This Man Confessed(85)

“Congratulations, anyway.” He smiles.

“What?” I blurt.

“I never congratulated you on your actual wedding day. I was too busy being an arsehole.”

“Oh, thanks.” The relief that takes hold makes me sag in my chair, but just as quickly, I’m stiff as a board. Matt knows, and he has been doing a fantastic job of keeping my parents informed and up-to-date on my love life. He’ll be like a pig in shit over this. That cooling fury has just boiled over into the realms of panic. I quickly disregard the possibility that he’s called my parents already because if he had, then Dan would know, and he wouldn’t be sitting opposite me happily chomping his way through a tuna melt. I need to get to Matt before he gets to my parents. Or I could just ring my parents and tell them myself. But I want to see them with Jesse. I want to do this bit right, make it special.

“You okay?” Dan’s worried tone pulls me from yet more mental meltdown.

“Yeah, so when are you going back?”

“I need to check flights.” He dabs his mouth with his napkin and proceeds to launch into a proper apology speech.

I spend the next half hour listening, nodding, yes-ing and no-ing, but I’m a million miles away from the conversation, my head struggling to decide on what to do for the best. Why hasn’t Matt called them already?

“You’ll get sacked.”

“Huh?” I glance down at my Rolex, noting it’s two fifteen. I’m already late, but I feel no sense of urgency to hurry back to the office. The only urgency I have is to resolve my little Matt issue once and for all. “Yeah, I’d better shoot.”

“Nice watch.” He nods at my wrist.

“Wedding present.” I stand and brush myself down. “Which way are you headed?”

“Back to Harvey’s.”

“Okay, will you call me? I mean, you won’t just leave, will you?”

His eyes warm and he stands before pulling me into him and giving me the biggest cuddle. “Of course not.” He kisses my head. “Let’s not fall out again, okay?”

“Okay. Keep it in your trousers then.”

“I promise,” he assures me. “Take care.”

“You, too.” I leave Dan, but instead of going to the office, I call in sick again and go to get my car. I’m walking on thin ice, but this really cannot wait. Matt won’t be home, but he’ll be at his office, and I really don’t care where I verbally bash him.





Chapter Eighteen



But he’s not at his office, and he hasn’t been for weeks. After driving across the city in midafternoon traffic, I pulled up at the firm where he works, only to be told that Matt lost his job a few weeks ago.

Despite his misfortune, though, I don’t feel pity or concern. Nothing is going to damp down my resentment and contempt. I sit in my car and pull my phone from my bag, full of determination. I’ll track him down.

It rings once. “Ava?”

I was expecting a voice laced with smugness and deep satisfaction, so when I hear this one, which is broken and strained, I’m thrown completely. It takes me a few moments to piece a sentence together and when I do, it’s not at all what I had intended to say. “Are you okay?”

He laughs, but it’s weak. “Why don’t you ask your husband?”

The back of my head hits the headrest of my seat, and I stare up at the ceiling of my car. I should have predicted this. “How bad?”

“Oh, just a couple of broken ribs and a black eye. Your husband knows how to do a job properly, I’ll give him that.”

“Why did you do it?”

“Because I want everything he has with you. Or I did. Kate took great pleasure in telling me you were marrying him, and then that letter fell on my doormat and I wondered why you would be seeking an abortion if you were married, so I guessed he didn’t know. I took a chance. Why are you having an abortion?”

“I’m not.”

“Then why—”

“Because I was shocked!” I shout defensively. I’m not explaining myself to him. An uncomfortable silence falls down the line, but I’m the first to break it. “I think this is where you give up, Matt.”

“Well, I won’t be setting myself up for another beating from your unhinged husband. Not even you are worth the pain I’m in right now. Oh, and don’t worry about Elizabeth and Joseph. I’ve been given a little taste of what will happen if I share your news. Can I suggest that you get your address changed so I don’t receive any of your shit in the future?” He hangs up, and I stare down at my phone in disbelief. I didn’t blast him with half of the words I’ve been mentally preparing throughout the day. I didn’t get to spit my hatred at him, or even slap his face. Despite that, though, it’s one more thing ticked off my list of issues. Sarah has apologized, for what it’s worth, but she’s gone and that’s all that matters. Kate and Sam are together, and Kate and Dan are not. I’ve made friends with my brother, and Matt has been trampled. But what I really need to be doing is finding my husband and making friends with him. I chuck my phone on the passenger seat and make my way back toward the city.