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“Carson,” Wellsby said, “I implore you not to respond to such an outrageous—”
Dempsey held up his hand to cut him off; then he smiled. She wanted to throw up or maybe spring across that fancy-ass stone coffee table between them and rip that smile right off his condescending face.
“Why would I have someone following you, Ms.O’Sullivan? I know where you live and work. Who your friends and family are. I know who you sleep with. What else is there to know about such a pathetic life?”
Next to her, Houser stiffened.
Finley only smiled. “I get what you’re saying, since I also know every single thing about you and your life. You live in this palace like aking, but you are nothing but a sad little crime boss whose wife left him and son was murdered for being a womanizing piece of shit.”
Dempsey’s smile fell.
Wellsby shot to his feet and sputtered and stuttered.
Houser put his hand on Finley’s arm and squeezed. All the while her gaze remained locked with Dempsey’s.
Like a conductor leading an orchestra, Dempsey held up his hand once more, and Wellsby shut up, though he did not resume his seat next to his client.
“Gentlemen,” Dempsey said, “Ms.O’Sullivan and I need a moment.”
“Carson,” Wellsby roared, “you cannot do this.” His glower shifted to Finley. “And, Ms.O’Sullivan, you know very well that if you speak to him alone—without counsel present—anything you hear is not admissible in court.”
“I have no problem with that,” Finley said. “Everything I have to say about Carson Dempsey and his activities related to the murder of my husband are already on record. I have no additions. Anything I hear today will not change that.”
Wellsby looked to Houser. “You are witness to this inappropriate decision by both parties.”
Houser looked to Finley. “Are you sure this is what you want to do?”
“Abso-fucking-lutely,” she muttered, her gaze still fixed on Dempsey.
Houser stood. “I am a witness,” he said with heavy reluctance.
The two exited the room.
Dempsey’s smile returned. “After all this time, here we are.”
Finley didn’t smile. She said nothing. She’d already asked her question.
“Do you have any idea what it feels like to lose a child?”
Finley remained silent. She would give him nothing.
He chuckled. “Perhaps one of these days you will.”
Fury pounded against her chest. She gritted her teeth to hold back the words she wanted to fling at him. It didn’t require a great deal of imagination to know he had video surveillance throughout this place. She would be a fool not to assume so. She would give him nothing to use against her or with which to entertain himself.
“I have no one following you. I no longer have any reason to wish you ill. There is nothing worse you can do to me. Nothing that would drive the stake deeper into my heart.”
“Then why is he following me? The MO is the same as the three who previously made the mistake of getting in my way.” The memory of blood splattering on her face ... blood smeared down the front of her shirt flashed through her brain. She blinked it away.
“Derrick Reed—your husband—made many enemies during his time in Nashville. As you know, he lied and did whatever else necessary to get the job done. In fact, he lied to you from the day he met you until the day he bled to death on the floor of that shithole where you live.”
She steeled herself against the second blast of rage that fired through her bones. Her entire being longed to attack him, to tear out his evil eyes and bludgeon his head until his warped brain ceased to function and oozed out his ears like slime. But then she’d be the one spending the rest of her life in prison. She needed it to be him.
“Keep that image close,” she said. “Maybe it’ll comfort you through all those lonely nights in prison, because you’re going to be there for the rest of your life.”
“You know,” he said with a laugh, “I could sense that he really didn’t want to get close to you when I first mentioned it. He certainly didn’t want to marry you, but he did everything I asked, just as I asked.”
Derrick had done exactly that. If Dempsey hoped to hurt her somehow with this retelling, he was wasting his time. She had already suffered through all the doubts and the questions about her marriage and life with Derrick. She knew what he had done, and more importantly, she knew why. She had forgiven him for both.
