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“That’s the same conversation I had with him at your party that night. He said it wasn’t good enough. He didn’t want just access to your money; he wanted your father’s company, and he knew that he’d get your majority shares if you died, along with your money. All of the extra life insurance policies show his greed. Why the fuck would you need an additional thirty million or whatever it totals to when you’re set to inherit billions?”
“All of this for money.” She wipes at her eyes. “What about his business deal that went bad?”
“It existed, yes, but he wouldn’t have killed himself over it. His deal with Tokyo fell through. They backed out.”
“And you stuck around now to what—ease your conscience for hiding all of this and killing him? Or was it to keep me quiet? Make sure I didn’t talk if I found out?”
“No,” I say confidently, although I’m sure she won’t believe me. “It was never about easing my conscience.”
“You didn’t answer how this benefited you? You could have stopped this, stopped him, but you didn’t.” She stares at me coldly. “What did he have on you?”
“Nothing.”
“I know you, Mads. You wouldn’t just volunteer to be someone’s little lapdog and do their bidding unless they had you by the balls, so what was it? What did he have on you if you weren’t acting out of guilt?”
I’m nobody’s fucking lapdog and the insinuation that I was Dane’s sends my blood pressure through the roof. I contemplate just telling her the reason and getting it over with, but now isn’t the time. I ignore her biting comments. “I meant what I said to you in the past about my actions and behavior. I don’t feel guilt for the things I said to you while he was alive, and I certainly don’t feel guilty for killing him. He deserved it.”
She huffs, “Because of you. This is all your fault, you know. You didn’t just ruin my life; you ruined his too. We had a good life,” she says through a broken sob, her hands clutching at her chest. “An amazing life and you took that from me!”
“I didn’t ruin your life, Em. I merely shattered the illusion that you were living in a dream, when in reality, it was a nightmare. You just didn’t perceive the danger.”
“No, you introduced him to me. You did this, Mads.” She points her finger at me.
Her words hit me like a bullet and I know she’s right. It’s the truth I’ve been running from, the sand I’ve been burying my head in has all but disappeared.
“I guess you’re right. I’m the bad guy after all.” I sink back into the chair, my legs outstretched before me. “For what it’s worth, I never thought it would come to this when it all started. I truly believed that he would fall in love with you along the way and this secret would die with him and me. I didn’t realize his greed consumed him.”
“Is that why you stayed in our lives? To try and atone for your actions?”
“No.”
“Then why? Why stay and torture me? Why stay when you clearly hated me? Because from the outside, it seems like you resented me, like you were angry at Dane for marrying me. You can see it in your eyes in our wedding photos; you looked miserable. You went out of your way to make it clear that you hated me with him.”
I lean forward, leveling my eyes on her. “I never stayed because of guilt or atonement or whatever the fuck you want to call it and I never hated you. Part of the anger you saw from me was because I did feel guilty for setting you up with him. I was angry at myself and at him. I hated myself for doing that. I knew you deserved better, but that guilt I felt years ago didn’t keep me around.”
“And the other part?”
I stare at her for a moment. “The other part of me stayed because it was the only way I could keep you in my life. As fucked up as it all is—” I stand up, walking to the window.Now isn’t the time for this confession, but fuck it.
I take in a deep breath. I told her I won’t hold back so I don’t. “I stayed because I’m in love with you and selfishly, I couldn’t walk away from you. I didn’t want to.”
The room goes silent. I can hear her shaky breath, but I don’t turn around to look at her until she speaks again.
“Are you walking away now?”
“No. You’re mine.”
“What if I don’t want to be yours?”
I turn back around, steadying my gaze on her as I step closer, reaching my hand out to touch her chin softly. “You don’t have a choice, Emery. My job is to protect you, to keep you safe.”
“Ah.” She looks away. “An obligation you created. So now I’m trading one captor for another.”
“You’re not being held captive.”
“Aren’t I though? You keep me around because you’re in love with me and now my world and entire life has been completely destroyed by you. You created all of this and now I’m trapped. I can’t leave. You just said I didn’t have a choice and you’re not going to let me run away. You’re afraid I’ll tell everyone your secret.”
“Look at me.” My voice is gruff. “I don’t give a fuck if you tell the world that I killed Dane. If I go away to prison forever, I’ll go quietly knowing you’re safe. That’s all that matters to me.” I square my shoulders toward her, leaning down. “But if you think you don’t want to be mine, you’re a fucking liar. We both know it’s what you’ve always wanted. What you’ve always fought against when you knew you shouldn’t want me.” I run the pad of my thumb over her bottom lip. “We both know you’re going to have my babies.”
