Rose's POV
“How could you be so stupid?”
Nathan stared at the road as he drove, his jaw clenched so tightly I could hear his teeth grind against each other
“She's my sister,” I reminded him in a small voice.
I wanted to be brave but being alone in a car while he was so pissed reminded me of how much weaker I was compared to him.
“And I'm your fucking husband! I told you I was handling it but you just had to go snooping and fuck everything up!”
He was my husband and once upon a time that would have been enough to make me stay home and pray he finds her.
But I was tired of the head shakes and dismissive smiles when I asked about Bella.
I was tired of being the good wife who only ever said ‘yes’ and ‘as you wish’ to her husband.
Blind devotion was what landed my sister in a morgue for his mistress I almost called my friend.
I was done with that crap.
“It's a good thing I went searching, then, ‘cause at the pace you were going it would have taken decades for you to find her.” I spat with vindictive pride.
“Or maybe you never planned to find her at all.”
The car screeched to a halt as he slammed his foot on the break.
I cried out as my head bounced off the dashboard. The pain spread through the side of my face and my ears began to ring.
When the ringing settled I turned to him with annoyed glare and my courage dried up when I caught the wild look in his eyes.
Dark and narrowed, the kind of stare I had seen him give to one of his men who thought it'd be funny to slap my ass.
Nathan had tortured that man in my presence, and the remembrance of his dying screams made me want that look nowhere near me let alone on me.
“Nathan…” I tried to weasel my way out of the mess but he was quick to interrupt.
“What makes you believe I haven't been searching for Bella?” His voice was eerily calm.
I swallowed and shook my head. “That's not what I meant….”
“Have you been talking to someone, baby?”
“No.”
Nathan smiled, suddenly and I could immediately tell he did not believe me.
I looked out the window, surveying the quiet street he had pulled up into.
It wouldn't matter even if there were people around to help me.
He could pull out his gun, shoot me dead in front of all of them and no one would so much as blink.
I placed my hand on my belly as frightened tears threatened to fall from my eyes.
I didn’t want him to know about the baby. Once he did, it would make getting away that much more impossible.
But if it was my only chance of leaving that car alive I was ready to do it.
Thankfully the sight of my fear softened Nathan before I could do anything drastic.
He took out a cigarette and took several drags from it, despite knowing how much I hated it before breaking the silence in the car.
“You never should have gone to that morgue. Not without telling me.” He shook his head with a tired sigh.
“Why?” I asked, softly.
“Because if Bella's killer found out you were there before I got to you, you'd have your own little compartment right next to her.”
A frightened shiver swept through me.
Yet I latched on to one part of his sentence.
“Are you saying you know who her killer is?”
He nodded, taking another drag from his cigarette.
My heart picked up in my chest, fear, excitement, nervousness and other emotions I couldn't put to words filling me.
Was Nathan confessing and giving up Katherine.
He loved her more than anything, more than even me.
There was no way he would tell me what he did knowing he and his precious Katherine would rot in jail for the rest of their lives.
Unless he expected me to keep the secret and go on with life knowing I was sharing a bed with my sister’s killer.
I would smother him in his sleep with my pillow, I decided as hot rage welled up inside him.
“Who is it?” I asked, impatiently, hoping he would say the truth.
I already knew what I would do. I would take his gun peeking out of his jacket and blow his brains out right then and there.
Consequences be damned.
My hand crept closer to his belt, waiting for the moment to pull out the weapon.
He turned to face me and said, softly. “Bella's killer is Francis Salford.”
