Page 20 of Till Death Do Us Part

“Vera—this is too expensive.”

She laughed, putting a hand on my lower back, and I jolted. It was just for appearances, but—my whole body reacted to the touch, to the quiet intimacy of the connection. I never thought someone would proudly claim me in public like this, even for an act. “Darling, I think you’re forgetting how well I get paid,” she said. “I’d buy you every ring in this store if you liked them, but you only have ten fingers.”

“Vera…”

The attendant laughed. “Would you like to try them on, ma’am?”

I swallowed. Vera whispered. “Say yes.”

“I… yes, please, sir, if that’s all right.”

My heart bled for a life I could have had when he gave us the rings and Vera held my hand, slipping it onto my finger. It gleamed beautifully in the light, and I felt tears stinging my eyes when the cold realization hit me.

If I’d kept living life the way I had been, this never would have happened. Nobody would have ever married me, not while I was working every hour to look after my family. I’d never have the money for even a twenty-dollar dress, let alone what Vera had paid for this. Even if I ever did get married, it would have been with paper rings and a courthouse wedding without a dollar more than what was needed to administer the vows.

My whole life, my whole future, all my hopes and dreams. My mother would never have let me have them. She’d stolen them from me when I was still a child, and I’d been sleepwalking through the wreckage telling myself it was just around the corner.

“Elaine?” Vera’s voice said softly, and I realized I was crying, tears flowing freely down my cheeks.

“It’s… it’s beautiful,” I choked, wiping my face. “It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever…”

Vera watched me a while longer before her expression softened, and she turned back to the attendant. “I think we’ve made a decision.”

He smiled warmly. “You’re both very lucky women.”

But I wasn’t that lucky, because the whole thing was just a dream, and I woke up not long after Vera had finished paying—all in cash, of course. The door opened, and a man came into the store behind us, making a show of going right to the watches and browsing, but Vera stiffened ever so slightly.

“Don’t react,” she whispered. “Whitecliff.”

“What?” My stomach dropped.

“No more time to waste. We have to see your family. Now.”

Chapter 9

glenn

Quayle was the strangest of the operatives in the entire family, and even I sometimes felt uneasy when he was in the room.

He was the only one who could kill as well as Vera could. But Vera seemed to have desensitized herself long ago to death, to the act of drawing blood.

Quayle did no such thing. Quayle enjoyed it. I suspected it was the only thing he did enjoy.

I was the only one who kept a straight face when the doors swung open and Quayle stepped into the library with us. He was a long, gaunt man with dark, slick hair that clung to his forehead like he was always sweaty, and he wore the same brown duster coat he always did, walking with his chest out like it was pulling him forward by a hook. My lieutenant Rand, who had been just a second ago boasting about his operation in the valley, went suddenly rigid, and the staff at the edges of the room also stiffened visibly at the sight.

“Quayle, you’re just in time,” I said. “Rand was just… reluctant on the operation, but I’m sure with two of us here, he’ll see reason.”

Quayle didn’t speak. He usually didn’t. Instead, he just inclined his head, sinking into the tall-backed armchair next to my desk, and Rand swallowed hard.

“Sir, it’s not that I intend to doubt your methods, but…”

“No, go on,” I said, leaning forward and folding my arms on the wood. “You were very eager to tell me your opinions. I do appreciate a confident personality… Lieutenant.”

He adjusted his collar, sitting up taller. “I just… wanted to… better understand the logic of your operation.”

That was more like it. I smiled at him, and I turned to the staff along the sides of the room. “Leave,” I said. “I wish for a private audience.”

They filtered out of the room in short order, a procession of them out the door until it was just me, Rand, and Quayle. Once the door was shut and locked, I levelled a smile at Rand.