Page 102 of Married to Lies

“You don’t have to like each other, but you have to work together toward the same goal. A championship. I know we’re not a football team, but Simon was right when he said we have to be pointing toward the same goal. What’s our championship? It can’t just be profit. That’s not good enough anymore.”

Silence held even longer because the truth was, we didn’t know. We didn’t even agree on the next best step.

“We save our company,” Cruz said. “We protect it from Simon’s children, and then we decide what we want to do without the pressure of weddings and assassination attempts hanging over our heads.”

Aaric nodded. “It’s the only course of action. If an attack and attempted murder haven’t changed his mind, we’re not talking him out of this.”

“Exactly,” Bryce said.

Jude’s jaw flexed.

Aaric continued, “We all get married this year like we planned. At the end of the year, we’ll meet again and decide what comes next. Are we all in agreement?”

“Yes,” Bryce said firmly with a tense nod.

“I am,” Cruz said.

“Agreed,” I echoed.

We all looked to Jude. He spat a red glob on the floor. “I’ll do whatever you want as long as you get us the fuck out of this room.”

For the rest of the hour, we worked in quiet determination, only speaking when absolutely necessary to solve the puzzles. Even though I tried to contribute, my mind kept drifting to Rei. Why had she called? I hoped to God everything was okay.

Bryce found the key locked within a hidden brick in the wall, and we all stared at it.

With a deep breath, Bryce walked the key to Jude, who leaned against the wall looking bored, blood dried and crusted on his chin.

“Get us out of here,” Bryce said, handing him the key.

Without a word, Jude gripped the piece of metal and unlocked the door.

46 Rei

Immediately after my appointment with Conrad, I asked George to drive me to Darla’s law offices. On the way, I called Jada to get the emergency contact number so I could talk to Quentin. If I was going to blow things up, there wasn’t time to wait for him to get home so I could tell him the truth.

Unfortunately, Aaric wouldn’t let me get a word in edgewise after confirming I wasn’t puking or bleeding to death. My heart rate picked up even more as I opened the folder, looking inside and scanning the documents.

It looked like a regular transaction log to me, but there must be more to it based on Conrad’s demands. Taking a picture, I uploaded it to an AI chatbot and asked if it could interpret anything more.

It said the log looked consistent with regular business records. Without more context, it wouldn’t be able to help me.

My hands felt like they were vibrating as I put the sheet down.

“Everything okay?” George asked. “Maybe I should be taking you to the police department.”

“My lawyer will know what to do,” I said with a false confidence. Noting the worry on George’s face, I added, “If she wants me to go to the police, I will. And I’m safe. Steve’s been tailing us all morning, remember.”

George glanced in his rearview mirror again, probably looking to see Steve’s armored SUV behind us. “I’m not worried about that coward attacking you physically.”

He was right. Conrad wouldn’t come at me violently; he’d just destroy the business I’d worked so hard to build. I still couldn’t understand why he’d give up his job and amazing salary to do all of this. My brain kept trying to puzzle it together, but I just couldn’t make it make sense.

The car slowed outside the law offices, and George said, “I’ll wait here for you with Steve.”

I nodded, getting out of the car to walk inside, folder in hand. There was a receptionist up front at a tall standing desk, and I said, “I have to see Darla immediately.”

She arched her brows. “Do you have an appointment?”

“No, but it’s urgent.”