So close, in fact, that I'm still in my office when Zangier himself strides through the open door as if he owns the place.
My phone slips from my hand, leaving Ethan's doctor to drone on into the silence while I snatch my gun from the table and aim it directly at Zangier.
"Give me one reason I should not shoot you dead right here," I snarl as fury swirls through my chest like a fog. "You attack my wife. Nearly kill her and my guard. I learn that you made a move on her and then you walk in here like your life is not on the line?" The safety clicks off with a swipe of my thumb. "Your years of service are the only reason I have not executed you right where you stand."
And I'm close.
The two breathless guards outside the door hover over the threshold, waiting for my decision, and the urge to kill him crawls down my arm like a fever.
I have to know why.
"I came as fast as I could," General Zangier gasps. He’s oddly breathless as well. "Please, sir, you have to believe that everything I have done up until now has been for you. Always for you."
"What?"
He takes a step forward and I lift my gun, forcing him to remain where he is. "Do.Not. Move."
"Please. You must listen to me. My loyalty to you has been unwavering for years; you know this. I would never do anything to harm you. I have always been on your side, haven't I? Please, let me explain and you will understand."
"You have ten seconds."
"Your wife is cheating on you."
I almost don't hear him.
Reflex forces my grip on my gun to tighten and my heart begins to pound against my ribs like a drum.
Heat flushes up my spine and the silence drags on for so long that General Zangier's face melts into confusion.
"Did you hear me? I said your wife?—"
"I heard you!" I snap. "What… what bullshit are you saying?"
"I can prove it," he says and he cautiously steps forward. "I have proof. You must believe me. I suspected it during the party and I have been doing everything I can to prove it. Yes, my men were there yesterday, but they were not trying to harm your wife. They were trying to apprehend your wife and the traitor laughing behind your back!"
General Zangier very slowly pulls his phone from his pocket.
After a few taps, he offers it to me.
I snatch it and turn the screen upward.
Coldness spreads through my entire body like a flash freeze as I lock onto a picture of Calvin and Rose by the riverside.
His hands are on her arms and her lips are on his.
A kiss.
Rose is cheating on me… with Calvin!?
23
ROSE
Tucked away in the garden, I thumb through the book on my lap in search of finding where I left off when I was last reading, but just as my bookmark splits the pages, a shadow falls across my lap.
Calvin.
"We have to talk."
