22

Maisie slipped the engagement and wedding rings off her finger.

The skin underneath seemed vulnerable and pale. A choking sob welled up in her throat as she placed the rings on the edge of Ethan’s bathroom sink.

The condo was so big, this was the only place where she could be sure Ethan would see them.

Now that she’d taken the rings off, she moved faster, as if they’d been the one thing holding her back. Though the reality was that up until that moment, she hadn’t been sure she’d go through with it. She hadn’t known if she’d be strong enough to do the right thing.

To end the con, to kill the lie that she was a decent person.

But if she stayed, she’d have to face them, and she wasn’t strong enough for that, either. It was the toughest easy decision she’d ever made.

She grabbed her purse, phone, and the small suitcase she’d packed, then headed for the door.

The taxi driver stopped at the top of her street. “Left or right?”

“It’s one way, but this is close enough,” Maisie said, even though it really wasn’t. But she didn’t want to wait for the driver to go around the block; walking would be faster, even with the suitcase.

She gave him a few crumpled bills, then got out.

It hadn’t been that long since she’d been here, but everything seemed different. Night was just starting to fall, but there was still enough light that she shouldn’t have felt the least bit exposed as she made her way down the sidewalk.

But she did feel exposed.

Which was crazy because how many dozens of times had she walked back from the subway, on her own, after midnight?

Being surrounded by strong men had altered her perception of things, that was for sure. Her bosses had changed her in a lot of ways, and she would never be the same.

Stop thinking about them.

She lugged her suitcase up to the fifth floor, then down the hallway.

Part of her expected her door wouldn’t open, but the key worked just fine.

She stared at the empty apartment. Not that she would have been able to see so much of it from where she was standing.

She flipped on the light and almost had a heart attack.

A large envelope, just like the one that was already bringing her so much grief. For a moment she thought it was the same one, but when she picked it up she realized this one was a little thicker. And her name was scrawled on the other side.

But like the first one, no mailing address. No return address.

The hair on the back of her neck stood on end as she glanced into the hallway. It was empty, just like when the first envelope had turned up.

Still, her skin prickled as if someone was watching her. And then she realized that was what she’d felt when she’d gotten out of the taxi.

The envelope has probably been sitting here for days, she thought as she shoved it into her oversized purse. But she didn’t believe it.

She locked the door, and then, either because she was paranoid or because she was a glutton for punishment, she made herself walk through every empty room of the apartment, checking in closets and behind doors to make sure she was alone.

It was depressing.

There was no bed. Nothing to sit on. Not a scrap of food in the kitchen.

On the upside, the movers had done a thorough job in cleaning out the apartment; Maisie had no doubt that she’d be getting every cent of her security deposit back.

She walked into the living room and stood at one of the bay windows. Now it was dark outside, and Maisie couldn’t see much more than her own reflection.

She couldn’t wipe it away with a thumb, so she reached out to pull the curtains closed, then realized that they, of course, were gone.

The back of her neck prickled. She felt framed in the window, and on display.

What if someone was standing out there, watching her?

But that was ridiculous, of course. Anyone who was interested in following her would have been camped out in front of Fate Tower, and good luck to them, trying to see inside that penthouse.

She hadn’t been followed here. She knew because she’d been checking, afraid that Aleto or her bosses would turn up behind her, thwarting her escape.

You’re imagining things. She had to keep repeating it as she walked out of the living room and switched off the light.

Instantly she felt better. Less exposed.

She made her way back to the window. Nothing to see outside. Just large trees and quiet cars.

Her own car was in the back, in the small parking lot. She wasn’t even sure why she’d bothered to come up, except some part of her still thought of the apartment as home.

Maybe she’d wanted something familiar and safe. But the empty rooms were amplifying the void inside her.

She was just about to grab her things and go down to her car when she caught a flash of light in an SUV down the street. The first time she only saw it from the corner of her eye, but then it came again.

Someone lighting a cigarette.

It doesn’t mean anything, she told herself. They’re just waiting for a neighbor. Nothing wrong with that. But the goosebumps that had popped out all over her arms thought otherwise.

It was probably nothing. But regardless, it was past time to get out of there.

She locked up behind her and walked to the end of the hall.

There was a window there, just beside the stairwell.

She flicked off the light and leaned forward, her eyes glued to the SUV. Surely just a neighbor’s friend. Byron was hours away; she knew Ethan’s intel was solid.

The driver opened the door and got out. He was looking down, but when he turned, he lifted his head to exhale a cloud of smoke, and Maisie gasped.

She’d seen him before, once, the afternoon that Ethan had fired her from LB&B. She’d been crying in the park and he’d come up to ask if she was all right.

Her memory of that afternoon was blurry, but she remembered thinking the guy was ex-military, because of his haircut and the way he was dressed. At the time, she hadn’t thought anything of it.

That he was outside right now couldn’t be a coincidence. She suddenly remembered that he’d been rude at the end, saying that she shouldn’t be crying in public. Back then, it had been annoying. Patronizing.

Now she realized it was creepy.

He looked down at his cell phone.

Maisie flipped the hall light back on, then she raced down the steps.