She spent the next half hour carefully unpacking the gorgeous, gorgeous supplies that would feed a king for a month. As she delicately washed raspberries and daintily plucked grapes off their vines, she felt optimistic for the first time in weeks. He cared for her. He must, or else why would he have left her a bag of groceries that had cost well over a hundred dollars?
There was the small chance Roman would have done the same thing for anyone—offered a ride, gifted groceries, made light banter in the car. But was that actually true? If it were Ryan Anderson he’d run into in the store, would Roman have offered him a ride home and teased him about being invited upstairs?
Penny popped a grape into her mouth and chewed.
She thought not.
TRANSCRIPT
Prosecution: Mr. Anderson, please tell us about your relationship with Penny Sands.
Ryan Anderson: Well, I noticed Penny the day she walked into class. I don’t think she noticed me, though. Not that I was surprised. I mean, she’s gorgeous, and I’m just…well, me.
Prosecution: What made her start noticing you?
Ryan Anderson: I asked her on a date a few weeks into class.
Prosecution: And she accepted?
Ryan Anderson: She sure did. We went out a few times.
Prosecution: Did you ever have sex with Ms. Sands?
Ryan Anderson: Do I have to answer that?
The Court: Yes.
Ryan Anderson: We slept together a couple of times. It was great. Penny’s great. We were starting to care about one another, so don’t get any ideas about her being easy.
Prosecution: You started to care for Ms. Sands?
Ryan Anderson: Yeah, I did. I really liked her. What’s not to like? She’s cute, sweet, fun. Not enough of that out here in Hollywood.
Prosecution: Did Penny reciprocate your feelings?
Ryan Anderson: I think so.
Prosecution: Why did the two of you stop seeing each other?
Ryan Anderson: It was her choice. She started dating someone else.
Prosecution: Did you know who?
Ryan Anderson: Not at the time. I obviously know now.
Prosecution: Were there any hard feelings between the two of you?
Ryan Anderson: Nope. There weren’t then, and there aren’t now. At least as far as I know.
Prosecution: You studied under Roman Tate as well, didn’t you?
Ryan Anderson: That’s where we met.
Prosecution: What did you think of him?
Ryan Anderson: I thought he was talented. But apparently the real talent was his wife.
Prosecution: What makes you say that?
Ryan Anderson: Eliza Tate killed her husband and almost got away with it. I mean, that’s rule number one in Hollywood, right? It’s always the wife.
SIXTEEN
Six Months Before
August 2018
Skulking into the familiar studio off Sunset Boulevard, Penny smoothed the flirty ruffles fringing the bottom of her skirt and wondered if this would be the night. The night Roman finally explained everything.
The thing that had been bothering Penny about their relationship was that she’d never set out to destroy a marriage. As a rule, she only stole things that wouldn’t be missed. She didn’t steal husbands. Penny had never desired complicated, and she was entering the definition of complicated—especially after their pleasant pseudo-date at the grocery store. So what if Penny had orchestrated it? Roman was the one who’d offered her a ride home.
Three strikes and he’s out, Penny reminded herself. Roman had been promising to explain himself for some time now, and he’d had plenty of opportunities. If he couldn’t make good on his word to come clean to Penny, there would be no more chances. As difficult as it would be, she would walk away.
Sliding like an eel into her auditorium seat, Penny made a show of adjusting her headphones to avoid conversation with her peers. She doodled on the notebook in front of her, so lost in her thoughts, she didn’t bat an eye when Ryan Anderson took the chair next to her.
“Hey, Penny,” he said, flicking his pretty hair off his pretty forehead. “You look nice.”
Penny gave a tight smile, a flimsy nod.
“Say, I was wondering,” Ryan continued, oblivious to her sour mood, “if I could buy you a drink tonight?”
Penny looked over at Ryan. He flinched under her scathing stare. A wiggle of guilt tripped into Penny’s stomach, but she pushed it away and relented slightly, softening her glare around the edges.
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
“But—I thought—” Ryan frowned. “I’m sorry, I guess I got the wrong impression. Did I say something wrong? I thought we had a nice time?”
“No, we did… It’s not you. I’m not in a great place right now.”
“Ah.”
The wiggle of guilt returned. Ryan had been nothing but sweet and interested in the weeks following their last date, texting her occasionally and sending flowers to her apartment once a week. But Penny couldn’t find it in herself to muster any sort of enthusiasm in return. A fact that was more than a little concerning if she thought about it. So most days, Penny avoided thinking about it.
Roman entered the room then, looking like a man against Ryan’s boyish, hopeful expression. A sigh fell from Penny’s lips as she watched him, unable to ignore the fact that Roman refused to make eye contact with her. She looked down and scratched at her notebook. Debated. Got an idea.
“Actually…” She spun back to face Ryan and encouraged her lips to wear a smile. “Let’s get a drink,” Penny amended. “It’ll be good for me to get out.”
“Great! I’ll pick you up at your place around ten.”
As Penny nodded in confirmation, she felt the first pricks of satisfaction trickling down her spine. Penny had learned the hard way that people liked to take from her. They took, and they took, and they took…until she took back. Currently, Roman was taking everything from her. In order to regain a tiny bit of control, it was time for Penny to act. Even if the only thing she could take was her willingness to wait.
Penny’s false smile flickered into one of genuine interest as she felt a figure approach her seat. Without glancing that way, she knew it was Roman. She could sense his presence by the flash of hot breath against her neck. But instead of feeling hopeful and uneasy, she felt calm and collected. That was what taking did for Penny—it balanced her.
“Could I speak to you for a moment, Ms. Sands?” Roman’s voice rolled like a thundercloud over her shoulder. “In private.”
Ryan gave Penny a knowing smile. If only he knew, Penny thought dryly, pulling herself from her seat and stalking backstage after her instructor. It was abandoned since most students either hadn’t yet arrived or were filing into their seats.
“I’m sorry,” Roman said abruptly, whirling to face Penny in a darkened corner of the room.
He caught Penny off guard, both with the intensity of his stare and the apology. “For?”
“Let’s not play this game.” Roman’s lips twitched into a ghost of a smile. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go out with Ryan Anderson.”
“What’s it to you?” she said in shocked disbelief that her plan had worked so quickly. “You’re married. Remember?”