Page 74 of Taking Denver

Ranger raises his eyes to mine, and another chill skitters through me. Or maybe it’s the stone floor.

He selects something on his phone, and the flat screen behind me flickers on. I turn. It’s playing CCTV footage.

“No, Denver’s not here. She never is. Thank god.”

“That’s mean. Don’t you love her?”

“Right now, I love you.”

My heart races. I recognize the voice.

I watch Wyatt approach the woman at the table—and kiss her. I inhale sharply and take a step back. Ranger is behind me and holds me in place.

“Turn it off,” I whisper.

“—around her, anyway,”Wyatt says.

A woman responds,“She seems nice.”

“She isn’t.”

“Hasn’t she been through a lot, though? Losing the baby?—”

Wyatt’s laugh is cold.“She’s better off never being a mother.”

“Ranger, turn it off.”

He lifts the remote but doesn’t turn it off. He shows me more. Different days, different places, different women. The food I’ve eaten is close to reappearing, but I can’t look away.

Ranger finally presses pause, but I can still see it playing in my mind. Wyatt. Kissing other women. Telling them he loves them.

“There’s more,” Ranger says. “But this one…” He selects another video.

“Something’s wrong tonight, honey,”the woman says.

“I’m fine.”

Wyatt is in a hotel room, the woman standing at the end of the bed. She tugs on his tie.“You said you couldn’t see me for a few days. Isn’t your kid due?”

“Just kiss me, will you?”

My heart stalls, my eyes flicking to the time and date on the screen. Theo’s due date. Our son had died hours before this. I was in a hospital room, Ranger holding me as I sobbed—and Wyatt was fucking another woman. My throat stings with vomit, and tears blur my vision.

It’s so cold. Freezing. When did the temperature drop? My fingers feel numb, and I flex them, trying to breathe, trying to think, trying to process.

“He’s been lying to you for years,” Ranger says. “I found out a few days ago but wanted to make sure before I told you.”

The room whirls. “It can’t… it can’t be true.”

Ranger continues. “It is. And that’s not all he did. He changed the life insurance, upped it by a hell of a lot. I don’t think he intended for you to come back from this vacation alive.”

I put my fingers in my hair and tug at the roots. I’m dreaming. I’ll wake up, and it will be my birthday morning again. This isn’t real.

It can’t be real.

I hear shifting and moaning as Cal drags Wyatt into the room and pushes him to his knees in the space before us.

I stare at my husband. His hands are tied behind his back. Blood spills over the silver tape on his mouth, and he’s sweating. He’s still in his suit. I bought him that suit.

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