Page 79 of A Deceitful Pact

“The Gendrys do a thorough job, don’t they?” He laughs, and I feel as if my insides are being twisted in knots.

“What are you talking about?”

“Do you think I could have pulled off a disappearing act like that, all by myself? I’m good but not that fucking good.” He hooks his finger into his mouth and pulls it open so I can see the gaps at the back of his mouth. “Dental records are all you need when a body is unidentifiable, you know that.”

“But why? All this time I thought it was them who killed you!”

“I was getting too much pressure from the Bureau, Riley. I couldn’t be on both sides forever. Not with you constantly kicking the hornet's nest.”

“Well, you picked the wrong side. How could you? You know what that family does, you investigated it.”

“Nothing matters more than family, Riley.”

“What?” I’m tired of him talking to me in riddles.

“Look a little closer… I may not have the Gendry surname, but I got my daddy's eyes.”

“No.”

“My mom never had the guts to tell me that Steve wasn’t my real dad. She thinks I went to the grave believing her lies. Michael approached me when I was eleven years old and told me who I really was. We agreed to keep our meetings a secret, in case Mom moved us away again. I hated not being one of them, but I got a chance to prove myself in a way none of his other sons could. I worked my way up through the ranks so I could be an inside man who my dad knew he would have no doubt about trusting. That took a lot of work, then you…you handing your little homework project to the boss put all that in jeopardy. Dad’s business had been going under the radar for years, and when they opened that case, I had to be on it. I felt really bad for having to bring up your history. But it was a duty of care.”

“What are you talking about?” I recoil in horror when I start to suspect where this is going.

“You know what I’m talking about, my brother takes a photograph of every single one. A little keepsake. You think the first time we met, I hadn’t seen you before?”

“You're lying.” I shake my head.

“You became a threat, Riley, and Gendrys don’t like threats.”

“So why not just kill me like they do everyone else. We were together forthree years, you asked me to marry you!”

“And you said yes.” He chuckles.

“The problem is, Riley…” He crouches between my legs, “...I really did love you. I saw you the night of that party, all pretty and placid. You didn’t even look in my direction, I thought you were just like everyone else who flirted with my brother. That you’d heard of the Gendry name and were out for what you could get.”

“That's not true, and you know it. You know me, Jack.”

“Do I?” He makes me tense when he drops the gun to glide across the top of my stomach.

“I thought I did…but you're full of surprises.”

I understand his shock. Back when we were together, I told him that I didn’t want to have kids. I was so scared that I couldn’t love that I forced myself to try it, and refusing to become like my parents meant that I would have to choose one or the other. I was never going to risk bringing a child into a relationship. So I lied. I told the man I was set to marry that I didn’t want kids when, deep down, it was all my heart ever desired.

“Shacking up with a dodgy bartender, letting him knock you up. That's not the Riley Hale I know.” Jack shakes his head.

“So you got with me because your brother raped me?” I stare back at him, trying to take the conversation away from my baby.

“You're not listening to me. My feelings for you have always been real. I saw you that night, and I was hurt that you went home with him. I thought that you were just like all the others. I thought that you’d gotten what you deserved.”

“You're sick,” I tell him, crying more tears when I think about all the time I spent trying to love this man.

“Meeting you, years later, at training was a coincidence. I recognised you, I saw that you were different, I saw who you really were, and I wanted you.”

“You had me, Jack, but you blew yourself up and chose them,” I remind him, very aware that the gun is still pointing at my belly.

“I never really had you.” He raises it back up and uses it to slide some of the wet hair from my face. “You didn’t look me in the eyes when we fucked, the way you do with him.”

I feel that cold chill again when I realize what he’s saying.

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