ve somehow left Halo Island, transported to some weirdo bizarro world instead. Or a horror movie. This is a B-rated slasher film with an ending thatmakes no fucking sense.“Besides, after all the planning we did for tonight, I wanted the kills to be up close and personal. They all deserved that. But Chase… that wasn’t me. Cyn got to finish him off.”

Tommy’s eyes widen, turning to me. Relief flashes across his face. “So she understands. She gets it.”

No, the fuck Idon’t.

Planning?

I’m so lost. So damn confused, too, and it’s obvious.

That’s not the only thing that is, either.

“Cyn? Love?” My stomach revolts as he uses that pet name for me. “What’s the matter?”

What’s the matter? What’s thematter?

“You… him… youknewabout this? About all of this?”

The murders… I thought Tommy took advantage of what Clay was doing. I was wrong. He didn’t kill Chase on a whim. Oh, no. This shit was planned.

Why? How?

What?

Tommy’s brow furrows. With a frown, he cocks his head at Clay. “You didn’t tell her.”

“Tell me what?” I demand.

Clay sheathes his knife, a further clue that I got itwaswrong when I thought he was going to kill Tommy next. “I was waiting for you. If it came from me, she wouldn’t believe it. She’d think I was lying.”

I get to my feet. “Because you’re a liar,” I accuse.

He thins his lips. “I did what I had to. Right, Tommy?”

To my horror, Tommy nods. “Don’t blame Clay, Cyn. He was just following the plan.”

“Plan,” I echo. “What fucking plan?”

Tommy gentles his voice. “Why don’t you sit down. It’ll be easier to explain if you’re relaxed.”

A shitload of xanax could’t relax me right now. “I’m good. Now tell me what the hell is going on.”

“You know most of it already,” Clay says. As an aside to Tommy, he explains, “I told her why Vee had to die. How Tyler needed to go because of Summer. How I had fun with offing that bitch, and Aaron… well, just because we bought the island, that doesn’t mean I could sneak on without my own ferry.” He glances at Tommy. “Maybe we should’ve gotten a ferry. Ah. Next time.”

I blink, trying to make sense of what he just said. “You… you bought the island?”

“Sure did. Through an LLC I set up before I had to fake my death. It was Tommy’s idea. Actually, everything was Tommy’s idea. But the island especially. We know how much it means toyou, babe. If we were going to show you how far we were willing to go to make you ours, it needed to be here. Everything started on Halo Island. It’s only fair it ends here, too.”

“Right,” adds Tommy. “Because the lives we had are over with now. We’re starting over now. You. Me. Clay. Just like it should’ve always been.”

“Don’t be worried if this is all too much. Believe me, it took years for Tommy to convince me this was the right thing to do. That it wasn’t fair that he had you first, and I stole you. So we made an agreement. I got you for five years. Seventeen to twenty-two. With me out of the picture, he got the next five years to make you love him. Then, once you did, I get to come back and we both get you for the rest of our lives.”

“You love me,” Tommy says. It’s strange, though. His words are soft. Gentle. But they ring with steel. “I know you do. Just in time, too. This Halloween… I was going to make this anniversary of Clay’s death one you’ll never forget.” He grins that crooked grin. “By letting you know that he was still alive, waiting to return to you.”

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