“I don’t care what you want. You’ve been harassing Amalia, and I’m putting an end to it.”
“It’s already ended.” He raised both hands. “She paid me. We’re done.”
“No. You don’t get to follow her here and threaten her into giving up her ring.”
He stood abruptly. “Get lost. You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“She paid me. We’re done.”
That’s when I panicked.
I stepped in front of him. “Whatever you think you can get for it. I’ll pay you now. Give back the ring.”
He smiled. He named a number.
I transferred it before I could think too hard about paying twice for the same engagement ring.
When he dropped the ring into my palm, I felt like a hero for all of five seconds.
“You won’t ever hurt her again,” I said.
Marcus laughed. “You’re such an idiot. She’s been playing you, and you’re clueless.”
I felt like a hero for all of five seconds.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means you and Amalia have some things you should discuss BEFORE you get married. After, it will be too late.”
He started to walk past me, but I put a hand on his shoulder.
“That doesn’t answer me. Look, I know you were there the night Amalia and I met…”
“Because she wanted to meet you.” He prodded my chest with one finger. “You should ask her why.”
“You’re such an idiot. She’s been playing you, and you’re clueless.”
Then he stepped back, away from me, and started walking toward the revolving doors.
“Wait!” I hurried after him. “What do you mean, she wanted to meet me?”
But he stepped outside and disappeared into the gray morning.
I headed for the elevators with the ring in one hand and my phone in the other.
Why had Amalia wanted to meet me?
The doors closed, and I started rewinding five years.
“You should ask her why.”
A few weeks after we started dating, she’d asked what my father did. I told her his name and the company he owned, and her whole face lit up.
Then came the questions.
How big was the company? Did they hire graduates?
After graduation, I introduced her to Dad.
He offered her a job. She took it and climbed fast.
Then came the questions.
My stomach turned.
She hadn’t stumbled into my life. She’d picked me to get to my father.
I looked down at the ring in my fist. I’d just paid thousands to rescue it for her, thinking Marcus was the predator in this story.
Then the thought snagged on something.
Amalia had quit my father’s company a year or two after joining it.
She hadn’t stumbled into my life.
She’d walked away from the job, built a career somewhere else, and never asked my father for another thing.
If the job was why she’d chosen me, why had she given it up?
The doors opened before I could answer that.
I heard voices before I reached Amalia’s room.
“You’ll need a really good replica,” Kim was saying. “Daniel knows that ring.”
If the job was why she’d chosen me, why had she given it up?
“Kim, that’s horrible,” Chloe snapped. “Amalia, just tell us what’s going on so we can help you.”
“I can’t.” Amalia sounded wrecked. “Please. Just leave it alone.”
I knocked.
The room went silent.
Chloe opened the door. Her eyes widened when she saw me. She stepped aside to let me in.
Amalia stood near the window. Kim and two other women were gathered around the bed. Nobody moved as I walked in.
“Amalia, just tell us what’s going on so we can help you.”
I set the ring on the table.
Amalia went white.
Then I put my phone beside it, Marcus’s younger face visible at the edge of the old party photo.
“You knew who I was before we met.”
“You used me to get to my father. Tell me I’m wrong.”
I set the ring on the table.
She couldn’t.
“Marcus knew us both,” she said finally. “He was my friend then. He knew who your father was. He pointed you out to me at the party.”
“Because you wanted a job.”
Her eyes filled. She nodded.
“I wanted access to your father. I thought if I got close to you, you’d introduce me. That was the plan.”
Behind me, someone whispered, “Oh my God.”
“You used me to get to my father. Tell me I’m wrong.”
I barely heard it. The elevator had already given me most of the answer.
I needed the part that didn’t fit.
“Then why did you stay?”
“Because I fell in love with you.”
“Don’t.”
“I know how it sounds.” She wiped her face. “But I got the job, Daniel. I got exactly what I wanted, and then I quit. I couldn’t keep building my career on what I’d done to you.”
“Then why did you stay?”
Kim looked at me. “She did give it up. Doesn’t that matter?”
“She could have told him,” Chloe said.
Amalia flinched.
“Why didn’t you?” I asked.
“Because I was scared you’d look back at everything and see a con. I kept thinking I’d tell you when I knew you wouldn’t leave.”
“She could have told him,”
“And in the meantime, this Marcus guy kept showing up to ask for money in exchange for keeping your secret.”
Her face changed. “I was afraid to lose you.”
