She pivoted and walked to the door, yanking it open and disappearing into the dark. What the hell? He grabbed the envelope but didn’t bother to open it, too eager to get back to Mandy.
On his way out, he stepped into the dining room and opened the cabinet where the safe was, tapping in the digital combination he’d set. Deep in the safe, he found the paper towel they’d used to write their contract.
It was time to put those candle flames to good use.
In the bedroom door, he paused, blinking into the flickering light when he didn’t see Mandy on the bed. Or anywhere. “Mandy?” He checked the bathroom, but the door was open and the lights were off.
Where did she go? The French doors to the patio were open, and he stepped closer, seeing her immediately, walking by the pool, her arms wrapped around herself as she whispered, like she was…
Talking to herself? Like she was...practicing what she wanted to say to him?
His heart nearly collapsed. She’d had so much pain, so many fears. But he didn’t care. He’d conquer every one of them. He’d beat anything and anyone down to have her in his arms, afraid of nothing.
He started to go outside but decided to give her a minute. Let her gather her thoughts and make her speech.
Instead, he dropped into a chair in the sitting area and ripped open the envelope that had his name on it. He unfolded the paper inside, frowning at the legal document as he tipped it to read by candlelight.
“What is this?” He turned the paper closer to the flame and squinted at the tiny print, a seal at the top, and names…he recognized.
A slow, icy chill wormed through his body as the words almost made sense. All of the words. Even the maid’s parting shot.
Hope the sheets were clean enough for you and Mrs. Lockhart.
“Zeke.”
He looked up, surprised to find Mandy a foot away, her arms still crossed, her face streaked with tears. He blinked at her.
“I’m still married.” The words were barely a breath of air.
He let the paper flutter to the floor. “I know.”
Chapter Twelve
The thing that buckled Amanda’s knees wasn’t that he knew her secret...it was how stricken he looked. He stared at her with vacant eyes, the slightest frown of pain and disbelief pulling his brow, his whole body hunched in a self-protective posture.
She knelt in front of him. “I was trying to tell you.”
“Now?” The word ground out like one syllable of agony. “How about, oh, a week ago?”
“I didn’t think it mattered a week ago.”
“You didn’t—”
“This wasn’t real, Zeke!”
He straightened at the force of her words, leaning back, looking at her...as if for the first time. With all that awe and joy and interest and attraction she’d been basking in for the past week wiped away, replaced by raw hurt.
That was the worst part. “The fact is, I’m legally bound—”
“To your husband.” Anger darkened his words.
“To a nondisclosure agreement that is part of the world’s most horrific prenup. I really cannot talk about my husband or where he is, but that’s easy enough because I don’t know where he is.”
He stared at her, the only thing moving on his body were the tips of his fingers, which slowly dug into the armrests of the chair with the same pressure she imagined they’d like to dig into her chest and rip out her heart right now.
And that was the only reason she had to break the agreement and risk the truth.
“He’s a criminal,” she said softly.
He still didn’t speak, searching her face and waiting for more.
“He took millions of dollars for a fake real estate investment and to develop this big park and residential area in Tampa. He swindled five investors out of about ten million dollars and claimed to have a bank guarantee from somewhere in Switzerland and a commitment from some fund in New York. It was all lies. He thought he could float money, finish one project and start another...” She closed her eyes, almost relieved to be saying this to someone other than a federal investigator.
“We were divorced, for all intents and purposes. I’d moved out, had a plan, even had a little bit of money. All the paperwork was done, I was walking away with nothing, but he had one more paper to sign.” Her voice cracked. “He refused and disappeared that night.”
His fingers pressed harder. “Why wasn’t he arrested?”
“They can’t find him, and he won’t come back into this country. Because we weren’t divorced, I had to turn over whatever money I could to the federal government. My name is on many of his documents, and I’m trying, dollar by dollar, to pay people back, and the investigators insist I use my married name so anyone he owes money to can find me.”
“They don’t know where he is?” He sounded incredulous.
“I’ve heard he’s in Croatia, and Australia, and Singapore, and the latest sighting was Hong Kong. There’s some extradition glitch with criminals there, so he might think he’s safe. I used every dime I had left to pay for a private investigator. All I want him to do is sign the piece of paper and let me be free of this marriage and this debt and the weight of...my past. I want to be free.”
She dropped down to sit on the floor, the pressure of the story almost too much for her. Zeke made no effort to reach out to her or even soften the look on his face.
“In my prenuptial agreement, there is a line that says I can’t reveal anything I know about his business, so I’m in a really bad position.”
“That’s void if he’s a criminal.”
“One would think, and I certainly told the investigators everything I knew, but...I’m afraid if I break that agreement, I’ll never get him to sign that decree. I keep hoping he will meet a woman and want to sign it, but...”
She’d never imagined she’d meet someone. Someone so good and right and real that he made everything she thought she knew about powerful men seem wrong.
Quiet for a long time, he finally swallowed and nodded. “If you really wanted to, you could find him.”
The allegation stung. “Trust me, I want to.” Now, more than ever.
“Do you? Or are you protecting yourself, Mandy? Do you want to be certain you don’t have to take another risk so you stay…married?”
“No,” she answered without hesitation.
“Really? Because you crave independence, but you don’t go after it.”