Page 19 of The Truth in My Lies (Secrets of Suburbi 1)

His behavior was infuriating. Be suspicious of me! Ben had been in our house. He had been so close that I could almost taste his skin. I wanted him. I wanted him desperately. But I stayed away. I stayed away because of you. I watched him cut up his steak. I should have just had the damned affair. Apparently he wouldn’t have even cared. I pulled my hands onto my lap and twirled my wedding band around my finger. The most infuriating part was that he clearly didn’t see how suffocated I felt. I was sitting in front of him drowning. Let me leave.

“How often have you been leaving the house?” He took a sip of wine as he stared at me.

I ran my tongue along my bottom lip. I wanted a glass. But I didn’t ask. He’d want to know why I suddenly wanted a drink. And the answer was simple. It will remind me of him. “Just the running in the morning.”

“And that’s when you see Charlotte? On your runs?” Another sip.

I shouldn’t have willed him to ask me questions. I wasn’t ready with the answers. “Oh, and at the civic association meetings of course.”

“When did you start attending those?” He topped off his glass.

Was that his second? Or his third? “It’s important for me to go.” I had only ever been to one since we moved to this neighborhood. But I had already started lying. I couldn’t go back. Besides, I needed to attend the one next week. I needed to bury the rumors before they destroyed everything. “You wanted me to fit in. I’m just doing what you asked.”

“What I asked? You know how I feel about you leaving the house. You need to tell Charlotte to come here from now on.”

“I can’t just stop going to the meetings. People will talk.”

“I agreed on the runs. You didn’t ask me about this. You’re not going anymore.”

“It’s just a meeting twice a month. I don’t see…”

He slammed his glass down. “We’ve have this conversation before, Adeline. It’s not safe for you to be roaming about.”

“It wasn’t a conversation!” I shouldn’t have yelled. God, I shouldn’t have yelled. I couldn’t even remember the last time I had raised my voice. Anger radiated off his body too, making me cower. “I’m sorry,” I said before he could get a word in. “You told me what I could and couldn’t do. I never agreed to anything, you…”

“Because I’m the only one capable of making decisions. For your own safety.”

“I can make my own decisions. I’m fine. How many times do I have to tell you that I’m okay? I’m not a child.”

He sighed. “One phone call. That’s all it takes. Don’t make me do it again.” His tone scared me. This wasn’t the first time he had threatened this. And I couldn’t go back.

“I’m sorry.” Tears bit at the corners of my eyes. “Please don’t. I’m sorry.”

“You’re clearly still sick, Adeline. All I’ve done is try to help you.”

“I’m so sorry. I’ll be better.”

He tilted his head to the side and the bones in his neck cracked.

I hated that noise. It was the only thing worse than hearing him say he was home. That handsome face that greeted me earlier was gone. The horrid one in front of me was what I was familiar with.

I needed to say something. Anything to stop this from escalating. “I promise. I’ll stay in. I can’t run anymore. I can’t even walk. I’ll stay here all day. I’ll be good.”

He reached across the table and took my hand in his.

My veins turned to ice.

“You’ll be a good girl for me?”

The kale threatened to come back up. “I’ll be so good.”

“Promise me, Adeline.”

I nodded. But I didn’t say the words. I had no intention of actually being good. Because it felt like I was running out of time. He said one day soon he wouldn’t be traveling as much. That meant one day soon I’d lose whatever scrap of freedom I had left.

“I just want what’s best for you.” His fingers slid up my wrist. “You know that, babe.” His thumb traced the scars along my wrist.

I kept my hand completely still even though it ached to be away from him. I hated when he touched me there. He thought I was insane. But he drove me to insanity. It was him. I took a deep breath and tried to focus on his face instead of his fingers running along the scars. “I want what’s best for you too.” And what was best for him was to be dead in a ditch. Just the thought of covering his body with dirt made me smile.

---