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“He hired me to act like his wife.”

“Is that what you were doing when you flirted with me?”

I stared up at Rien’s eyes. In the dim light, his irises looked like tigereye. Deep brown with a ribbon of gold floating within. His expression was blank even as his hand kept caressing my arm. One long stroke after another. In a way, it was soothing.

“I was playing the part.”

“Did the part call for kissing someone other than your husband?”

“You were the one who kissed me!” I cried.

“You didn’t stop me.”

“I tried to. I did. Anyway, she thought you were attractive.”

“She?”

“Susan. My character,” I stammered. “That is, I thought she would think you were attractive. I wanted it to be realistic. He told me that his wife flirted with lots of other men.”

“That’s what he told you?”

“Yes.”

“So you were only playing a part.”

“Yes.” I breathed out a sigh. “So you see, I’m not the person you want to kill.”

“No,” he agreed. “I can’t kill you.”

I almost cried with relief. He wasn’t going to kill me. He understood. This was all a mistake.

“Thank you,” I said. “Thank you. I just want this to be over.”

“Oh, it’s not over,” he said.

“I—what?”

“This isn’t over at all,” he said. He raised one hand to my face and caressed my cheek.

“It’s not over,” he repeated. “Not for you, anyway.”

“You said you wouldn’t kill me,” I said. Panic choked my throat. “You said—”

“I won’t kill you,” Rien said. “But I can’t let you go.”

CHAPTER TEN

Rien

She looked up at me with such horror that I almost laughed. Oh, yes, she was a problem. A terribly sticky problem. But I always dealt with problems. I didn’t doubt my ability to figure out how to deal with this particular problem.

In the meantime, I had a new toy to play with.

“I’m sorry. Is the paralysis still working correctly? You can feel my hands, right?” I touched her temple, rubbing in a slow circle.

She nodded.

“Y—yes. I can feel everything.”

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