Page 102 of Noble Neighbor
Surely there had been signs?
“How’d Inotrealize who he was?” Sunny murmured.
Mutely, he nodded.
“After … it all came to light, I spent days, nights, wracking my mind, thinking back for signs I’d missed. There were none, Oliver. Believe me. None. Nothing to indicate the sociopath he was. Lathan was selfish, yes. Arrogant and ambitious, for sure, but” — she chuffed a bitter laugh — “a perverted killer? No. That day … I thought he was having an affair, you see, and was searching for proof.
“Instead, I found” — she gulped — “the pendant.”
Sunny shifted, and Oliver let her rise. She paced a few steps and took position in front of the window. “Was our marriage happy? At first, yes. Lathan supported my career, then my business. When I won the design award, he was envious. His wife outshone him, and it was a bitter pill to swallow, but he seemed to get over himself.
“Then, a few months later, when the senator announced her presidential ambitions, Lathan was furious.The plan had been for him to run, in four, maybe eightyears’ time. He raged about his mother stealing his future.He didn’t want to be thesecondRandolph president. He wanted to be thefirst. But to maintain the happy family façade, he had to support her, and” — she shook her head, looking at the ground — “I found out later, stop visiting hisclubs.”
Oliver rose, stepping toward her. “Sunny—”
She swung around and faced him, heat blasting from her eyes. “No! Stay back, Oliver. Let me” — she inhaled another deep breath, slowly exhaling — “let me get this out.”
He held his hands up.
“And before you askthatquestion — our sex life was regular and good, but he never tied me up, and henevertried to choke me during or after the act. So no, I had no fucking idea my husband” — she spat the word out — “was into rope bondage and frequented a BDSM club to get his jollies on. But obviously, as his wife, I should’ve.”
She stalked across the room to fiddle with the framed Christmas photos on the mantel. “All the while, he went about his murderous rampage, and then came home to an unsuspecting wife and innocent babies. I never knew,” she tagged on, her voice cracking.
Oliver rushed over and dragged her into his arms. “I believe you, Sunny. I believe you.”
“Truly, really?” She leaned back, placing her hands on his biceps, a furrow between her eyes.
“Truly, really.” And he did. How could he not?
When she’d stumbled on the truth, she’d acted.
“How do we go on from here, Oliver? There is a world of hurt between us.”
“Not going to lie to you, Sunny. I asked myself the same question, but my doubt dissolved the moment I walked into your room upstairs. Kenzie and Molly … I love those girls. Who their father was doesn’t matter, because theirmothermatters.” He trailed a finger over her face. So many changes, he thought, and so many sacrifices.
But there was one more thing he needed to resolve — a thought that struck him as he drove toward the house earlier. “I have to ask this, Sunny. Randolph’s estate … did you use it to buy the farm? Because I’m not—”
Sunny placed a finger over his lips, much like she did that very first day they’d met. “I’ve a comfortableunsulliednest egg, Oliver. Just before the accident, myfashion business sold. I moved the money offshore, already planning on finding some obscure place to resettle with the girls.But after the accident I knew more needed to be done hence” — she circled her hand around her face — “this and the multiple moves and identity changes. I guess, if someone dug really deep, they could follow the money and end up with Sunny Jones.
“As to Lathan’s estate …”
She shuddered and crossed her arms, rubbing her hands over them. “I donated about three-quarters of it to various abuse shelters and a veteran's program, never touching a cent for personal use. The rest, well, it ended as part of Savannah Randolph’s estate, and it’s in an account Aleck handles, growing, waiting for the next worthwhile cause.”
Oliver’s heart ached anew for Sunny’s agonizing choices. She’d been going it alone for so long, but not anymore.
He would help carry the burden from now on. He and Clement. “I love you, Sunny. I want to marry you, make your girls mine. Clem already considers—”
Sunny gasped, “Clement! Does he know?” she whispered.
“Yes.”
She squeezed her eyes closed for a beat. A few of the tears tracked down her cheeks. “Oh, Oliver, he saw … you said he saw … Lathan …” When she lifted her lids, it was to stare at him with blue pools of misery. “He must hate us.”
“Shh. He doesn’t. We had a long talk. His feelings for the girls haven’t changed. In fact, he told me they needed a big brother to protect them even more.”
“They can never know, Oliver. The girls. It’s a burden they do not need to carry. They’re the reason—”
As before, he silenced her with a finger to her lips.
