Page 115 of Lies He Told Me (Bratva Crime Syndicate 1)

Except I’m not his ex-wife. Not yet.

I cast a look around. I’m on a street I-don’t-know-which, headed I-don’t-know-where. Once again, my legs are working on autopilot. I have no idea where I’m going. I don’t much care. If I had a map, I’d just make sure I was heading away. Away from Gavril. Away from all of this.

Only, my mom … Tears finally slide down my cheeks.Oh, Mom. Even for her, I can’t stay there and pretend this is okay. In no way, shape, or form is this okay.

There’s no way to look away from or feign ignorance of what’s happening, not anymore. I’ve seen too much.

“You mean nothing to me,”he said. He said it, but I know he didn’t mean it. He can’t have meant it. But, for fuck’s sake, what does it even matter? Better if he did mean it, if he never cared to begin with. Even if what I saw in his eyes, more and more as we spent time with each other …

Don’t.Nothing good will come of this.

My phone’s been turned off, but now, I can’t take these thoughts. I want to talk to Mom again.

As soon as I turn on my phone, however, a barrage of messages and missed calls from Gavril pours out, and … another call. I pick up without thinking.

“You know what happened, don’t you?” an unfamiliar yet familiar voice asks.

“Who is this?”

“Richard Walsh, of course. You have seen the news, haven’t you?”

Actually, I was on the scene myself.I say nothing to him, though.

“Joy?”

“What do you want?” I ask.

“Justice. Safety in my city. Buzzwords I say at rallies, but actually happen to mean, too.”

“You still haven’t said what you want from me.”

“Meet with me and I’ll tell you.”

“That’s not a good idea.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t trust you.”

He chuckles. “That’s wise. But you don’t have to trust me. Just hear me out, then decide for yourself what you want to do.”

It surprises me, the rapidity with which I make the decision. “Fine.” I look around. “Meet me at the Denny’s at the corner of Carling and Parapple. I won’t wait more than fifteen minutes.”

“I’ll be there in ten.”

He hangs up, and I stand there.

Don’t do this,Gavril’s latest message says.

My phone starts to ring again. I turn it off.

It’s too late for that, Gavril.It was too late the minute you decided to turn your conflict into all-out war that hurt innocents. This is done already.

As I wait for the long-ass traffic light to change, I look down at my hand. The ring Gavril gave me glimmers back at me. So bright and shiny and beautiful, like it’s mocking me for thinking that I could ever be the kind of woman who wears a ring like this.

Well, guess what?I want to scream at it.I’m not. Not anymore.

The ring’s audacity infuriates me. I want it gone. Out of my life. Just like Gavril. So I rip it off my hand, cock back, and throw it as far as I can. It catches the light as it flies across the street and hits the concrete a few dozen yards away with a pathetictink, tink, tinknoise. Let some poor homeless woman find it. Let someone other than me enjoy the beauty.

---