Page 91 of Merciless Sinner

"I'm intruding again," she states, with a slight lift of her shoulders.

"It's okay. What's going on?" I ask, even though I'm ninety percent sure I'm right about her reasons for coming by. The situation with her hasn’t been far from my mind, so it must be riding hers like the devil.

"Olivia told me about her memories. I'm happy she's starting to remember, but I'm worried. Worried about what she'll remember about me and you."

Bingo. Of course, I was right. "As much as I hate that, too, that's not something either of us can stop."

"And you're okay with that?" She narrows her eyes.

"Of course not."

"I want to tell her," she says quickly, shocking me. "I don't want her to remember on her own. I want to tell her before she does. It's not you who's going to look like the bad guy. It's me, because I am. You didn't do anything with me, but I tried to break you guys up. I want to come clean before she remembers me like that. I’m different now, and I’m so happy to have her back in my life, I don’t want to fuck things up again."

A new level of respect for her settles over me. I would've never guessed that she would suggest such a thing. I'd be more inclined to think she'd want to bury those memories and hope Olivia never remembers them. I understand her reasons for wanting to tell her, but it was still my fault that Olivia was with her family that day.

"I will talk to her," I say. "I always planned to tell her anyway because I need to, but I don't think I should do it now."

"Why not?" Amelia prods. "Don't you think the sooner we do it, the better, before it's too late?"

"I'm an advocate for sooner rather than later, but she's just started trusting me and remembering me. I don't want to fracture that. The doctor said if she’s stressed, she might shut down."

“Oh God.” Amelia places her hand on her heart and pants. “I don’t want that to happen either.”

"No. Besides that, everything is still too fresh. It's barely been two weeks since she's been back in our lives. I've uprooted her from her life in Monte Carlo, brought her back to this place where she ran from, and forced her to marry me. It's a lot for anyone to deal with."

As soon as I lay it out like that, Amelia nods, then brings her hands together. She stares at me for a moment, then her lips part.

"I just feel bad every time I'm with her. I keep thinking she's going to remember what I did and hate me. I'm always on edge when we go out or when I come by the house. But I’m not going to put her at risk like that. Even if she does hate me."

"I'm sure she won't hate you." Olivia doesn’t have a hateful bone in her body, but this might be different. "I think if I speak to her first, it might soften the blow."

"I just want to let her know how sorry I am. That's it. Even if she chooses to never speak to me again, it's important she knows that." She nods.

"I'll let you know you when I decide to tell her," I offer.

"Thank you. I know you don't owe me anything, so I appreciate you considering me."

"That's okay."

"Can I just ask how the investigation is going? Olivia told me that something might have happened while you guys were away. Is she safe?"

"We're doing our best to make sure she is." I would never share anything more than that.

"Thank you. I'll leave you to get back to your evening. Good night."

"Good night." She gives me a curt nod, then leaves.

I watch her go, and I think about how she must feel. What she did was bad, but I can assure anybody she can't feel any worse than me.

* * *

Dante, Cillian, and I walk into the interrogation room like demons from hell.

Our eyes are on Evan sitting on the metal chair in the center of the room.

He's a thin, lanky guy with thick, rimmed glasses and a balding head. He looks fragile on any given day, but at the sight of us, he looks like he might wither away in the wind.

Dante closes the door, and as it shuts, the echo reverberates inside the room.

---