Page 8 of The Amendment

“None of this is your fault—”

“I know that,” she cut me off.

“And I want to get better—”

“You will.” She was certain, and for that, I was grateful. “I’m going to help you, Peter. I thought I was helping you with the arrangement. I thought it would give you the freedom you needed, while also giving you a chance to come clean about everything. But it didn’t work. Not completely. In the end, after every chance I gave you, I still had to tell you I knew the truth. But now, now that it’s all out there, we can move forward. I can fix this. Us.”

As much as I wanted her to fix it, I couldn’t help thinking about the last time she’d had to fix something for me.

That particular fix was still decaying under the freshly poured patio.

“I’ll do anything you want,” I heard myself saying. “I just don’t want to lose you.”

“You won’t.” She slid her hand away from mine. “It’s all going to be okay.”

The woman I knew was back. The one I’d fallen in love with. The nonsense and pain had fallen away, and the cool, collected version of her had returned. I had no doubt that if anyone could fix me, it was Ainsley.

“We just need to change up the rules a bit,” she said, a small smile on her lips.

“What do you mean?”

“Give me a bit to think on it.” She pushed away from the table. “I’m going to take a shower. Take care of the bracelet while I’m gone.”

I stared at the bracelet—lying there, taunting me—andswallowed. Before she’d departed the room, she turned to face me one last time.

“Oh, and Peter?”

“Yeah?”

“Are there any other secrets you need to tell me? Anything I should know?”

My response was instant. A vow. A lie. “No. You know everything.”

Her lips upturned into what should’ve been a smile, but looked cruel instead. “Good,” she purred. “Because if you ever lie to me again, the next body in our freezer will be yours.”

CHAPTER THREE

AINSLEY

Iwasn’t sure how I was going to handle the revelation about Peter. I’d known enough before, but now that I knew everything, it was as if I’d learned it all again. The pain was fresh, the shock very real.

I told myself I could forgive him for anything, but now, I just didn’t know if that was true. I wanted to save him. To protect him from himself, but was that possible?

I’d failed before.

Not just with Peter. There had been others.

Oneother, specifically.

But that was the past. Peter wasn’t Ryan. This was different.Wewere different. I loved him more than I could say, and he loved me back. I wouldn’t fail to save him.

I couldn’t.

I wasn’t sure I’d survive it—

A knock at the door caused me to jolt.

“What?” I shouted over the sound of the water.

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