Olivier exhales slowly. We believe what we want to believe. “Okay. Go home. Act like you never left. And whatever you do, don’t call me.”
“What if—” I start. There’s so much I want to ask. So many ways this could go wrong.
“No,” he says, his hand wrapping tighter around mine. “You cannotcall me. As far as anybody knows, you’re my wife’s sister. We barely know each other, all right?”
I nod. I’ll be rich and we’ll be together. He’s doing this for me. “I love you. I trust you.”
He kisses me one more time and gets up. “I’ll see you soon, okay?”
Without looking back, he walks out into the night, jumps over the small fence, and disappears.
Chapter 28
Olivier
Now
By the time I’m walking through Bhotel’s service entrance and up the stairs, my confidence has fizzled. I’m not a violent person. Except for that one time my brother and I got into a fight—he started it—I’ve never hit anyone in my life, never even got into those war video games. I’m a good guy, I just made a mistake—several mistakes. Fine, too many mistakes. But I can still make them right. Thérèse and I could technically move here. Though of course, the tax office would find out soon enough. They’d come at me. Them and everyone else. It’d take a lifetime to pay it all back. Meanwhile, Cassie is sitting on a fortune. Shouldn’t Reese have a right tosomething? The house, at the very least.
The moment I open the door to the suite, I know something is off. First, the light is on. A suitcase, Cassie’s, is stashed by the entrance. I lift it up. It’s full. It was on the floor by the bed when I left, so Cassie must have packed it. Cassie is awake. And then I notice something else: the pill bottle is no longer on the nightstand but on the dresser. In full view.
Before I can wonder where she is, the toilet flushes and then the faucet is turned on. A moment later, out comes Cassie, fully dressed. A little too alive. She looks pale and her hair is in disarray as she wipes her mouth withthe back of her hand, as if she threw up again.
When she notices me, the gasp that escapes her lips sounds like the howl of a dying animal.
I don’t have much time to think.
“How was your night?” I say.
I’m all smiles as I step farther into the room.
“I want to go home,” Cassie says quietly. “Please let me go home.”
She has nothing on me. She can’t prove it. I didn’t doanything. “What are you talking about, sweetie? We’re going home in three days.”
Not taking her eyes off me, she walks across the room and grabs her denim jacket from the back of the chair. “I’m going now.”
But I can’t let her. Moving quickly, I close the distance between us and reach for her hand. She flicks it off, which makes her jacket fall to the floor. Letting out a yelp, she bends down to pick it up.
“Let’s take a minute, okay?” I say. “Whatever is going on, I’m here for you, Cassie.” I need more time to think, to plan. I’m not giving up yet. Not the money, not Reese.
Cassie is shaking as she stands back up, but my focus soon shifts from her to the floor, where the jacket just was. Pieces of paper have spread all over the carpet.
My throat ties in a knot as I look closer. She takes the opportunity to make for the door and grab her suitcase.
I recognize the gold lettering now, the bits of my photograph. That bitch tore my passport to shreds.
“What did you do?” I ask, as the answer washes over me.
She’s leaving me. After everything I did, all the shit I put up with, she thinks she can get rid of me? Not so fast,babe. I don’t wait for her response and instead lunge toward the door, pressing against it. Cassie jerks back so hard her suitcase drops to the floor with a loud thump. This only makes her jump more.
“I called the lawyer,” she says, trying to sound calm but not doing a greatjob of it. “She knows our marriage is fake and that I want out.”
“Hold on a minute,” I say, going for my most soothing tone. “I feel like there’s been a misunderstanding. I want to be married to you, Cassie. I love you.”
I put on a smile and slowly go to sit on the edge of the bed, the one closest to the door.
“You tried to kill me,” she says, eyeing the exit. I let out a deranged laugh. “You drugged me. I was in the bath… I felt myself…go.”
