Don't Give Me Tainted Love novel · Chapter 9 of 24

Chapter 9: Kitchen Island

I was waiting for her in the kitchen with the lights off.

She came in through the back door, closed it very quietly, and stopped when she saw my shape at the island.

"Dalton."

"Sit down."

"I..."

"Sit."

She sat on the stool across from me.

The scarf was still wrapped around her hand.

There was a strip of yellow light from the street on her face, and her eyes were dry.

"What was in the envelope?"

She did not answer.

"I watched you from the window. I watched you hand it to him. I watched him kiss you."

"It's money."

"How much?"

"Ten thousand. Every month."

I had not expected a number.

I had not expected it to be so small and so ugly.

"For eight years?"

"Yes."

"That's nearly a million dollars."

"Close to it."

"You've been paying my brother a million dollars out of your company."

"Out of my salary. Not yours. Never yours."

I took a breath that did not go all the way down.

"Why?"

She looked at her hands.

"Eric is Bradley's son," she said.

It was the first time she had said it aloud.

I watched her say it, and I saw what it cost her, and I felt no pity at all.

I was glad it cost her.

"Tell me."

"It was one night." She said it to the counter. "The night of your father's wake. I had a headache, and I went upstairs. I had been drinking at the funeral, and I was a mess, because I knew our wedding was two weeks away, and I didn't think you wanted me."

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