Page 82 of The Devil's Torment

“Lucky me.”

Her cheeks bloom with color. “Let’s get a coffee. Or maybe something stronger. I think we both need it.”

The driver takes us to a cozy café a mile down the road that also has a liquor license. I order an Americano and a whiskey chaser for the shock. I down it in one, wincing at the fiery burn, but when Beth asks if I want another, I decline. Clear thinking is what’s needed here. Whatever made my sister put us through sheer fucking hell for the last three months is a story I want to be stone cold sober for.

Beth nibbles on her nails—a habit she gave up years ago. As I did back then, I tug her hand away from her mouth. “Don’t do that. It’s a horrible habit.”

Her soft smile sparks a wave of emotion, and a raft of tears rush to the surface of my eyes. I blink them away and harden my heart. My innocent sister isn’t as innocent as I thought.

“You always hated it when I did that.”

“I still do.” I blow across the top of my coffee and sip. “Floor’s yours, Beth.”

She wrings her hands, then sits on them. “Where to start?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” I can’t help being sarcastic. “How about the part where we all thought a bomb blew you to smithereens?”

Color fills her cheeks, and she pulls her eyes away from mine. “I never wanted to do that. I’ve had nightmares over it ever since, wondering how I can make it right.”

“And this is what you came up with?” A biting laugh breaks through my stupor. “Turning up out of the blue several months after we put you in the ground?” I stuff the heels of my palms into my eye sockets, then fling my hands up in despair. “Putsomeonein the ground. Who the hell did we bury, Beth?”

Plucking at a loose thread on her coat, she avoids my gaze. “It’s a long story. I think it’s best if I start at the beginning.” Her lips purse as she blows out a long, unsteady breath, her chin wobbling. “About a month after Nicholas chose to marry me, I met this guy. Quite by accident. I bumped into him in the street and spilled hot coffee all over his pristine shirt.”

She smiles at the memory, but it falls when she meets my stupefied gaze. Clearing her throat, she continues.

“I didn’t mean for it to happen, but I fell in love with him, and he fell in love with me. I knew there was no future in it, and I told him as much. Even though I never hid my impending marriage to Nicholas, he still wanted to keep on seeing me.” She shrugs. “So we did.”

“You cheated on Nicholas?”

“Yes.” More plucking until the thread unravels. She snaps it loose. “Although I never saw it as cheating. Nicholas and I never slept together. Hell, we barely kissed. He couldn’t have made it more obvious he wasn’t at all attracted to me.” Winding the broken thread around her finger, she beseeches me with her eyes. “I didn’t want to marry Nicholas, but Dad gave me no choice.”

A sliver of empathy burrows into my heart for that part at least. She accepted her fate so graciously that I never considered she was dreading her upcoming wedding.

“You never said.”

“What good would it have done?”

It’s such a Beth thing to say. Keep the peace, don’t rock the boat. Hell, she’s rocked the boat now, enough that the damn thing is sinking. “Dad said you knew about the trouble his business was in.”

“Yes. He was upfront about it as soon as Nicholas picked me.”

That’s twice now she’s mentioned Nicholas choosing her over me, and it’s like a dagger to my heart. The old demons raise their heads, that feeling of never being good enough, of always coming second to beautiful, perfect Beth.

Except she isn’t perfect, is she? Not in the way I always thought she was. She’s selfish and self-serving. Only a monster would pretend they were dead and put their family through a grieving process that wasn’t real.

“Keep going.” My voice sounds like my vocal cords are wrapped in barbed wire.

“I had every intention of going through with the wedding. After all, what choice did I have? Then I overheard something that changed my whole perspective.”

I can’t help it. I lean forward. “What?”

“Remember the night you accidentally spilled a glass of wine over Imogen?”

It was no accident, but I keep that to myself and nod. “I do.”

“Well, I followed you. I wanted to help, but instead I overheard the two of you talking about Nicholas.” She reaches across the table for my hand. I tug it out of her reach, valiantly trying to recall the details of that conversation. It comes to me at the same time as Beth speaks.

“I heard you saying you were in love with him, and that’s when an escape route opened up right in front of me. It wouldn’t be easy to pull off but, God, Vic, I had to try. I knew if I was out of the picture, Dad would push for you to marry Nicholas instead. I’d get my freedom, and we’d both get to be with the men we loved.”

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