Chapter 15 - The Husband Who Came Back From the Dead|
I saw Jonah again at 2:17 the following morning.
Not in a photograph.
Not in a dream.
In person.
He stood beneath a streetlamp outside the protected house, wearing a dark jacket and carrying nothing but an envelope.
Gabriel had already alerted Dominic, who arrived before anyone allowed Jonah through the gate.
I watched from an upstairs window.
Even from that distance, I recognized the way he stood.
His left shoulder slightly lower than his right.
The nervous habit of rubbing his thumb against his wedding ring.
Except he wasn't wearing the ring anymore.
When Gabriel finally escorted him inside, Lily was asleep upstairs.
I stood in the living room, unable to move.
Jonah stopped when he saw me.
“Mara.”
One word.
Three years of grief.
Thousands of nights spent wondering how I would raise our daughter.
Countless hours crying over a grave that apparently held a stranger.
All of it collapsed into that one word.
I slapped him.
Hard.
Jonah didn't move.
“You let me bury you.”
His eyes filled with tears.
“I know.”
“You let Lily grow up without a father.”
“Mara, please—”
“No!”
My voice cracked.
“You don't get to say please.”
Dominic stood several feet away, remaining silent.
Jonah looked exhausted.
His face was thinner than I remembered.
A jagged scar marked his jaw.
“They told me they'd kill you,” he whispered.
I stared at him.
“Who?”
“Simon Voss.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“Explain.”
Jonah glanced toward the windows.
“I found records proving Simon had been moving money through the Saint Agnes foundation. Elena had suspected him for months.”
“Why didn't you tell me?” Dominic demanded.
“Because Simon had people inside your organization.”
Jonah swallowed.
“I didn't know who you trusted.”
I shook my head.
“So you disappeared?”
“They arranged the warehouse fire to make everyone believe I was dead.”
“Who arranged it?”
“Owen Mercer helped. Simon paid for it.”
Dominic's expression hardened.
“Were you involved?”
Jonah looked down.
“I altered the building's security logs before the fire.”
My breath caught.
“Why?”
“They threatened Mara. She was pregnant.”
Dominic's eyes darkened.
“And afterward?”
“I ran.”
Silence filled the room.
I looked at the man I had once loved.
“You could have found a way to tell me.”
Jonah's tears spilled over.
“I know.”
“And you didn't.”
“No.”
He looked toward the staircase.
“Does Lily know about me?”
I shook my head.
“Not yet.”
His face crumpled.
Before anyone could speak, he placed the envelope on the table.
“Elena gave me this before she disappeared.”
Dominic went still.
“Before she what?”
May you like
Jonah looked up.
“Dominic, there's something you need to understand about the night your wife supposedly died.”
