“The point is…” She drops her head. “I’m sorry. I love you, Tess. You know that. I never wanted to hurt you. And…” She looks over at Graham again. “We will never do this again. I swear to you.”
“You kissed Harry too.” I point at the sofa. “I saw you doing it. Right in my own living room.”
Lucy jerks her head up. She didn’t expect me to remember that. “Oh. I… well, yes, but… Tess, he grabbed me. That was completely different.”
Graham snorts again, louder this time. Lucy whips her head around to glare at him. “Will you shut up?”
There’s a smirk on his lips. “What—she’s not going to remember it in the morning, like I said. You may as well ‘fess up that the Boy Scout never really tried to kiss you.”
Her eyes widen. “Shut up, Graham.”
“What are you whining about? You got the raise you wanted, didn’t you? The private corner office?”
I stare at the two of them, my heart pounding. What is he talking about? Is it possible that the scene I had walked in on in my living room all those years ago was all a setup? I shut my eyes for a moment and I can see the bewildered expression on Harry’s face. I never even gave him a chance. I just kept picturing him kissing Lucy, and I couldn’t forgive him.
I have made a horrible mistake.
“Tess.” Lucy flashes me a helpless look. “I don’t know what he’s talking about. I swear to you…”
Graham gets to his feet with a grunt. He ambles over to me and puts his hand on my shoulder. “Come on, Tess. Let’s get you back to bed. You’re probably exhausted.”
He’s right. Even with the adrenaline rush and the anger coursing through my veins, I’m almost too tired to stand. I was already feeling out of it, and the seizure has decimated me. If not for my pounding heart, I would probably collapse into a sleeping pile right on the carpet beneath me. And my bare legs feel cold from some sort of draft in the living room. I shiver.
I allow Graham to lead me away, powerless to stop him. Lucy stays behind, and I wonder if they’re going to finish what they started when Graham comes back downstairs. The crazy part is I don’t even care. Yes, Lucy was sleeping with my husband. But I don’t even know my husband. I don’t love him. It’s like discovering she was sleeping with a stranger.
No, that’s not the part I care about. What I care about is that day I caught her kissing Harry. I can’t stop thinking about the possibility that it might not have been real. If I hadn’t seen him kiss her, I would be married to him right now. Instead of Graham.
Unlike when Graham carried me up the stairs earlier, I’m able to make it up on my own two feet this time. But he keeps his arm on me, ready to catch me if I fall. I suppose that’s worth something.
“Listen, Tess.” Graham watches me as I climb into bed. “I’m sorry you had to see that. But you can understand, can’t you?”
I blink at him through the darkness. “I can?”
He shrugs. “You don’t even know me. It’s not like we have any sort of a real relationship anymore.”
“What was Lucy talking about downstairs?” I ask him, although it’s hard to form words. My tongue feels like a big lump in my mouth. “About when Harry kissed her.”
“Oh. Right.” I can see him grinning in the darkness, his teeth glowing in the dim moonlight. “Well, it’s pretty simple. I had a thing for you, so I asked Lucy if she could help me out. She never liked Harry much anyway, so it didn’t take much to persuade her.”
My head is spinning. Now that I’ve retrieved that memory of walking in on Harry and Lucy, the whole argument I had with Harry after comes rushing back to me. The way he pleaded with me. Swore up and down that Lucy had been the one who grabbed him. I called him a liar. Managed to wrench the ring from my finger and threw it at him. Slammed the front door in his face even as he was blinking back tears.
“You bastard,” I manage.
“I’m the bastard?” His eyes fly open wide behind his wire-rimmed glasses. “That’s rich. I can’t believe you would say that to me after you…” He grits his teeth then shakes his head. “Forget it. There’s no point in talking about this.”
My eyelids are so heavy, I can barely keep them open. But I can’t let this go. “What? What horrible thing did I do to you? Because I don’t remember it.”
“What horrible thing did you do to me?” He licks his lips. “Do you have an hour or two? No, you don’t. You’ll probably be asleep in the next sixty seconds. So I’ll skip to the best part.” He lowers his voice. “Before this happened to you, you were going to leave me. You hired a lawyer and everything. You said you couldn’t stand the sight of me. You couldn’t wait to get me out of your life and cut me out of your company. That’s what I get for signing a goddamn prenup.”
My mouth drops open. “What?”
“That’s right.” He smirks at me. “You had this whole plan about leaving me high and dry. And now you’re stuck with me. For the rest of your life. And I get to be the one in control for a change. I get to decide what you eat, what clothing you get to wear, whether you get to have a phone or not. I could even get rid of that dog of yours and you would never even know it.” He winks at me. “Hey, maybe I will… if you don’t learn to behave yourself…”
I want to reach out and scratch his eyes out. But the fatigue I’m feeling is almost overwhelming, especially combined with the darkness of the room. When I lift my arm, it’s like I’m moving through molasses. I don’t know why I’m so tired. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this tired in my life. Graham is standing over me, watching me struggle to keep my eyes open.
And then it occurs to me. Maybe the whole reason I’m tired is that Graham has already given me a dose of whatever he’s been keeping in his desk drawer. After all, he’s the one who poured me that glass of water at dinner. It would’ve been so easy for him.
I’ve got to do something. I’ve got to send myself a message with a warning. I’ve got to…
DAY FOUR
Chapter 33
If you relax and try to have a good day, you will be much happier. Just remember that the people around you care about you very much, and only want you to be safe. Do what they say. You are in good hands. Trust me.