Page 100 of Married to Lies

With a satisfied look, he said, “Now, tell me what you have on him, Mrs. Thomas.” He sat at his desk, fingers steepled, blue eyes intense and penetrating.

I took a slow breath, trying to steady the shake in my hands. I sat on them to hide just how upset I was. “Conrad, what did Quentin do to you?”

He narrowed his gaze and reached for the phone. He tapped the buttons, then brought the receiver to his ear. “Courtneigh, please connect me with the Dallas Times editorial staff.”

Frantic, I pushed the button to hang it up. “Don’t.” I needed to tell Quentin before he read it in the news.

“Then tell me what you know,” he said.

“I...” I looked down at my hands, not wanting him to see the frustrated tears gathering in my lashes. “I’ve looked, I have, but Quentin is a good guy. He does things by the books.”

He tilted his head to the side, eyeing me up and down. “You fell for him, didn’t you?” If I wasn’t mistaken, there was a hint of pity in his eyes.

I nodded, taking a shuddering breath.

“Stupid.”

I gritted my teeth, knowing he wouldn’t respond well to anger. But I wasn’t above begging. Not when it came to protecting Quentin. “I don’t know what happened between you, but I’m begging you. As your friend, please let it go. I’ll pay you. I’ll make sure you don’t have to work a day in your life. Please.”

Conrad’s shoulders squared, and with an almost sad look, he said, “On Friday, when Quentin returns, plant this in his office.” He passed me a folder.

I stared at it, trying to hide the shake of my fingers on the card stock. “What is this?”

“Something that will make him pay for the mistakes of his past.”

“What mistakes?” I asked, hating the genuine spark of curiosity in me. What secrets was Quentin keeping? What lies had he been telling? It was horrible of me, but I almost hoped Quentin had been dishonest in some way because it would make my own lies more forgivable.

“All will be revealed in due time,” Conrad said confidently.

I put the envelope back on the desk, uncertain. “I’m going to need a little more than that to commit a crime, Con.” I hoped the nickname would appeal to him, remind him we used to be friends, no matter how impossible that seemed now.

“I’ve helped you commit fraud for years,” he argued. “You’re already a criminal.”

“I’m not a fraud,” I protested, but he cut me off.

“Not a fraud? You’ve lied to every single client we’ve had when you allowed me to act as the man in charge when you pulled the puppet strings while pretending to be a common maid.” He sneered in disgust. “You and I aren’t any different, aside from the fact that I’m handing a guilty man over to the police and you’re conning innocent people while your employees unknowingly take the risk.”

All the confidence I had built up before coming in fell over like a house of cards in a gust of wind. What if Conrad was right about me? Had I only gotten to this level by lying to everyone? I thought I’d been doing right, but maybe I was wrong.

Either way, I needed to tell Quentin the truth and find a way to get Conrad out of my business before I was forced to rebuild from the ashes all over again.

45 Quentin

The five of us were locked in an escape room, the clock ticking down while my skin crawled at being locked in an enclosed space, surveilled by the teenage boy on staff who hardly knew how to shave. I didn’t exactly trust him to get us out of here if we failed.

Bryce, who loved puzzling out a riddle, was pacing back and forth along the wall, looking at symbols and muttering something about patterns while Jude sat bored in a chair.

Cruz flipped through a magazine on one of the end tables like the clues might be inside, but I’m pretty sure he was just avoiding everyone. This game was the opposite of fun.

Even Aaric was finally showing signs of his stress, jaw clenched, tendrils of hair falling loose from his bun. When his phone rang in his pocket, we all jumped. Bryce strode toward him, saying, “Is it the girls?”

“No.” Aaric frowned at the screen and held it to his ear. “Hello?”

From the speaker in the corner, a nasally voice said, “No phones.”

Aaric held up his finger. “Rei, are you injured?...Ill?”

My heart clenched. “Rei?” I moved closer, legs feeling like cinder blocks.