Page 82 of Dearly Betrayed

“You will. Give it time.”

“How much time do I have? Really, Casey? They’re not going to keep me around here forever.”

“There’s been talk of sending you back,” she admits, looking uncomfortable. “But I’m not sure it’ll happen.”

“Why not?”

“Well, okay, I’m only getting this second-hand from Adler, but it seems that things aren’t so great in Ireland. Your brother’s struggling to hold your organization together, and he thinks that if you come home, it’ll only embolden the pro-war faction.”

“Which means I’m fucking stuck here.” My world feels hollow and bleak. Can’t go home, can’t stay here. “What am I going to do?”

“Give it time. You have the whole condo now and a little freedom. You just need to prove to Adler and Jayson that you made a stupid mistake, you’re sorry, and you’ll never do something like that again.” She glances at me, frowning slightly. “Which you won’t, right?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Because Adler kind of thinks you’ve been playing Jayson this whole time.” She clears her throat and holds up her hands. “I disagreed with him, but I’m just relating what I heard, okay? He called youone hell of an actress, his words, not mine.”

“Fucker,” I say, feeling a bit of that old heat in my chest. But it dies down quickly. “He’s right though. I did act a little bit. When I stole those documents, I kept them hidden from Jayson. But all that other stuff, the way I feel?—”

“I’m on your side,” she says, squeezing my arm. “I promise, I really am. You just need to give it time.”

“Right. Time.”

We try to talk about other things, about the casino and Casey’s children, but my heart’s not in anything. On the way back, I do my best to be a good friend for Casey, even though I keep thinking about Jayson and the way he thinks of me now. Does my own husband think I’m nothing but a liar? Can he really believe that everything we shared was fake?

I made a terrible mistake, but it was all real, every second, every moment I fell for him.

As we climb back up to the boardwalk, Adler comes walking toward us. He brushes me aside, though he’s polite about it, and takes Casey on his arm. “Got you, little wife. You shouldn’t be out here like this,” he murmurs, looking truly concerned.

She touches his arm and the way she looks at him, full of love and adoration, breaks my heart.

“I’m fine,” she says. “And we have an entire contingent of soldiers.” She gestures back at the thugs lurking to our rear.

Adler nods, holding her tightly, before he looks over toward me. His expression tightens again, slipping into a neutral mask.

“My wife has a good heart,” he says, tone cold. “But I am not so forgiving.”

“Stop being a dick,” Casey says, hitting his arm. “Fallon knows she messed up and she’s sorry.”

“Sorry doesn’t change anything.”

“I was desperate,” I say, the words spilling out. Once again, I am unable to keep my mouth shut when I should probably act all meek and apologetic. “When I came here, I was angry too. Jayson ordered the killing of my father and I wanted revenge. I did something dumb, I made a mistake, and now I deeply regret it. I fell in love with your brother.”

Adler’s lips press together. Not angry, but considering, like he doesn’t know what to make of me. Casey squeezes his muscular arm and leans in close.

“She’s telling the truth,” she whispers.

“We’ll see.” Adler turns away. “My wife here convinced me to give you more freedoms. Don’t make us regret that.”

“Wait,” I say as they begin to walk off. “Can I talk to Jayson? I just want to explain. I want to tell him what I just told you.”

“No,” Adler says and there is no more discussion.

I’m left alone, flanked by guards. They let me stand, head hung, dejected, depressed, for only a few minutes before one of them clears his throat and leads me back into my captivity.

Chapter37

Jayson

---