AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’ll go with you.”
“You don’t need to do that.”
I did. I’d witnessed too many volatile situations and Brittney was a wild card. “Domestic situations sometimes turn bad real fast.”
“Brittney isn’t violent. I don’t want to make this harder on her than it is.”
“Harder on her?” I asked, flummoxed. He was thinking about his lying, cheating wife and worrying about how she was going to take the split?
“Have you been through anything like this?” Logan asked.
“I’ve never been married.”
“A bad breakup?”
I thought about Charlie, when he told me his ex-girlfriend had moved back to Phoenix. He cared about me, and he didn’t know if it would work out with her, but when he saw her, all the same feelings returned and he couldn’t in good faith continue to see me knowing he had feelings for another woman. He was mature and honest, and I waited until I was home alone to cry. With Rick? I definitely didn’t act as mature. He chastised me for giving Sam advice without consulting him, without telling him about the cyberbully, and reminded me that I was not her mother. I walked away and hadn’t spoken to him until this week.
Was it a sign of maturity that I’d been so angry and hurt that I just buried it?
“Personally, no. My breakups have been more or less straightforward. But my brother went through a tough divorce, and he has a son, making it ten times worse for everyone. All you can do is what you can do—but you need to do it. Something my dad always says, meaning ignoring a problem doesn’t solve anything.”
“I thought Brittney was the one. I didn’t have many serious girlfriends because I’m busy and don’t like dating. It’s exhausting. I meet investors and idea people all over the world.” He motioned to the huge stack of proposals next to his computer. “I love what I do. I’m really good at finding businesses on the cusp and turning them around. It takes time and Brittney seemed to accept that I’m gone half the year.”
Probably because she was screwing Brad Parsons, but I didn’t say that.
“Was it all a lie?” he asked, more to himself than me.
But I answered anyway. “You don’t know what was in her head when she said yes to your proposal. What you know now is based on her actions. If you want to see a marriage counselor, fine. But I’ll tell you this: if my husband hired someone to honey trap me—whatever the reason—I would absolutely walk away. If you want to give her a second chance, you’re a better person than me.” Or an idiot, but I didn’t say that, either. “I’m coming with you. Just in case.”
“Maybe stay outside? I don’t want a confrontation if I can avoid it.”
“Fine,” I reluctantly agreed. “But I’ve observed a lot of splits and it rarely goes as planned. And another thing? You should lock all your financial accounts, then change your passwords and install two-factor authorization. Bank accounts, investments, anything you have that she can get into.”
He gave me a sad smile. “I already did.”
Okay, he wasn’t an idiot.
Fifty-Three
Margo Angelhart
Logan’s house was quiet. He’d told Brittney that he would be home to pack, but she wasn’t here. Odd.
According to his lawyer, she hadn’t been served yet. The process server had the paperwork as of ten minutes ago, but it could take a few hours—or a few days, if she decided to hide.
Logan was more than generous in giving her the house. I wouldn’t have given her the time of day.
Over the last two weeks, since I first took the case, I had learned a lot about Logan. I’d gone from thinking him a cheater (every adultery case I have taken in the eight years since I’ve been a PI resulted in a cheating spouse, so believing it wasn’t difficult) to being innocent but with secrets.
But the more I learned about him, the more I thought that he was the real deal—a smart, slightly awkward introvert known for being honest and respected in his circles. He donated to charities—not obscene sums of money, but generous enough to be recognized. His preferred charity was Phoenix Children’s Hospital, which received half his charitable contributions, and I’ll admit that endeared him to me. Not just because my dad had been a doctor, but because Nico had spent many nights there as a kid when they were trying to figure out what was wrong with him.
I had also dug into Monroe’s past—he’d grown up in a typical middle-class family in a farming community outside San Antonio, Texas. He had a brother and a sister and his parents were married until his dad died, and his brother ran the family ranch. He’d dropped out of college when he and Gavin O’Keefe sold a video game they had designed to a major gaming company. O’Keefe moved to Phoenix with his long-time girlfriend, now wife, and Monroe founded a small gaming company with a group of investors. It grew, and he lived in Austin running it and other ventures during the time Jennifer interned for him six years ago.
Honestly, Logan didn’t seem to have much time for an affair with anyone, but I’d caught more than one cheating spouse screwing a colleague. At the beginning, I’d considered he had a mistress in another city, but to date haven’t found any evidence of an out-of-state lover.
I didn’t believe Brittney intentionally lied until Sunday, and now? I thought she set this entire thing in motion. Because of Brad and his embezzlement? Did she want the money because he was on the hotseat?
I couldn’t figure out what her endgame was—other than getting more money out of her husband. Maybe that was all she needed. Maybe she didn’t know about Brad’s embezzlement and wanted to bring money to their relationship. Or, she knew about the embezzlement and wanted more. Yeah, that was probably closer to the truth. After all, greed breeds greed.
