Page 65 of Too Late

Before I can even get a word out, she’s in my face. She shoves a finger in my chest. “Where is the paperwork, Asa?”

Paperwork?

What the fuck is she talking about?

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

Her chest is heaving, and if she would just step a few inches closer, I would be able to feel it. “My brother’s file!” she says. “Where is it, Asa?”

Oh.Thatpaperwork.

I carefully place the bowl of spaghetti on the counter and then bring my arms up and fold them over my chest. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Sloan.”

She inhales a meticulous breath, exhales it with even more precision, and then spins around. She puts her hands on her hips, trying to find the strength to remain calm.

I knew if she ever found out what I did, she’d be pissed. Even so, I’ve never really given much thought as to how I’d talk my way out of it.

“Two years,” she says, gritting her teeth. She spins back around and her eyes are full of tears.

Well, shit. I didn’t mean to make her cry.

“For two years I thought you were paying for his care. You showed me the paperwork, Asa. The letters the state sent. The check stubs.” She begins pacing back and forth. “The social worker thought I was an idiot today when I asked her if his benefits could ever be renewed. Do you know what she said to me, Asa?”

I shrug.

She takes a step forward, folding her arms over her chest. “She said, ‘The benefits were never cancelled, Sloan. Stephen’s care has never been private pay.’ ”

Tears are streaming down her cheeks now. For the first time since she walked down here, I start to get a little uncomfortable that maybe I took it too far with this lie. She’s angrier than I’ve ever seen her.

She can’t leave me.

“Sloan.” I take a step forward and put my hands on her shoulders. “Baby, listen. I had to do whatever I could to get you back. Youleftme. I’m sorry you’re upset.” I move my hands to her cheeks. “You shouldn’t be mad about this, though. It took a lot of fucking effort and money on my part. If anything, you should be flattered that you’re that important to me.”

Her hands come up between mine and she pushes me away from her. “You fuckingasshole!” she yells. “You forged an entire file to back up your lies, Asa! Monthly letters from the government! Who the fuckdoesthat?”

She has no idea how much money I had to pay the fucker who sends those or she’d be thanking me right now.

She points at me. “You trapped me. This whole time you made me think there was no way out.”

I swallow the anger down. I take a step forward.Did I really just hear her right?

“Itrappedyou?”

She wipes angrily at her tears and nods, lowering her voice. “Yes, Asa. You trapped me. I’ve been your fucking prisoner for the last two years, thinking my brother was about to have to go back to my worthless mother. All because youknewif you didn’t have that to hold over my head, I would have left you.”

She doesn’t mean what she’s saying. She’s angry. She would never leave me. Yes, I lied to her. Yes, I paid a shit ton of money to make it look like her brother’s benefits were canceled. But it was a temporary fix. She would have come crawling back to me eventually if it weren’t for that. I just made it easier on her.

“Is that what you think? That you’ve been a prisoner here?” I ask. “Do I not give you a place to sleep? Buy your groceries? Give you nice things? Allow you to go to college? Drive my cars?” I walk her backward until she’s pressed against the wall, my hands caging her in. “Don’t you dare stand here—inmyhome—and imply that you didn’t have every opportunity in the world to walk out that front door.”

I push off the wall and point toward the living room. “Go. If you don’t love me anymore, fuckingleave!”

She would never leave. I know this, because if she left, that would mean she’s been using me for my money these last two years. Using me as a sole means to support her goddamn waste-of-space brother. If that’s the case, that would make her a whore by definition.

And I’m not marrying a fucking whore.

Sloan glances at the door and then looks back at me. She shakes her head, and I swear she smiles. “Goodbye, Asa. Enjoy your life.”

She begins walking toward the front door. “I do enjoy my life, Sloan. I enjoy it a whole fucking bunch!”

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