Page 30 of Exposed

I looked out at the water, trying to see whatever she was so interested in. “Is that really such a bad thing?”

She laughed and then sniffed. “I feel guilty. Because Miller and I…we…” her voice trailed off. “Because I still love him too. So much. God, it hurts just to breathe.”

I clenched my jaw and thought about what Tanner had told me. To take some deep breaths. To think before I spoke. I needed that advice right now. Because I didn’t want to hear about how much she still loved her husband. And I definitely didn’t want to hear about her time with him. But I also wanted to know everything. How long had it taken for her to really get over me? Did she ever wake up, wishing it was me in her bed?

“He was a lot older than you, right?” I wasn’t sure why that was the question I asked. Probably because it would get the image of her in bed with another man out of my head.

“Not that much older. Just six years.”

“That’s a lot older.” I stared down at her. She was 16 when she’d disappeared. Which would have made him 22. Wasn’t that illegal? I pressed my lips together, instead of saying it out loud. They’d lived in isolation together. He was supposed to be protecting her. And instead he slept with her?

“Not that much older,” she said again. “Penny looks a lot younger than James.”

“Yeah. She is.” But this wasn’t about Penny and James. This was about how Brooklyn had fucking Stockholm syndrome and this dick had taken advantage of her. I realized I was gripping the railing on the bridge so tightly my knuckles were turning white. I was trying really hard here not to say anything. But she had to see it, right? That wasn’t love. Whatwehad was love. And she’d fucking run away from me.

“Okay then,” Brooklyn said.

I just stared at her.Okay then?Nothing was okay about what had happened to her. I took a deep breath, but it didn’t help. “I’m sorry, Brooklyn, but it seems like maybe Miller took advantage of the situation…”

“No.”

“You were locked up and…”

“It wasn’t like that. At all. Yes, at the beach house we were trapped. But at the lake house? We weren’t locked up. We were free.”

The way she saidfreemade my heart hurt. Like she hadn’t been free with me. Like she hadn’t been happy until she was with Miller. “You were still in hiding there.”

“Yeah, but it didn’t feel that way. I told you, I thought we were safe. I didn’t think my father knew where we were.”

“Did you ever think that maybe Miller was reporting to him the whole time?”

She stared at me. “He wasn’t loyal to my father. I got him out.”

“How do you know? Did you even really know him at all?”

Her stare had quickly turned to a glare. “Yes, I knew him. I knew everything about him. He was my husband, Matt. He told me everything.” She pressed her lips together. “I didn’t come here to talk about Miller.”

“All we’ve done is talk about Miller. I know you’re mourning him. But do you have any idea how hard it is for me to stand here and listen to you talk about how in love with him you are?”

“You don’t understand what it’s like to lose someone you…”

“Don’t finish that sentence. What the hell do you mean I don’t understand what it feels like? I lost you!”

“You didn’t lose me, Matt. I’m right here.”

“I did lose you. I thought you were dead. I feel exactly the same way you’re feeling right now. But my grief was all lies. Do you know how much it kills me to hear howfreeyou felt all those years with your husband? When I was still right here loving you? Missing you? Feeling trapped in my grief?”

“I didn’t come here to fight with you,” Brooklyn said.

Why did she always act like I was lashing out at her? She was the one that hurt me. Not the other way around. “We’re not fighting,” I said. “We’re talking. But I can’t have a conversation with you if you’re not willing to hear my side.”

She pressed her lips together as she stared up at me. “I want to hear your side. I just…everything hurts so much. And I don’t want you to hate me on top of everything else.”

“I told you I could never hate you.”

“You don’t know everything yet. I…” her voice trailed off. “I didn’t marry Miller right away.”

“Okay.” It wasn’t okay. Nothing about any of this was okay.

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