Page 200 of Sins & Secrets

I don’t give her a response in the least, hiding the anger as my heart thuds hard in my chest at the confirmation of what I already suspected.

“What did I do?” I ask her.

“It’s because of me,” she says and her voice cracks.

“You didn’t do this.”

“You don’t understand,” she says, gaining more composure and wiping under her eyes as the wind whips between us and forces her hair behind her. “He wants me to give him everythingin the divorce. The properties, our investments, the business, he’s not budging on any of it.”

“I thought it was finalized?”

She shakes her head and says, “I pushed back.” Her words come out hard. “He’s pushed me around for so long and he thought he could just get rid of me and throw me away like he did his first wife. But I made the company what it is today.”

“So why go after me?”

“To prove a point.”

“And what point is that?” I ask her.

“That he could eliminate whomever he wants.”

Anger narrows my gaze as I tell her, “He missed his shot.”

“He’ll do it again,” she says, “and I’m scared.”

“It’ll be all right,” I tell her although I’m not sure it will be. I’m already trying to figure out how to end this. All roads lead back to James and the only thing I need to know is the fastest and safest way to put that asshole six feet in the ground.

“Please help me, Evan,” she begs, and her voice is rife with agony. “I don’t know where to go or what to do.”

“The police,” I tell her and it’s the first time in my life I’ve ever thought of going to them. “You can tell them everything. Tell them he threatened you with that.”

“He has them in his back pocket,” she says bitterly then adds, “You know that. Did they tell you anything?”

I shake my head and say, “Only that the coke was laced enough to kill. It was made into a murder weapon.”

“Oh, God,” Samantha says then lets out a gasp and hunches forward slightly. I feel the need to put my arm out to steady her and she clings to me.

A moment passes in the wintry cold, where I think back to a few times we’ve gotten out of tight spaces. I thought a client here and there would go to trial, but they never did. I didn’tthink it was because of James, though. I thought they didn’t have enough evidence.

“He’ll go down for what he did,” I assure her as one name and one face come to mind. Mason. Jules’s husband. He’s gotten off for murder, just last month. There’s more corruption in this city than there are tourists. Mason knows it as much as I do and I can trust him.

He killed his father, and everyone knows it. Well, the whispers in certain circles are sure of it.

He’s from a different world than me, but I know him from back in the day. Back when both of us were a little too eager to cut loose. I helped him out back then and never called in the favor I’m owed. I haven’t spoken to him since I split up a fight a few months ago.

He owes me for that too. And Mason’s the type of man who pays his dues.

“What are you going to do?” she asks. Samantha scoots closer to me, almost too close, and I take a step back.

“I know a guy,” I tell her and she’s quick to nod, but then her face falls.

“Shit,” she whispers, her eyes focused on something behind me and I whip my head around to see what she’s looking at.

“It was him,” she says then covers her mouth. “Shit,” she repeats with tears in her eyes.

“He can’t hurt you.” I turn around and keep an arm behind me to protect her. My eyes search the crowd, but I don’t see him.

Her hands tug at my arm, pulling me back to her. Her bright red lips glisten as she licks them and tells me, “He went down to the subway, but he saw us. I know he did. At least I think he did,” she says then closes her eyes tightly and takes a step back. “It was definitely him.”

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