Ellie
Fifteen minutes later I step into my apartment, my mind set on getting Jack’s backup laptop as quickly as I can. I need to dig a little deeper into the financial affairs Jack’s been keeping from me before I confront him about any of it. The apartment is quiet, untouched. I miss it. My heart clenches with the desire to just go back tobefore.Before everything got complicated and I realized that nothing in my life is what it seems. I set my bag down on the side table and move in the direction of Jack’s office when I hear it.
“Babe—” a feminine giggle echoes down my hallway.
I turn my head just in time to see my husband come around the corner. Aubrey trails after him wearing just a lacy bra and thong underwear.
“Oh my God.” They both whip around at my words. Jack’s face falls like he’s seen a ghost. Aubrey tries to cover herself with my husband’s body but the damage is already done.
“El—” Jack stammers but remains frozen.
“Are you okay?” Aubrey’s eyes hang heavy on mine, almost like she’s genuinely concerned.
“I was until you walked out with my husband looking like that,” I snap. Aubrey opens her mouth and then closes it again, like a fish gasping for air. I lean a hip against the table, crossing my arms and then letting a dark smile cross my face.
“I can explain, El—” Jack begins.
“I doubt that.”
Jack’s eyes hang heavy with mine. The silence throbs like a heartbeat between us.
“This isn’t what it looks like, El—” Aubrey begins. I cut my cold gaze to hers. “Just hear me out–I promise it will all make sense.”
“No. No it won’t.” A growl that’s practically feral leaves my lips. “I had a feeling after I saw you both at The Peninsula the other night—”
“No—” Aubrey interrupts me.
“Get out.” I seethe. “Both of you, get the fuck out of my life.”
“El—it’s not that simple.”
“It is. I can’t look at either of you right now.” My heart hammers wildly. “Everything suddenly makes so much more sense.”
“Does it?” Jack asks.
I bite down on my bottom lip to stop myself from crying. “How long has this been going on?”
Jack shakes his head, words caught in his throat. Aubrey glances down at the floor, shame blossoming crimson on her cheeks. “Perfect, just fucking perfect,” I say to Jack. “You carry on right under my nose for who knows how long, and then you’re too much of a fucking coward to tell me how long you’ve been playing me?”
My rage reaches a fever pitch and I throw the nearest thing within distance at his head. One of the engraved pens my father gave to employees as Christmas gifts last year whips across theroom. My aim is bad, so it bounces off the fridge just above his head. He ducks anyway, cringes, and then latches onto Aubrey’s hand and drags her down the hallway.
“Get out of my house!” I shriek after them. I feel like a fool. I should have listened to my instincts and confronted them the other night at The Peninsula, but then, what good would that have done?
I’m still shaking with rage when Aubrey slinks out of my front door a minute later, refusing to even look at me. Jack returns to the kitchen as soon as Aubrey’s left.
“Please, will you let me explain? Let’s just be rational about this, El.”
“Fine. You can start by explaining why my dad is paying you all of this money from an offshore account.”
Jack’s gaze falls to the file clutched in my hand. “Oh, you noticed that?”
“Sure did.” I widen my eyes, challenging him to try to explain this.
“I was helping your dad with a sensitive case,” he says, taking a few steps forward.
“Don’t—stay right there. Don’t come any closer.” I hold up a hand.
“El—”
