My Twin Took My Husband. I Kept the Billions. novel · Chapter 18 of 24

Chapter 18: A Clean Exit

Giles got to his feet slowly.

He did not look at my sister.

"Take her to the road," I said. "She can walk to the truck."

"Hallie."

"Not here. I won't ask it here."

Reese sat up and brushed the grit off her coat.

She looked at the red lamp on the pole, and then at me, and her smile finally slipped.

"Cameras," she said. "You've gotten smart."

"I've had a good teacher."

"I always thought I was the one who'd learned from you."

She stood and walked off the catwalk with her chin high.

At the gate, a blue pickup was idling with its engine running.

Wayne did not get out.

She opened the door and climbed in, and the pickup pulled away.

We didn't speak in the car.

I told him to take me to the penthouse, and he said, "Yes," and that was all.

When the elevator opened I went straight to the armchair by the window.

The ring was still there.

I picked it up and held it for a while.

"How long?" I said.

He stood in the middle of the room with his jacket in his hand.

"I don't know," he said.

"Guess."

"It felt like a minute. It was shorter. I've told myself ten different numbers over ten years, and none of them is the true one."

"Tell me what you saw."

"The door opened on the roof. Two women came out into the light, and they looked the same."

His voice was flat and careful.

"I couldn't make it mean anything. My mind said, that isn't what you're looking at. I sat there with my hand on the door."

"And then?"

"Then you were in the air."

I closed my eyes.

"And then I ran," he said. "I ran across the street and I didn't feel my legs. I was in the lobby, and I was too late, and I have not stopped being too late since."

I opened my eyes.

"You could have told me it was ten seconds," I said. "You could have said you called the police first, or that you couldn't see from the car."

"I know."

"Why didn't you?"

"Because you'd have found out."

I looked at the ring in my hand.

I thought of the clause on page one, and the black phone screen, and the way he had stood behind me on the plaza without touching me.

← Chapter 17 · All chapters · Chapter 19 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend