you might have been able to keep your legs closed for him.”
I gasp, as if he’s punched me in the stomach. “What ... why ...” I can’t bring myself to ask him what business this is of his because I’m still reeling from his words.
Jamie, talking to me, like this, is unheard of. He jabs a finger in my direction. “You can’t help yourself. Any man who pays you any attention, and you lose the ability to think.”
I open my mouth. Then close my eyes. He’s thinking of Dale, but this is different. “This is different. This isn’t what you think.”
“He’s Ward Maddox. He’s supposed to be a recluse. How did you manage to ensnare him?”
His accusations bring tears to my eyes. I’m as hurt by his words as I am by his tone. The man I thought was my friend, is speaking to me with so much venom.
Even you, I think to myself. It’s bad enough having a lover cheat on you and hurt me the way Dale did, but I never imagined my good friend would hurt me.
“Do you know what he did to his girlfriend?”
I cock my head, certain that I didn’t hear right. “His girlfriend?”
“He killed her.”
I feel a double hit to my body, to my stomach and my chest. I struggle to breathe. “No ... that’s not true ...”
It’s not true. It can’t be.
“You said she died in mysterious circumstances.”
“It came down to her word against his, and she’s dead.” Jamie slams down his coffee cup.
“But … I checked. I … I couldn’t find anything.” I checked once, and I didn’t find much on him. I would definitely have remembered something like this.
“He’s a powerful man. It’s all buried.”
“It would have come out.”
“It’s his word against ...” Jamie turns his hand, palmside up, as if asking me to dispute this further.
I refuse to believe it. “Ward wouldn’t. He’s not capable of such a thing.” I might not know everything about him, but I know he wouldn’t do something like this.
“He’s messed up in the head, Mari. Deep down you know it.”
“That’s not true. You don’t know what sort of a childhood he’s had.”
“He got sent away from his parents, because he smacked his dad’s face so hard, his jaw cracked.”
My mouth opens. No way. This is a lie. It didn’t happen like this.
“You’re in bed with a monster. Only someone like you would find someone to fuck, even when you should have known better.”
He rushes off, then comes back. “Tell him I had to go.”
The door slams hard and I Ward appears. I’ve been standing comatose for goodness knows how long. “Where’s Jamie?” he asks, looking around. I stare at his face, Jamie’s allegations fresh in my mind.
“Mari?”
“He ... he... he said he had to go. Something came up.”
Ward scratches his head. “That’s a shame. I rushed to get finished.”
“You can do a workout by yourself,” I tell him, even as doubts and worries screech around in my head. There is so much I don’t know about this man. At first I thought it was because he was an introvert, wanting to keep to himself, but now I wonder if it’s because he has much to hide.
Chapter 43
WARD
“I’ve told you about Dale,” she says, sipping from a glass of water. We’ve had dinner, sitting at the kitchen island, and now we’re having our end of day discussion. “Tell me about your former lovers.”
Not again.
She takes my hand, entwines her fingers in my hand, moves her stool a little closer.
“Why do you want to know?”
She sounds exasperated. “Because you know all about me.” She volunteered that information. I hated her last boyfriend, but maybe because of him, I got to meet her.
“Some people are closed books,” I say, kissing her hand. “While some of us can be read as easily as a Dr. Seuss book.” I raise an eyebrow and smile.
“You take that back,” she says, laughing. “I am not easy to read.”
“If that’s what you want to believe, you can.” She told me. It was as if she wanted to get it all out of her system. He sounded like a bastard boyfriend. I’m glad he’s her ex now. She deserves better, and I want to try and be that someone better.
“You’ve always said you like to be alone, and you prefer your own company, so I want to know. How long?”
“How long what?”
“How long ago have your past relationships been?”
She’s not going to give up. We had this a few weeks ago, but she’s