AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“She went to Sara and Chris Merit’s apartment.”
“Of course. The one place I can’t get to her, and she knows it.” I scrub my jaw. “At least she’s safe. Get me answers. I can’t go to her and make my case without answers.”
“I hack that report daily. It hasn’t been input yet.”
“You have mercury now. Connect the dots.”
“If he believed that connected the dots, he wouldn’t have given it to her.”
“Connect the fucking dots.” I hang up and dial Abel.
“Hey hoe, what the fuck is up?”
“I don’t care whose house you have to go to or what you have to do, but you get me those autopsy reports.”
“She knows.”
“Yes. She knows. Get me the reports.” I hang up.
My phone rings, and it’s Chris Merit. “What the hell did you do, man?”
“It’s not what it seems, and I’m not going to explain that to you. All I will say is that I love her. I love her the way you love Sara. I ordered her a ring. I bought an apartment to customize a studio for her.”
“Well, I’m not an advice kind of guy, and she’s not saying anything other than you betrayed her in an unforgivable way.”
“I didn’t cheat. I knew who she was before I met her and didn’t tell her. At the time, I didn’t plan on fucking her, let alone falling in love with her. And that’s all I’m saying.”
“Fair enough. What’s your move?”
“What I want to do is pick her up, tie her to my bed, and make her stay until she listens.”
“You do that and you had better have a way to justify lying to her, because this cuts deep. She’s not good, Nick. You hurt her. You hurt her bad.”
“I know. And that guts me.”
“Get your ducks in a row and give her some time to process.”
“Right. Time. A barbaric form of torture.”
We end the call, and I say “fuck you” to time and waiting. I text Faith:Your uncle set me up. It’s not what it seems. I love you. I want to marry you, Faith. Please talk to me.
I get an error message. She’s blocked me.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Faith
The first night without Nick…
I lay in Chris and Sara’s spare bedroom, staring at the ceiling, an invisible knife carving holes in my heart. I replay the conversation I had with Bill, and the implications. And then I replay the conversation with Nick, how sincere he sounded. God. I’m a fool. And he’s such a good liar. Everything he did felt real. We felt real.
I have no place to live. I need an apartment and clothes. I have no clothes. I don’t have a car. At Nick’s recommendation, I gave both of the cars to Kasey. Nick made me dependent on our life together. I roll to my side and tell myself not to cry. He’s not worth it. I don’t cry. I won’t cry for him. But somehow my cheeks are wet.
…
The first Monday and my first morning without Nick…
I wake up to coffee and Chris and Sara. Watching them together is both beautiful and salt in an open wound. An hour later, I arrive at Allure with Sara, wearing Sara’s jeans, my own boots, and her Allure T-shirt. We have interviews today for several staff members, and that means no time for self-pity. I dive in and get to work. By midmorning, my new agent has sold every piece I had in the L.A. Forum for thirty thousand apiece. Even the painting of Nick, which kind of guts me, but it’s probably for the best. I have this instinctive urge to call and tell Nick, and that guts me, too. And so I don’t tell anyone, not even Sara. I refocus on what’s important. I have a great agent, a great job, and money, which is suddenly important, since I need new everything. It’s a relief. I call a realtor.
