Page 41 of The Atonement
“I’ve got a card.” He pulled out his wallet. “You’re sure you’re not sick?”
“Positive. Healthy as a horse.”
He walked toward me, retrieving a business card from his wallet. When he reached me, he passed it over and I stared down at the bent edges and a scrawled note that read,Lunch @ 12. “Call John. He’s handled bothmy divorces. Good guy. He’ll make sure you’re taken care of.”
“Thanks.” I tapped a finger on the card before shoving it in my pocket. “I should get going.”
“Of course. Me too. I’ve got a one fifteen.” He tapped his watch and turned to go into the conference room on our right. I should’ve been in that meeting. I should’ve been working to build the company I started from the ground up.
But I didn’t care to.
Nothing mattered but bringing my family home.
I was giving up so much in order to deal with Ainsley’s drama.
The sacrifices, it seemed, were endless, and she’d never be grateful for any of them.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
AINSLEY
When Peter answered the phone, the noise in the background told me he was somewhere outside. Somewhere crowded. “Where are you?”
“I’m…at work. Why?”
Had he really gone to work after what we’d just gone through? Could he be that callous? “Can you meet me somewhere?”
“Uh, sure. Like where? And why?”
“Things got out of hand before. We really do need to talk. I overreacted, and I’m sorry. I was worried and nervous, and…I’m sorry, too, if I hurt you. I was scared you were going to hurt me, and—”
“Ainsley, you know I’d never want to hurt you.”
“I know that,” I told him, pausing as I worked to catch my breath and veered the car off at the next exit, heading for downtown. “Look, let’s just meet somewhere public. We can grab coffee and talk. No weapons.No threats. Just…talk. We used to be able to do that, right? I’d like to think we still can.”
“That sounds great. How about the coffee shop on Eighth?”
“Perfect. I can be there in twenty minutes.”
“I’ll get us a table.”
Twenty minutes later,I parked in front of the local comedy club and crossed two streets on my way to the coffee shop. Inside, Peter was waiting for me at a table in the back. I approached the counter and ordered a mint green tea, taking my time as I poured a packet of sweetener into the paper cup. I avoided looking at my husband, though I could feel his eyes burning into me from behind. He blended into the scenery around us. Easily faded into the background. He was just an average guy in a coffee shop.
Was that how he’d gotten away with things for so long?
Was that why he’d never been caught? Why no one ever suspected he could be dangerous?
WhyInever suspected he could be dangerous?
I thought back to what I’d learned months ago—that when we’d met, I was meant to be his next victim. I supposed I was lucky that it hadn’t ended that way, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t taken anything from me. Half my life had been wasted on him. On whatever this was.
Once I could no longer justify standing there, slowlystirring the sweetener into the tea, I turned and met his eyes, crossing the room and taking a seat in front of him.
“Hey.”
He nodded. “Hey.” His fingers laced around the coffee cup in front of him, then went back under the table. “Thanks, uh, thanks for suggesting this.” He scratched his cheek, looking around.
“I wanted to be able to talk things through.”
