Page 18 of The Weekend Getaway

“An investment?”

“Alex needs money to keep the firm afloat,” Sarah said. “He planned to get it from you.”

“I’m not giving him money to save his law firm.”

“He didn’t think you would,” Sarah said. “So he was going to blackmail you. He was going to tell you that he has proof about what happened that night.”

“What kind of proof?”

Sarah said, “A video.”

“A video?”

“The two of us in bed …” Sarah trailed off, looked away.

“That’s not possible,” Phil said. “Alex said he found the guy who took the footage and got the video from him. And then he gave that video to my father.”

Sarah stared at him. “Alex made a copy of the video before he gave it to your dad.”

“That son of a bitch …”

“Alex was going to offer you the copy in exchange for money,” Sarah said. “But all that’s changed. Alex has a new plan now.”

“What’s the new plan?”

“He’s going to kill you.”

CHAPTER 14

ALEX

Walking down the curving staircase, Alex thought,Phil has to die. Tonight.

Seconds ago, he’d left the room he and Mia shared, then strode down the hallway, thinking of what he needed to do. What he had to do to save his business.

Kill Phil Richart.

Because of those damn notes.

Who the fuck had sent them?

He didn’t know but suspected the anonymous sender hadn’t done so because of guilt or some self-righteous moral reason. Sending the notes to Phil was an act of violence, a betrayal of the agreement the six of them made to keep their fucking mouths shut. Fifteen years ago, they’d vowed never to reveal the truth to Phil.

Alex couldn’t help feeling that whoever sent the noteswanted to attack him personally. Sending the notes was an act of outright defiance. Someone trying to show Alex that he wasn’t the boss of them. And yet, at the same time, the person was a fucking coward. The anonymous sender wasn’t trying to keep their identity from Phil. Whoever it was didn’t want Alex to discover what they’d done. Didn’t want him to know they’d betrayed his trust.

Alex reached the bottom of the stairway.

His stomach churned.

HadMia sent Phil those fucking notes?

Tell him you know who sent those notes. Tell him … that it was me.

Alex cursed under his breath. Had Mia used misdirection against him, telling him the truth while knowing he wouldn’t believe her?

The corners of his mouth lifted. He was almost impressed. Almost, but not quite.

Alex had chosen Mia as his wife because he’d wanted a woman who would be submissive, willing to defer to his dictates and whims without protest. He’d wanted a woman like his mother, who knew her place within the framework of patriarchy and was not prone to feminist ideas. A woman who wouldn’t make demands of him, and in exchange for her subservience, would be protected and provided for. Basically, a woman who would do what the fuck he said, no questions asked.

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