Page 83 of Dissection of a Murder
Don’t be dramatic. We had a good time but it can’t continue. How do you expect me to be a father now? It’s impossible and not something I want anyway.
Demi: How can you be so cold? Maybe people should know what the real you is like.
Don’t do anything stupid, Demi. This is my life.
Demi: Fine. I’ll do it myself if I have to.
My eyes flick between Demi and the phone screen, which not only reveals evidence of her infidelity, but also the fact that Chester is not the father of her unborn child. I could end their marriage here and now if I wanted.
But I don’t.
Coming out of the app and closing everything down, I smile at her before handing the phone back.
“Thanks so much,” I say. “I can’t for the life of me remember my password. Must be the stress. I think I’m going to go home. I’m tired and need to get some rest before Monday.”
“Are you sure, Leila?” Chester asks, standing up and guiding me to the door. “I want you to send me a copy of those threats as soon as you get home.”
“I will. Thank you…both.”
This is it. What I’ve been searching for all along. Who’d have thought the last missing piece of the puzzle—the thing that would get me out of this whole mess—would have landed in my lap so easily, in this way, here and now. I almost have to stop myself from laughing.
I was right about one thing: no plot twists here. The answer was in front of me. I just needed to find it.
41
Witness X
My entire lifecould be annihilated in forty-eight hours. Just two days until this trial begins. I know he will protect me; I trust him with my life. But the rest of them are unpredictable. Who knows what they’ll dredge up?
It’s crazy to think all of this started nearly a year ago. I should have known right then and there it would end badly.
It had snowed all day; crazy, fat flurries that dropped from the sky like large pieces of pure white lace. It was heavy enough to stick, at least a few inches thick by nightfall. The frost in the air bit my face as I left the house shortly before 8 p.m.
I didn’t plan on going there, obviously. Why would I gothereon a Friday night? Alone?
We’d had a row, so I stormed out of the house just to get away from him. I can’t even remember why, now. All the arguments were the same anyway, the same issues yelled in different ways. I couldn’t stand being in the house a second longer.
What took me there? Initially, I went into Durham city center thinking I might bump into someone I knew. I can usually find someone on a Friday night to meet up with. I have lots of acquaintances. But I don’t really “do” friends. As soon as I parked the car,though, I realized I didn’t want to talk to anyone. Not anyone I knew. I can’t stand most of them. They’re nothing like me.
It dawned on me that I was alone. Totally alone. That’s the thing: pretending to be someone you’re not, wearing a mask. It’s a solitary existence.
But that night, I needed to pull it off.
I wanted to be somewhere Iknewnone of them would be.
Nobody I know would dare go near Innocence. Well, they would, but they certainly wouldn’t be wanting to chat if they saw me.
It was busy when I arrived; full of young twenty-somethings in their tight bodycon dresses taking selfies and sipping porn-star martinis.
When Jack and I locked eyes, I knew instantly something would happen between us. The attraction was magnetic. It was impossible not to notice the shape of his toned arms through the thin material of his black, long-sleeved shirt. Messy, dark hair framed his strikingly attractive face.
I’m not going to say, “Oh! It was so unlike me!” because it wasn’t. It was exactly the kind of thing I’d do. I didn’t think about my husband for a second. He didn’t deserve my guilt. After leading me through Temptation up to his flat, we enjoyed a glass of whiskey before Jack pinned me up against the door and kissed me so passionately I felt we were destined to be lovers. He could tell I wanted it. Hard and hot.
That was it at first. Passion.
The problem with passion is that it’s dangerous, unpredictable. People say it all the time, don’t they? “Follow your passion!” It’s the worst thing you can do. You don’t think rationally if you’re acting out of lust.
I fell in love with him. The kind of love I’d pack up my entire life and run away for.
