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Thankfully, Amber shook her head. With what I had to speak with her about, Daniel sticking around would only make the situation worse, and that was the last thing I needed to happen given that I had no goddamn business being in their house right now.
“No, it’s okay. Don’t forget to grab my soup, please.”
Daniel gave her a half smile and then crossed the room, pressing a tender kiss to the side of her head. “I’ll be back soon. I love you. Call me if you want me to pick up anything else while I’m out.”
She whispered she loved him back and then together we waited, refusing to speak until we heard the front door shut and the deadbolt slide back.
“What’s this about, Ms. Greene?” she asked, keeping her head down as she fidgeted with her hands in her lap. “I already told the detectives everything I know.”
It wasn’t until I said Karl’s name when her head lifted and her blown, panicked pupils locked on mine.
Huh, so my gut feeling was right. She didn’t tell the detectives everything.
“I need to ask you some serious questions and I need you to answer them honestly. Karl’s fate rests on your answers and I do not have time for you to sit there and feed me bullshit. Do you understand?”
Amber’s eyes grew impossibly wider, but she nodded, her breath shuddering with her body.
“Do you know who I am?”
She nodded. “Yes. You’re his ex-wife. He-he’s talked about you before. Nothing serious, but he’s mentioned you.”
“Did you meet him in a grocery store?”
“Yes,” she answered, confirming Karl was being truthful about that part. “About three—hell, maybe four months ago. I don’t really remember.”
“Did you sleep with him?”
Again, she bobbed her head.
“How many times?”
“Like, two, maybe three, I think. Why the hell does that matter? I thought you weren’t together anymore.”
“And when is the last time you’ve seen or spoken with him?”
“Oh god,” she whispered, shaking her head as she pondered it. “It’s been weeks—at least a month if not longer. Again, why does that matter? What the hell is going on?”
“I’m not here to hound you over your relationship with Karl. I’m here because somehow, a strand of Karl’s hair ended up on your body the night you were attacked. He’s been arrested and my boss, plus the detectives are at his apartment ransacking the place as we speak.”
Amber sat up straighter then, her bruised skin paling faintly. “That’s not possible,” she murmured, shaking her head at me. “I haven’t seen or spoken to him. And he couldn’t have been at the sanctum that night because I never told him about that place. I never told him about Daniel, the sanctum, none of it. Any time we’d meet, it was always at his apartment. It was just a couple harmless hookups and that’s it. I swear.”
I nodded, struggling to contain the emotions crashing through me as I processed every single thing she’d said word for word, scrutinizing her intensely.
Fuck.
She was telling the truth.
Which explained why she never mentioned any of this to the detectives when they’d asked her about the follicles. How could she possibly give up Karl’s name when they hadn’t crossed paths in over a month?
“Okay, Amber.” I didn’t bother asking for permission. I just sat down on the edge of her bed and then turned, facing her. “I’m assuming Daniel doesn’t know about this, am I right?”
Amber frowned, looking away from me with a tear snaking down her swollen cheek. “No, he doesn’t.” She sniffled, bringing the sleeve of her pajamas up to wipe under her nose. “Daniel’s a good guy. I love him so damn much, but this isn’t an unusual thing for us. He’s cheated on me plenty of times, even before we decided to start swinging. Only difference is that I’m a hell of a lot better at not getting caught than he is.”
Wow. I frankly didn’t know what to say to that.
“It doesn’t make it right,” she continued. “I know it doesn’t. But all of that bullshit aside, I’m telling you the truth, Ms. Greene.”
“And you swear Daniel doesn’t know?”
