Page 86 of Wine & Whiskey
Max shakes his head, lines squeezing his forehead. “Then you and I were the only people who knew the entire itinerary. I can’t figure out who else could have known about your plans.”
The second time someone’s been spying on them, listening to their private conversations. Her stomach clenches. For the past two days she thought keeping the truth about Spencer from him was the best thing do to. Telling him now is going to be so much worse.
“I know who it was.” She grasps Nick’s arm, her legs shaking from his body stiffening. “I think it was Spencer.”
“What are you talking about?”
“He said a few strange things to me. I tried to ignore him…”
Her voice falters at the redness racing up his cheeks, matching the anger flaming in his eyes. "Tell me, Shae. I have to know."
“He threatened to blackmail me. He knew things, private things only you and I know. He’s been eavesdropping on us.”
Max swears as Nick’s eyes widen. Nick nods to him. “Go!”
He races to Nick's office, barking out orders into his phone. Cold chills race through her at Nick’s blank expression. She would rather see fury than the deadness staring back at her.
“Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
She rubs her arms, trying to calm the trembling. The hardness in his voice strangles hers, and she can only whisper, “I was scared. I thought if you knew what he did, you would kill him. I couldn’t be responsible for his death.”
His jaw ticks with rage. He closes his eyes and kneads his forehead with his fingertips. “What did he do?”
“He climbed into bed with me when I was sleeping. I tried to scream, but he put his hand over my mouth.” She purses her lips to keep them from quivering. All of her insecurities blowing up to hurt him even more. “He said if I told you, he would say I seduced him. That you would believe him, because I…”
The words stall on her lips. She’s never told him before, and now, only because of the threat. Not in the way she should. Not the way she wants. Not how he deserves.
“What?”
“I never tell you I love you.”
“That god damn fucking bastard.” His head droops forward as he shakes it, pressing his fists against his eyes. “He was in our bed? Did he…”
Covering her mouth, she tries to stop a sob from escaping. “No, I swear. He just talked and asked me weird questions.”
“Fucking shit, Shae! I can’t believe you didn’t tell me. We promised no secrets.”
“I’m sorry. I thought I was doing the right thing.”
“The right thing?” His head jerks up, his voice a low rumble in the quiet room. “I trusted this man and let him into my home. While he was here, he threatened you and listened to our conversations, and you kept it from me?”
She steps toward him. She can fix this, make him understand, beg his forgiveness. “Nick, I—”
He puts his hand up. “You’d better stay with Carrie tonight.”
Turning on his heel, he stalks into his office, still shaking his head, and slams the door behind him. Her stomach rolls. Now she knows what it feels like to be pushed away. How painful it is to be rejected by the person you love.
She runs through the house and down the breezeway. Shivering as she knocks on the door of the guest house, she wraps her arms around herself. The last time she was here, she didn’t listen to Carrie, and it backfired. She can’t make the same mistake.
Nathan opens the door, still wearing his scrubs, stifling a yawn. “Hey.”
“Hi. Is Carrie awake?”
“Yeah, but she’s in the shower. Do you need something?”
Unable to seek her best friend’s advice with Nathan here, she shakes her head. The truth about Spencer would be his breaking point, and he’d want Carrie to leave. She refuses to make Carrie choose between her and Nathan, to have her know the pain of being put in the middle. “No, it’s okay. Just tell her good night for me.”
“Are you sure? You can come in if you want.”
