Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 70518 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70518 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
“Jesus.” Kon’s expression was a mix of worry and anger.
“Yeah. I was in shock, to be honest. I wanted to continue a deep dive into all his files, but he was coming back the next day and I couldn’t risk it.”
I remembered that night so well. Instead of sleeping, I’d stared at the ceiling for hours, sick over what Nate had done and thinking about how I stupidly would have gone on about life without knowing if I’d never seen that check and looked into it.
I blew out a breath, just thinking about it making my stomach tense into a knot.
“I had copies of what I’d found, but I needed more time. I decided to go on about life like I didn’t know anything had happened and bide my time until I could check his phone when he was in the shower sometime and go through his paper files more thoroughly.”
“Why?” Kon looked at me like I was crazy. “Why didn’t you get the hell out of there?”
“I didn’t have anything concrete connecting the man he’d paid the $25,000 to. I thought it was likely he had paid that guy to kill the policyholder so he could collect on the policy, but I didn’t have proof.” I set my fork down, suddenly not hungry. “That man was only forty-eight years old. He was a husband and a father. They didn’t just lose him, they got screwed out of the insurance settlement that was rightfully theirs. I wanted to do right by them.”
Kon reached across the table and took my hand. “I understand.”
“What I didn’t know is that Nate has a silent alarm on that locked drawer in his office,” I said flatly. “So he knew I’d been in it. He confronted me about it at home and…” I looked away, tears forming in my eyes. “I tried to lie my way out of it, but I couldn’t. He tried to justify what he did, said he needed the money to keep the office afloat, but it was a lie. The office was fine. Then he tried to bring me in on it. Told me that we could have ten million within a year and then disappear somewhere together.”
Kon’s eyes were wide with disbelief. “I had no idea it was…I am so sorry, Lucy. What did you say?”
I smiled. “I told him to go fuck himself. I realize now I should have played along until I could get out of there, but in that moment, I was…enraged. I hated him for being such a monster and I hated myself for being with him.”
“You did nothing wrong,” Kon said softly.
“I know, but…anyway, he ended up choking me.”
Kon bowed his head.
We fought and I seriously thought he might kill me. I ended up pushing the button to trigger the home security system, which automatically calls the police. It’s set up so that the 9-1-1 operator calls Nate’s phone immediately, and if he doesn’t answer, the police come to the house. So while he was on the phone trying to convince them everything was fine, I got out.”
“And you never went back, right?”
I shook my head. “No. I borrowed some clothes and shoes from a friend and gave her some money to buy my bus ticket here. I have copies of everything and I planned to have them mailed to three different news reporters if anything ever happens to me. It’s not that I mind him getting in trouble, but he told me that if anyone finds out about anything, he’ll…” I swallowed hard, tears pooling in my eyes. “Have my mom and her sister killed.”
“My god, Lucy.” Kon scrubbed his hands down his face.
“So now you know,” I said, my voice breaking with emotion.
He squeezed my hand, not saying anything. Not telling me everything was going to be okay. Just being there with me in the moment.
And I loved him for it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Kon
My weekend with Lucy was one of the best I’d ever spent with a woman. I’d had practice, but other than that, it was just the two of us. Talking, making love, just being together. We’d opened up about our pasts, creating a level of intimacy I’d never had with anyone else. Things would have been perfect if not for the fact that a criminal was after her, making her want to disappear. Not just from him, but from her entire life. Whether she took off for Europe or lived off the grid somewhere in the US, her future couldn’t include me if she was on the run.
It had been a long time since I’d felt the urge to hurt someone. Sure, I’d wanted to pound the living shit out of Keegan, but that was different. Kicking a guy’s ass or getting into fights on the ice was different than the rage that had fueled me the night I’d killed Dmitri. And my need to protect Lucy from the men threatening her brought it all back.