Page 99 of The Taste of Deceit

The words are so quiet I almost don’t hear them.

“I thought...” Her voice catches. She presses the heels of her hands against her eyes before looking back at me. “I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with him.”

My chest caves in.

“I still love him.”

A sob breaks through her.

“How the fuck do I still love him?”

I don’t have an answer.

“I know what he is now.” Tears stream down her face as she shakes her head. “I know what he’s done.”

She looks at me, completely shattered.

“And I still love him.”

Her face crumples.

“What the fuck does that say about me?”

I can’t stand there and do nothing. I step toward her.

“Katie.”

The second I reach for her, she slaps my hand away.

“Don’t fucking touch me.”

“Katie, please.”

“No.”

Her voice is low, shaking with rage.

“You don’t get to fucking comfort me.”

Tears spill faster down my cheeks.

“I’m so sorry.”

“You don’t get to be sorry.”

She wipes furiously at her face.

“For a month, you knew.”

“I wasn’t allowed to—“

“I don’t give a fuck!”

The words tear through the room.

“I don’t care what Luca told you. I don’t care what Michael told you. I don’t care who asked you to keep it a secret.”

She shakes her head, trying and failing to catch her breath.