“I told you, we didn’t speak after the night I told you that I loved you. I honestly didn’t think about her after that weekend. She never tried to contact me.”
“Ah.”
“I know finances have been tight, especially paying for the twins’ daycare, the sports activities, the house repairs—everything hit us at the same time. So I tried to pick up extra shifts at work. I felt obligated to be a part of Harmony’s life when I found out about her.”
“How noble of you.”
Mark’s eyes flashed, but he didn’t take the bait. “The situation is complicated. Harmony’s father—the man who raised her—hated that she didn’t belong to him.”
Anne listened, processing. She was mesmerized to find that while she felt upset and shocked at Mark, she could still feel sympathy for Harmony. Anne pictured her own babies, thought of them being raised by a parent who held no love for them. It made her queasy. It brought back those three days when she’d walked out on her own family. Only she’d been granted the opportunity to walk back in, and she’d never forgotten the gift she’d been given.
“When Angelina died, her husband wanted nothing to do with Harmony. He kicked her out of the house and made it difficult for her to get what was rightly hers from the will.”
“That’s unfair.”
“It is,” Mark agreed, “but she’s still a child. She has no money to hire a lawyer. What could she do?”
“What did you do?”
“I helped Harmony find an apartment. It’s in my name, and that’s where I’ve been going on Tuesdays,” Mark said. “We spend a little time together. I bring her groceries now and again. She likes to cook. We play cards. She tells me about school—she’s enrolled in college for next year and wants to declare a criminal justice major.”
Anne hesitated. “She sounds like a nice girl.”
“She is. You’d like her.” Mark gave a long pause before leaning forward. He grasped Anne’s hands in his and stared imploringly into her eyes. “I should have told you everything. I just never knew how.”
“It was right of you to help her,” Anne found herself saying graciously. “But I don’t know what else to say.”
“I don’t expect you to say anything.”
“Maybe you should have expected more from me. I was your wife.”
They both paused at her use of the past tense.
“You still are,” Mark finally said, his voice a whisper. “Would you consider remaining my wife?”
“Are there any other secrets you’re keeping from me?” Anne asked. “Anything at all?”
“No.”
“Nothing.” Anne’s heart deflated. “Not a thing?”
Mark stared into her eyes. “About another woman? I promise you, Anne—”
“I’m talking about us, Mark. Me and you. Things that could jeopardize our family. Our lives.”
Mark sat back in his seat, his eyes flashing with a hint of calculation. They were soft as they studied her, a siege of resignation taking place in his expression. “You know about the money.”
Anne felt her heart cracking into shards. “You wouldn’t have told me if I didn’t find out for myself.”
“There was no need for you to know. There still isn’t. It was a one-time thing, and I was trying to keep you safe.”
“Roman knew,” she said softly. “He was going to turn you in.”
Mark blinked. “Roman Tate?”
“And now he’s dead,” Anne said. “It’s eerily convenient, don’t you think?”
“I didn’t—” Mark stopped talking, then looked at Anne. After all they’d discussed, this was the first time fear had entered his gaze. “Anne, you didn’t…”
“Me? You think I killed him?” Anne’s mouth dropped open in shock. “You’re the one who didn’t come home that night! How do I know you didn’t find out about the blackmail?”
“This is the first I’m hearing about it! The night Roman died, I fell asleep on Harmony’s couch while she cooked dinner,” Mark said. “We were going to watch a show with our food, but the second I sat on the couch, I knocked out. I’d worked overnight the day before and was exhausted.”
“Very convenient.”
“When I woke up, hours later, I panicked. I went to work the next day and mumbled something to you about working overtime. Your mother was with the kids, so I didn’t worry about them. I hoped you were too tired after your night out with the girls to notice…”
“I guess I’ll just have to trust you,” Anne said. “And you’ll have to trust me. I didn’t kill him, Mark. In case you were actually wondering.”
“Anne…”
“I could have. He blackmailed me over what you’d done. He took everything from my 401k.”
Mark’s brow furrowed. “If you’d come to me—”
“What would you have done?”
“You tried to keep us together,” Mark said. “Despite everything. Through what you thought was an affair and blackmail and everything else.”
“You are my husband. The father of my children.” Anne’s voice rose. “I’m a housewife with no credentials and a decades-old résumé. I couldn’t afford to do anything but keep us together.”
“Is that why?” Mark asked. “Or do you still love me?”
“Why did you do it?” Tears streamed down Anne’s face. “Why did you take the money?”
“Extenuating circumstances!” Mark shot to his feet, the outburst too loud for their quiet conversation. He paced back and forth before turning to Anne. “It was a month before the twins were born. You remember that time, don’t you?”
Anne thought back. She’d been huge with pregnancy and wildly uncomfortable. The other children were going through rough phases. Money was tighter than ever. Mark was working long hours, and their marriage was holding on by a thread. They’d hardly been an example of a happy family.
“I was on the drug unit at the time.”
“Working lots of hours,” Anne said. “I remember.”
“I was trying to make ends meet. We had two babies on the way and could barely afford the two we had. I borrowed money from a friend to pay the mortgage a few months running. I didn’t tell you about that because I was embarrassed. What sort of man can’t support his family?”
“What sort of man hides things from his wife?”
Mark sat down in response. “One night on the job, we had a huge bust. Keep in mind, I’d been chasing these guys for months. Going on a year. During that time, I’d been shot at twice. Once, they stabbed me in the leg—almost hit an artery. The hell I’d been through to get these assholes…”
Anne remembered that part well. The phone call, the hospital visit. The pit in her stomach as she wondered if her husband would survive his injuries.
“I was back on duty by the time we moved in for the final bust and demanded to be present. These idiots had almost stolen everything from me—my wife, my children, my life—and I was determined to put them behind bars. I never expected we’d find money on the scene. These guys don’t usually keep money on them.”