Not a fucking word.
Scarlett Dane
CHAPTER XL
I sit at a long metal table with my hands folded right where they can see.
Look, I’m not shaking. There are no nerves for you to pick and prey upon.
“You know why you’re here today, Scarlett. I don’t need to repeat that. You’ve heard it enough. So, tell us.”
“Tell you what?” I ask, rolling my green eyes to the handsome detective Rubio.
He smiles.
They always smile. That’s because deep down, even the most noble man will swell from the attention of a pretty girl. It’s in their nature to fall into temptation.
“The truth.”
How many times am I going to have to repeat myself?I understand they want something on Theodore, something that will stick, but shit, try something new.
My dad is so much better at this.
“I already told you the truth, Detective Rubio. Mr. Ellis never did anything to me. He never said anything to me. He was never anything but kind… loving. He didn’t hurt me, and he didn’t hurt his wife.”
“Well, what about you, Scarlett?” Winslow asks, folding her hands in front of her chest. “Did you hurt Mrs. Ellis?”
“Why would I do that?” I ask, tongue in cheek while I spear her with a glare.
“Because she has what you want.” Women like games. It’s in our nature to test people, to see how far we can push before the other cracks. That’s what Winslow is doing. She’s playing a game with me, rubbing Beth’s status in my face with glee, hoping it’ll split an invisible wound open.
I struggle not to laugh at her pitiful attempt.
Well, I can play too.
Silly woman, doesn’t she know I only bleed for Theodore?
Game on, bitch.
“I have everything I could ever want,” I respond, allowing a tender smile to grace my lips.
“But do you?” she probes, drawing out her question in an overly slow tone. Her patronizing gets under my skin, but I force my walls high. She isn’t getting the best of me.
“I do.”
“Well, I could see why you would think that with the little fling you had with Mr. Ellis, but let’s be honest, Scarlett, that’s all you had,” she says, tsking. “Elizabeth has the home, the ring, the life…the man. She has everything, and all you had was a moment.”
Had.
Elizabethhadthe life. Shehadthe man. But he’s mine now, regardless of what anyone thinks. All Elizabeth had,it’s mine. Sure, she can keep the ring. It was promised until death, anyway.
“All I wanted was a moment, Detective Winslow. I’m going off to college in a few months. I plan on having a lot ofmomentsuntil I’m ready for something serious.”
“Where are you going?” Rubio asks, diverting the conversation in a new direction.
“The University of California, Los Angeles. I got early acceptance into their Fine Arts program.”
That gives them a pause. For a long, tense minute, both detectives stare at me with sudden clarity. Their looks are gone in the next second, but the sensation in my gut lingers. I want to ask what their expression means, but then questions pick up again before I can.
