Page 88 of Masquerade

Her key ring was unexpectedly light in her hand. She cried out at its weightlessness, a painful reminder Liam believed she’d betrayed him in his work and in his bed. Why wouldn’t he? After seeing Ms. Sexy Higgins, after she’d dropped her book on his desk without an explanation. Trying to shift responsibility even as their relationship lay in tatters. Keeping her writing a secret had grown from being a self-protective habit to a destructive obsession.

Lost, she pushed into Anna’s empty apartment and stumbled into her bedroom. Tears came slowly. At first, single drops slid down her cheeks and rolled off her chin. Then great sobs left her gasping for breath and feeling as if her broken heart had been pulled out of her chest.

“Has someone died?” Anna stormed into her bedroom.

Kate couldn’t remember how she’d made it to her room.

“Have you forgotten what a closed door means?”

“Why aren’t you at Liam’s?” Anna used a finger to lift Kate’s chin from her pillow, then dropped it. “Did he make you cry?”

Burrowing back into her pillow, Kate reached for another tissue. “What time is it?”

“Time to come clean,” Anna sat on the side of the bed. “Take all the time you want. I have nowhere else to be.”

Slowly, Kate swung into a cross-legged position. “He saw me going into the Futureproof Mining building today.”

“Losing me here, Maybelline.”

“I told you some of the story. Futureproof Mining hired a woman to compromise Liam when he was an up-and-coming environmental lawyer.” Kate hiccupped on a sob. “Selina screwed him—literally and figuratively. That’s why he left environmental work. Galena and Co. has offices in the same building as Futureproof Mining.” She shredded the tissue she was holding.

“And you were dressed as Ms. Sexy Higgins.” Anna put an arm around her shoulders. “You didn’t tell him, did you?”

“You don’t need to say it.” Kate hiccupped on another sob.

“I told you so. But I don’t understand what you’re doing. You let him think you were a cheating bitch.” Anna’s confusion was palpable.

“He wasn’t interested in anything I had to say,” Kate choked on the words. “He’d made up his mind I was guilty before I walked in the door.”

“And?”

“I think he was scarred so badly that he’s not prepared to risk trusting a woman again.” She blotted her eyes.

“He’s not that stupid.”

“You’re supposed to agree with me.” Kate dragged her hands through her hair, dislodging pins, so it tumbled to her shoulders.

“Not when you’re ruining your life.” Anna was brutally honest.

“If he was so ready to believe I’d betray him, maybe he isn’t the man I thought he was.” Kate hid behind the curtain of her hair while voicing the lie.

“What kind of man is he?” Anna demanded. “How about you explain it in words of one syllable to this dummy.”

“He’s a lawyer!” Kate knew it was a tired, old insult, but she’d tarred him with it, and he’d used legalese as his protective shield.

“So bloody what!” Anna threw a hand in the air.

“Don’t mock me. Circumstantial evidence. Facts, he said. He saw me wearing a disguise going into the building where his enemy is based.” She snatched a new tissue from the bedside table.

“He wouldn’t be my choice of defender if he doesn’t dig deeper than circumstantial evidence.” Anna scowled.

“It’s my fault,” Kate admitted. “I didn’t tell him about the cottage or my writing.”

“Why not?”

“Because every time I decided to tell him something happened, and I baulked”—her throat was raw, strangling her words—“it wasn’t fair to expect him to trust me when I didn’t trust him?”

“Oh, honey.” Anna brushed Kate’s hair off her face.

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