If I was Alessandra Carter, maybe more than I thought.
“The basement is this way.” I gestured and started walking. “It’s locked, but I know where Erik keeps a spare key.”
My flip phone still sat on the side table. Nothing flashed, so I hadn’t missed a call. Erik’s plane shouldn’t land for a few more hours. It gave me enough time to get Cooper into the basement, prove to him that nothing nefarious was taking place, and get him out of the house.
Before I betrayed Erik more than I already had.
A pain seared through my chest again and this time, I cried out, leaning against the wall near the kitchen.
Cooper caught my arm and frowned. “Hey, are you okay?”
Truthfully, I didn’t know, but instead of saying that, I just nodded. “Yeah. I’m okay. Let’s just get this over with.”
He released me, and I missed his comforting touch. It felt good, despite the pain in my chest. Something to distract me. To keep me focused.
The master bedroom sat at the end of the hall, not far away, but it seemed like an eternal walk.
“Is the basement always locked?” Cooper asked.
I nodded. “Yeah, usually. “
We walked past it. I’d tested the knob many times, either when Erik hadn’t been home or when he’d been asleep. But something always kept me from sneaking in. I’d seen Erik hide the spare key in the conch shell that sat on our dresser. He hadn’t known I was out of the shower, still letting the water run.
Maybe Erik wasn’t the problem. He had a wife who spied and snuck around to find information—and now had another man in our house.
Maybe in the past, I’d been a horrible person, and that’s why Erik didn’t want me to find out more about the past.
But when I asked Erik why he kept me out, he said it was because he had sensitive files he didn’t want me to see. Considering he was a forensic medical examiner, I understood that, but I hoped he’d trust me more.
Then again, maybe there was something else down there besides just files. Maybe the answers I desperately sought were down there too.
I hesitated by the master bedroom, feeling lost in my home.
How stupid was that? Even if I only remembered it for the last six months, I knew every inch. How the cabinet next to the sink creaked when it opened. And the way a draft came under the spare bathroom door. The third floor board just before the bedroom moaned if you stepped on the right side of it.
This house belonged to me.
Or it had. Until just a little while ago, when it never even occurred to me that Erik might not be the man I thought he was. Maybe it belonged to him. I didn’t have a job or make any money. I took care of Erik. Cooked his food, did the laundry, cleaned the house. Fear slithered down my spine. Genuine fear that Cooper’s claim of something more sinister happening could be true.
“Hey.” Cooper gripped my elbow. “Breathe.”
I let out a breath and went dizzy. At some point I stopped breathing, holding the air in my lungs until it burned. The world tilted, and if not for Cooper’s arm, the floor would have made a new sound from my body smacking into it.
“Come on.” Cooper guided me back to the living room and sat me in the chair.
The same overstuffed cream chair that I’d sat in more times than I could remember. I’d swing my feet over the side, engrossed deep in a book. Erik would come by and kiss my neck, or bring me a nightcap. The comfortable, cozy chair that had always been my favorite spot. But it didn’t bring comfort now. Just a place to sit as Cooper gazed worriedly into my own eyes.
“You’re okay,” he said. “Slow, steady breaths.”
He took my hands in his, turning them up and rubbing my palms with his thumbs. The gentle motion comforted me, and my breathing evened out. His warm touch made my skin tingle and pushed away the fear. I couldn’t explain how or why, but something about Cooper just made me feel safe.
Our faces were inexplicably close. I could smell the coffee on his breath. See the slight dip in the bridge of his nose, as if maybe it had been broken a long time ago. He paused. His gaze darkened with need.
I wanted to satisfy whatever need he had. Blood rushed through my veins, and I could hear my pulse pounding in my ears. Cooper pulled back and stood. He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed.
“Uh. The key. Where?”
“If he left the spare key,” I said. “It would be in the conch shell on the dresser in our bedroom.”
He smiled as if nothing happened, and the dimple popped out. “Great. Let’s go see if it’s there.”
I nodded, letting out a heavy breath. Taking my hands again, he pulled me up. My knees felt weak, but I no longer knew if it was from fear, or from the feeling of having Cooper close to me. When the feeling of guilt returned, I reminded myself that Erik was keeping something from me.
Still, I couldn’t imagine it being something as sinister as what Cooper theorized. But what if there was something else? What if Erik didn’t want me in the basement because he was seeing another woman? Maybe that's where he'd call her, or talk to her on the computer.
No.
It was an insane thought. Erik wouldn’t cheat on me.
Except more than once I’d caught him staring at me. Sometimes in awe, sometimes as if he didn’t know me. When I’d asked about it, he always would say, “You’ve just changed since the accident. That’s
