Page 145 of The Quiet Witness

Inconvenient for a liar. She forced a half-shrug, eyes flitting over the road in front of her as she tried hard to keep the car going in a straight line. “When one’s life is at risk, you know…”

“I’d never let anything happen to you.”

She stilled.

Those seven words. The ones she’d been dying to hear.

Her mind whirled, bringing her back to the moments where she’d felt… safe in his presence. When they’d been dancing, his hand resting on the small of her back. Whirling her between the couples with effortless skill. The way he’d taught her to drive, mixing jokes with warmth so that she’d gotten the car running for the first time in her life.

Finally he’d said them. Warmth should have been flooding her chest, instead, the words left her feeling empty. Hearing the truth would be the only thing that would make her feel at home. Safe.

“Orange.” Lucien coughed beside her. It took a second for her to register, but she kicked the brakes, rolling into an abrupt stop in front of the glowing lights. Just in time. They both watched as a man, a pedestrian put up his middle finger toward her before walking on with his head shaking.

Lucien continued. “You know that, right?” She turned to him. No tapping of his fingers now. Nothing but seriousness etched into every line of his face.

The light still glowed red. Telling her to stop. Yet for all Lucien’s honey covered words, he hadn’t offered her honesty. “You didn’t answer my question.” She remarked.

Without truth, no trust.

His eyes narrowed on her, the frown forming on his forehead telling her he was more then puzzled. Finally the damning words spilled out of him. “All is well, it was about an issue related to our employer. But that’s all good now.”

Kate nodded slowly.

Green. She shifted the gear stick but the car stalled together with her heart.

Lucien never felt the need to repeat himself. Yet, here he was. Lying.

The car behind her honked irritably. She barely noticed it over the blood rushing in her ears. Maybe she shouldn’t have been driving after all. But she got the car moving again. Ignoring the man who bypassed her with screeching wheels.

“What is going on with you? Something happened between you and Georgia?”

She shook her head, keeping her gaze firmly on the road. “Nothing wrong, tired I guess.”

Nothing that cleaning my blood from your house wouldn’t fix.

His nod mirrored hers as he sat back in his seat. Gaze turned toward the tall trees passing them by, no doubt mulling over the fact that she’d never answered his own question.

Her lips widened, and she nearly laughed out loud at her own ridiculousness. At the mere thought that being the one behind the wheel would give her a sense of security. They’d be ‘home’ soon. And the only answer for his actions was that he was going through with it, tonight. She’d be alone once more, with a man that had been giving her what she’d wanted for so long. The idea of safety, even something that had felt like shadows of freedom. But it had been nothing more than that. An idea, never a certainty.

How will he even do it? I hope it’ll be painless at least.

She’d suffered enough under the hands of those undeserving of her love. Because that’s what it had been. Love.

How dare she finally break it to herself now. Every laugh that had escaped her. The way her skin tingled under his touch. How her heart skipped a beat every time he flashed that cocky grin at her. She had pushed the sinking realization down into the depths of her heart. For she’d never felt it before. How should she have known?

White-hot anger soared in her stomach, taking over the space that held her grief. Burning through her throat with words that demanded to be spoken.

The long driveway popped up in front of her. Driving up to the house with the wheels churning over the brown and white sludge, she tried to reverse the car as memory told her to do. Only, she’d never been this furious before. Checking the rear view mirror, she saw the car head straight for the hedges of roses instead of in between.

Fuck this. She killed the engine. Barely heard Lucien’s murmured, “Try again.”

Kate shoved the keys into his lap, hissing, “No.” Before throwing the door shut behind her.

His clicked open, and a second later his voice boomed out over the frozen, hushed landscape. “Care to tell me what in the world is going on with you?”

The wooden steps of the porch groaned under her weight as she stormed into the house. She ignored Ghost, whose waggling tail fell silent. Without hesitation she flung open the door to his study, bending down to rip the phone free of the tape under his desk.

Striding back into the living room, her footsteps faltered. Lucien was already in the doorway, holding her gaze with a look she hadn’t seen before. Fingers twitching by his side, he didn’t come closer, just regarded her silently.