Page 29 of Sinful Reality

My stomach churns, and my heart skips with a painful thud that sends spires of pain scorching through my chest. But I keep control of my words. I smooth my tone and tamp down on the heat burning through my veins. Homicidal rage is like a tidal wave begging to drag me under. “Not a secret,” I grit out. “Though hardly an appropriate time to discuss such matters, considering we’re here for someone else’s case, don’t you think?”

“I’d normally agree. Butyoubrought him here. Not me.”

“And now Archer’s pissed for no reason at all.” I gnash my teeth and force my focus back to my husband, his shovel piercing the earth as rage burns in the air surrounding him. He risks his entire case if he digs too far, too fast. “It boggles my mind that you felt entitled to mention it at all. He’s my husband. Those are conversations he and I should have had in private.”

“Which you could have done last night. You had the opportunity and plenty of time, but chose not to.Youbrought Paxton into your home.Youdid that.”

“And you stuck your nose in and upset my husband for no reason except because you wanted to be an ass.” I hate that my stomach hurts. That my heart thrums and my soul quivers. “You inserted yourself where you didn’t need to.”

“No. Detective Gilbert inserted himself, and you had the chance to erect healthy boundaries and limit those communications. Instead, you skipped date night, brought the dude into your home, and today, you lost focus on the case we’resupposedto be working for a case on the other side of the country.Hedid that, andyouheld the door open.”

“I’m trying to help, Aubree! Why is everyone so caught up on geography when a child’s life is at stake?”

“Because—”

“A little girl is missing! And seventeen before her were brutally murdered. Who gives a shit that I live here now? If I can h?—”

“You’re not needed,” she bites back. “There are a dozen medical examiners right there in New York who are closer and more involved.He calledyoufor a reason, and that reason has less to do with Janiesa than you’d like to think.”

“So what?” I grab her jacket and tear her off balance, yanking her away from the muddy hole and releasing her only when we’re at the back of our van. And since that’s not far enough for me, three sets of eyes trained on the side of my face, shovels stopped, I shove her into the back of the van and yank the door shut until we’re locked in. “Why are you being so fucking weird about this? He’s a dude. He called. I’m a professional, doing my damn job, answering questions, andhelpingwith a case that could never have too many hands. Why is this becoming a thing?”

“Because his motives are not pure! He intends to disrupt the life you’ve created in Copeland.”

“How could you possibly know? You haven’t even met him!”

“I know because?—”

“You don’t know shit! You have this gift, and you can see more than we do. I get it! And maybe,maybeif you’d met him in person and shook his hand, I’d put more credence in what you’re saying. But you haven’t. You’re making things up and projecting onto me. You’ve lost your professionalism on the job, and now you’re interfering in my fucking marriage!”

“If you’d fessed up about him in the first place, your marriage would be fine. You didn’t! That means something.”

“It means I didn’t want Archer to throw a fit over nothing! Because,obviously,he’s not gonna be pleased that I’m chatting with someone I have a history with. I want to help with this case, and I don’t want to hurt my husband’s feelings in the process. That’s why I didn’t tell him.”

“You hid an important detail.”

“I was protecting him from an irrelevant detail! He lived here for sixteen slutty years before we met. Do you think I want him to point out every fucking broad he’s bedded, all for the sake of transparency?”

She opens her mouth to speak, but I snap out an ear-aching, “No! I don’t. I would melt into a puddle of depression if he told me about every single woman he’s seen naked, because I know the number is not small, and I know he had that life before me. I have no right to get mad at himfor existing before I came along, and he has no right to be mad about the life I lived, either.”

“There’s a difference between not pointing at every chick in the street, since they no longer interact, and keeping a secret when the guy is blowing up your phone. He was encroaching on your private time.”

“To discuss a case! Dammit, Aubree. He hasn’t made a single pass at me! He’s not flirting. He’s not calling to reminisce about the past or asking me for an encore. It’s entirely professional, and until it’s not, I will take the damn calls and do my best to bring that baby girl home.”

“Until it’s not?”

“Until—” Stunned, I shake my head. “What?”

“You saiduntilit’s not. You didn’t stop atit’s completely appropriate. You didn’t stop athe hasn’t made a pass.You kept going and ended up withuntil. So you expect he will?”

Rage burns hotter in my blood. “No! You’re twisting my words and making a mess where no mess needs to be. I have no issue rebuffing men when they need to be rebuffed. I have never, ever, since the moment we met, given Archer reason to think I wouldn’t be loyal to him.”

“But—”

“But now you’ve done that.Youhave interfered in my marriage in a way that was completely and wholly unnecessary. So if my husband comes at me in any way except pure trust and belief in who I am, thenyouhave sprinkled doubt on my marriage. What the fuck is that, Aubree?”

“You should have told him yesterday! You had ample opportunity to diffuse this with a simple, ‘Hey, this cop is calling me up for help on a case. Just FYI, he’s someone I was intimate with in the past, but I’m telling you now, so you don’t have to worry.’ That’s all it would have taken.”

“Bullshit! If I told him that, he would’ve wrapped me up in a burrito blanket and locked me in our apartment until Pax stopped calling.”

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