Page 93 of The Truth in My Lies (Secrets of Suburbi 1)

I smiled. He knew my darkest secrets. He knew every part of the evilness that had seeped into my soul.

“I’m falling in love with you, Addy.” He didn’t ask me the question back.

But he didn’t need to. “I’m terrified that I’ve already fallen,” I said.

He leaned forward and cupped the side of my face in his hand, drawing my lips closer to his. “I will never hurt you. Never.”

I believed him. I did. But an unsettling thought crossed my mind. For some reason, I was more concerned that I might hurt him.

His lips brushed against mine.

I pushed aside the thought and let myself get lost in his kiss. Lost in him. And for the first time in my life, I did feel loved. Whole. Safe. And happy.

Chapter 46

I re-taped the box from Amazon and pushed it into the corner of the family room with the rest of the moving boxes. That was the last of it. I had organized everything into two groups. Things that were my husband’s that I didn’t want, and the items that were mine that I did want.

I stared at the boxes filled with files. Ben hadn’t heard back from the forensic team yet. The files

could still be important. I shoved them into the “keep” pile. It wasn’t much. I had really only wanted my clothes and a few other knickknacks. I would be starting a new life tomorrow. I didn’t want to be weighed down by anything from my past. Besides, my husband was extremely wealthy. And I was about to get half of everything in the divorce. Or will I get everything in the divorce since my husband’s a serial killer?

The doorbell rang. For the first time, I was excited to answer it. This would be the last time I ever had to see the gawkers. And there were only a few more hours before cops would swarm my house and arrest my husband. I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face.

“Hey, girls,” I said as I opened up the door.

Charlotte’s eyes wandered over me. She had a look of utter disapproval on her face. “Were you not expecting us, hon? I thought I said 3.”

“What? I was expecting you.” I stepped to the side, welcoming them in.

“Oh.” She laughed awkwardly. “Pretend I didn’t say anything. We brought wine and snacks.” She, Rosie, and Phoenix each walked in carrying a bottle of wine and covered dishes.

“You look fine,” Rosie said. “Ignore her. The last time I packed, it was 90 degrees out and our air conditioner was broken. I was a complete mess. You, on the other hand, look super cute.”

I looked down at my outfit. I was dressed in a pair of yoga pants and a tank top. Was that why Charlotte had said that? She thought I was inappropriately dressed? Give me a break. I pulled my hair out of its messy bun as they stared at me. Screw you, gawkers. I walked towards the kitchen and ran my fingers through my hair. “I left a few glasses out. They’re pretty much the only things I haven’t packed.”

“I can’t believe we’ve never been here,” Phoenix said as she eyed the boxes in the kitchen. “You’re moving and we never really even got to know you.”

And whose fault is that? She didn’t blame Phoenix and Rosie, though. If anything, they had been the nicest to her in the whole neighborhood. It was Charlotte who was the ringleader of evil looks and snarky comments. She had probably told them not to hang out with me. “It’s okay, I know you were all probably super busy.” I eyed the bottles they placed on the table. “Crap, I packed up the corkscrew. One second, I know it’s in one of these boxes.” I turned toward one of my husband’s piles.

“It’s okay, I came prepared.” Phoenix reached into her designer purse and pulled out a bottle opener.

Charlotte shot her a disapproving glance and grabbed it from her. “Ladies, I say we make a toast.” She opened up the bottle and started pouring the wine. “To new beginnings.” She raised her glass.

“Hear, hear!” Far away from you. I clinked my glass to hers, downed the whole thing, and put it back on the table a little harder than I meant to. I was lucky it didn’t crack. They all stared at me. It had only taken me 5 seconds with Charlotte to realize that I needed to be more than tipsy to get through the next couple of hours with her. They’d have to deal. I poured myself some more.

Charlotte cleared her throat and sat down at the table. “I still can’t believe we never even met your husband.”

Of course they wouldn’t remember seeing him at the neighborhood picnics. He always promised that he’d come. But then he’d only stay for a few minutes before leaving for an important business call. It was always the same lame excuse. “He travels a lot for work. He’s incredibly busy.” I sat down across from her. It felt like I was about to partake in the ultimate showdown. Snooty gawker versus tortured housewife. This was a game I could win.

“What does he do for work?” she asked.

He’s a serial killer. “He’s an insurance collector of sorts.”

“That sounds interesting,” Rosie said. “What exactly does that entail?”

Murder. “Honestly, I’m not really sure,” I said with a laugh. “What do your husbands do?”

“I’m actually very involved in my husband’s business,” Charlotte said. “We’re in real estate together. I handle staging the houses before showings. He always says I drive all the sales. God, I can’t imagine just sitting around all day doing nothing. How boring would that be?”

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