“Where have you been?” she asked without turning.
I didn’t want to tell her yet, not until I had the solid proof I was looking for. Mattia’s contact at the hospital said he’d send me the accident records with Gabi’s alcohol test results by noon.
“I’ll tell you in a few hours. I may or may not have a nice surprise for you.” I went over to her, missing her face. “I just want you to know that I love you and I trust you.”
“Drop the act, Mr. Zappa. Nobody is watching anymore. The show is over. Really over this time.”
“Gabi, please don’t do this.”
She took a shaky breath as her bloodshot gaze darted at me. The black shadows under her eyes gave her sadness an intensity that cut through me. “I know exactly where you’ve been, and I know about your surprise.”
“You do? How?”
“Fletcher was here.”
“What? Why? What the fuck did he want?” I hated this. I hated that she was alone when he dared come here. How did he know about the only day I wasn’t here so he’d corner her like that?
She gave me a look I couldn’t understand. “Your boss was here to tell me about the surprise himself.”
“You’re not making any sense, Gabriella. What are you talking about? What did Fletcher do?”
“You think you reach a certain age when you can’t be fooled anymore, but I was wrong. I’ve always thought I was smart, smarter than Fletcher, but… His weapon was lethal sharp. A brilliant actor. It wasn’t you that should be blamed, though. You were just doing your job. It was my fault. I don’t know what I was thinking trusting a fucking whore.”
“Is this how you think you’re gonna push me away? Think again because I’m not going anywhere.” I held her arms. “I love you, Gabriella.”
She jerked out of my grip. “Is that why you told Fletcher about my dirty little secret?”
My eyes popped out. “What?!”
“I’ve never told anyone.” Her voice was breaking, shattering me with it, as tears blurred in her eyes. “Not a single soul but you. And you go and tell Fletcher of all people. He’ll take everything with me on the side. He might even put me in jail if he wants. Have you thought about that? Of course not. You were just doing your job. I was nothing but a job.”
Fury and fear raced through me with equal speed. My fists clenched so hard I could no longer feel my fingers. “Gabi, you have to believe me. I’ve never seen Fletcher in my whole life except for the times he was in the same room with you. I didn’t tell him anything. I’d never tell anyone anything. This morning I was at the hospital they took you to the night of the accident. I wanted to get your alcohol test to prove to you you weren’t drunk, and it was just an accident that wasn’t your fault.”
She chuckled a humorless sound. “How chivalrous.”
“It’s the truth.”
“The truth is you’ve been Fletcher’s spy all along. All this was an act he paid you for to deliver my head to him on a silver plate. Starting with Rina’s deal. You told him the details about our contract with her so he’d counter it. He couldn’t have been that precise without help. Except you were too good of an actor, so convincing with your role that it backfired, and she didn’t believe Fletcher’s performance when he tried to pull the exact same stunt you pulled on her.
“Then you kept going until you got the scoop. The blow that will knock me down dead.”
I threw my hands in the air, not knowing how to make her believe me, but she had to believe me. “I swear on my daughter’s life I’ve never worked for Fletcher and never told anybody anything about work or the accident. Gabriella, I want a life with you. Why would I deliver you to another man? A piece of shit fucker like Fletcher?”
“Money!”
“No! I didn’t do it. You have to believe me.”
“He has a recording of our last conversation. Unless there was a ghost in the apartment, recording us while you were holding me, stroking my hair, squeezing every word out of my mouth to give to my enemy, no one else could have done it but you.”
What in the actual fuck? How? I ran both my hands in my hair, my head about to explode. “There has to be another explanation. Please, Gabi, I’m begging you. Please just—”
“Trust you? You filthy, disgusting bitch,” she seethed. “How much did he pay you? Just for the kicks, how much was my worth?”
“Gabi…”
“Get the fuck out.”
“No.”
