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“There isn’t. Max swept the entire area for camera footage, but there weren’t any near the house. It’s one of the reasons I chose that neighborhood,” Lorenzo interjects, confirming my suspicion that he was the one responsible for overseeing my move. God, I love him so much.
“Even if there were, it’s all circumstantial, Mia. I think we focus our efforts on convincing your ex-brother-in-law to let this thing go. There’s no evidence to connect you to a murder or even a disappearance. Unless there’s something else you haven’t told us.”
“Not about that, no.”
Nathan frowns. “Is there something else we should know?”
I fidget in my seat. “I-I’m not sure it’s relevant.”
Lorenzo narrows his eyes at me. “It’s relevant, Mia.”
I swallow hard. I never wanted him to know about this. Oh god. Will he hate me now? “I…Jake and I…” Every muscle in Lorenzo’s body goes rigid. “We had an affair,” I whisper, overcome with shame.
Lorenzo rubs his free hand over his beard and sighs.
“When was this?” Drake asks.
“About f-four years ago.”
“Did Brad know?” Nathan probes.
I steal a glance at Lorenzo, but his eyes are closed.
“God no. He would’ve killed him. It only lasted about three months.” I swallow the huge knot of shame and guilt that sticks in my throat. “He knew what Brad was like. He would sometimes come see me when Brad was working a double. One time, after a bad e-episode…”
“Episode?” Drake asks with a frown.
“After that piece of shit beat the fuck out of her,” Lorenzo answers for me, his voice rough with anger.
“Y-yeah. Well, Jake came over and helped me get cleaned up. He took care of me, and it had been so long since anyone had been so nice to me…”
I swear I can taste Lorenzo’s rage. He vibrates with fury. I keep tight hold of his hand, refusing to let him go, and he makes no attempt to pull away.
“He kissed me, and well…” I don’t want to say the words out loud in front of Lorenzo and these two smartly dressed lawyers. “We were together a few times after that.”
“Who ended it?” Drake asks.
“I did.”
“Why?” He probes further, and Lorenzo mutters a curse.
“I was scared we’d get caught. I didn’t really like him that way. It was just nice to be taken care of after, you know?” I take a long drink of my water, and when I glance up again, I want to hide from the looks of pity I’m getting from Drake and Nathan.
“You’re a hell of a woman, Mia.” Nathan smiles and shakes his head. “I’m surprised you didn’t kill that fucker way before you did.”
Drake snorts. “I would have.”
“Mia doesn’t believe in violence,” Lorenzo adds quietly. “She feels guilty about ending that twisted fuck’s life.”
Nathan frowns at me. “It was you or him though, right?”
“I guess so,” I admit.
“That’s self-defense, not murder. Had Lorenzo not protected you by disposing of the body and getting you out of that house, I still would have had you out within twenty-four hours.”
“He’s right,” Drake agrees. “But right now, we need to deal with Jake and the added complication of him maybe still having some kind of torch for you. Did he take the break-up well?”
Recalling that awful day, I shake my head. “He was furious. He threatened to kill me. Then tell Brad and all my friends what a whore I was.”
