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“Yes. I went to the office to confront him and that’s what I was told.”
“Interesting.”
“You threatened him so he wouldn’t come to the wedding. Right?” I slowly lifted my head, studying his eyes.
“Yes, Stephanie. I had my reasons and as I told you before, I did you a favor.”
“And I told you before that I had already decided to end our caustic relationship. I should have been allowed that chance.”
“He wasn’t a good man, Stephanie. I have reason to believe he helped Sergei escape.” He studied me carefully as if that would shock me, half laughing when I nodded.
“If that’s the case, then the money he earned is in a bank account with my name on it.” I finally took a gulp of my drink, grateful the slight burn soothed my nerves.
“That is a distinct possibility.”
“He betrayed me,” I said with shockingly no emotion. “And I’m not talking about just with women.” When he turned his head slowly to look at me, I laughed, bringing the glass to my lips. “I told you, Alexei. I’m no fool.”
“I never said you were,l’vitsa. But that does require an answer to a question. Why did you agree to marry him?”
Before I answered, I tossed back the rest of my drink, grabbing the bottle for a second, which wasn’t like me at all. “He was there when some pretty toxic things happened in my life. He was my mentor at the firm. I don’t have a real answer, Alexei. Perhaps I just allowed it to happen because I thought that’s the way relationships worked. Although that’s not at all the way my parents were.”
“What happened to them?”
“A car accident. They were driving on an icy road and crashed down an embankment.”
“I’m sorry.”
“That’s the way fate works.”
“Tell me about your sister.”
His request finally brought a level of emotion I wasn’t prepared for. “Leave her out of our conversation. She has nothing to do with this… shit and means nothing to you.” I was shrill, unable to control my labored breathing. Almost instantly, tears formed in my eyes. When he walked closer, easing down onto the couch, I wanted to push him away, but I couldn’t. He remained quiet, allowing me to collect myself without interference. I wiped my eyes after a few seconds, staring down into the glass. “She was murdered. I was devastated. They never captured her killer.”
“That’s why you went into law.”
I rubbed my face, trying to shove aside the memories. “Yes. I changed my major. I just… I guess a small part of me wanted to find her killer. I know that’s crazy, but I owed her that. She was so innocent, a flower ready to bud.”
“I am so sorry.”
“You looked into my life,” I muttered.
“Yes.”
“Because you couldn’t trust me.”
“Because I needed to know the truth.”
I was sick inside, so much so I jerked to my feet, walking away from him. “You really thought I concocted some crazy plan with Gregory of all people? That’s just… crazy.” I closed my eyes, recounting the number of time red flags had raised. “I knew something was wrong months ago, but I just couldn’t put my finger on what. Is there any way to trace where the money came from?”
He took a deep breath. “Possibly, but it will take time.”
“I need to talk to the son of a bitch.”
“We’ll consider it.”
“We,” I whispered, looking down into my glass.
He refilled his glass, slamming the bottle onto the table with a hard thud. “Tell me about the threat Sergei made.”
