Page 132 of Dex

Still, we get up.We get dressed.I say we’ll go, deal with it, and do something together tonight.I tell her that it’s always better to have something nice to look forward to.I try to keep my tone light.Try to pretend this isn’t turning into a pit of unease in my stomach.

We walk into the office together.People look up and nod as we pass.They smile at Daniela, whom they barely see.But all of New York knows she’s my wife on account of the mugging and the many photos of us in the press after the charity gala.

I knock on the door of my father’s office and he calls us in.He’s sitting calmly at his desk.Daniela glances at me, eyes searching.I look at her and give a slight shake of my head.No idea what this is.

“We’ve signed a new contract,” the old man says abruptly, looking right at Daniela.“Your father and I.”His voice is calm and measured and I feel like a storm is coming.

Daniela’s face tightens.“Why?”

I turn to her.She sounds more nervous than she should.Which makes me wonder ...does she know something that I don’t?

My father doesn’t answer her question.He just keeps going, calm and infuriatingly vague.“Things have changed.”

“What things?”I ask sharply.“What are you talking about?”

“Daniela’s father agreed to the new terms,” he says coolly.“The goalposts have shifted.”

I frown.“What goalposts?Why are you being so cryptic?”

His gray eyes fix on me, making me shiver.“I don’t like being bamboozled.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”I snap.

He turns to Daniela.“Your father’s company is not in the shape it was presented to us.But you already knew that, didn’t you?”

A dead weight settles in the middle of my gut.One look at my wife, and I can tell that she knew.My jaw tightens.“Daniela?Did you know?”

Her eyes go wide.“I’m sorry,” she whispers.“The numbers were sliding, yes, but ...we needed a cash injection.Some investors pulled out, but we were holding steady.”

An ice-cold fissure explodes in my chest.“You didn’t tell me.”

“If only that were the case.”The old man examines his fingernails, before adjusting his cufflinks.“If only a few investors pulled out, but the real situation is worse.Your father’s business is doing very badly.To make matters worse, he fabricated the accounts.Or his accountants did.”

Daniela’s face goes white.“No,” she gasps, eyes large.“He would never do that.”

“He did exactly that.”My father sits forward.

“He fabricated the accounts?”Daniela asks, like this is news to her.

“He did.I have proof, in case you don’t believe me.”

She crumples back in her seat, at the weight of her father’s betrayal, then turns to me.“I didn’t know it was that serious.”Her voice cracks.“I swear, Dexter, I didn’t.”

But I can’t unsee the look on her face when my father dropped the bomb.

She knewsomething.

And now ...so do I.

Chapter 33

DANI

“How long have you known about this?”Dexter asks when we leave his father’s office.

My breath catches in my throat.“I knew things weren’t…” I trail off, unable to shake the way he looks at me because he thinks I’ve betrayed him.

We walk away from his father’s office, toward the elevator bank.“So you already knew?”He slaps a hand against his face.“Why didn’t you say something.Why weren’t you honest with me from the beginning, Daniela?”He looks like he’s seen a ghost.I fear he’s going to use this to push me away again.

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