I loosen my tie as we enter the bedroom. Here I am, former corporate CEO who negotiated million-dollar deals with pompous business tycoons and presented in front of packed conferences. Yet, this tiny woman has me completely out of sorts.
“What the fuck is this?” I blurt, glancing around the little room when she shuts the door and drops down on her tiny bed. The walls are shaking with the annoying music. I literally have just enough space to crab-walk around two sides of the bed, and that’s it.
She shrugs. “I needed something…affordable, until I receive my first paycheck.”
Cringing, I glance around again. She’s here because of me. In a tiny room of a vibrating house full of weirdos. I owe her a lot more than an apology.
Her thin shoulders heave. “Why are you here, Eli?”
I focus my attention on her beautiful, perfect face. “I needed to talk to you. You asked for an explanation about my conviction, and I want to give it to you.”
Her head moves from side-to-side. “You were right. It’s really none of my business.” Her lips pull into a flat, rueful line.
“No, it is your business,” I tell her. “I want to share everything with you. Everything, Firefly.” I need her to understand that I mean it. “Can I sit?”
I wait until she nods to lower myself next to her. To be honest, there’s really nowhere else to even stand.
I set down the flowers and my file folder on the bed. I dare to take both of her hands in mine. When she doesn’t pull away, I meet her eyes. “You were right. I’m not sure how you figured it all out but you were right about my criminal case.”
Her big brown eyes widen at me. “So, you didn’t do any of it?” she breathes out. I hear the hopefulness in her voice.
I shake my head. “It really was Gabby.” I scrub a palm over my chin as I struggle to find the right words. “She’d…changed. She wasn’t herself anymore. I thought she was having an affair, but even though she denied it, I knew something was up with her. So I started to dig deeper. She was telling the truth about that one thing; there was no affair. She was too busy committing fraud and using my name and log-ins to carry out her dirty work. I realized that when I found the duffel bag of cash and paperwork hidden in the back of our bedroom closet.”
Jessa’s eyes widen. “Oh my god. Why did she do that?”
I shrug. “I guess she didn't want the quiet, small town life anymore. She wanted something bigger.”
“That’s awful,” Jessa whispers. “I’m so sorry.”
I nod, lost in thought, staring at our joined hands. “I remember that day so clearly. The day she confessed everything to me. I was getting ready for my parents’ wedding anniversary party. I went into the closet looking for a tie. I found the money and I confronted her. She dropped onto the rug on the living floor and broke down in crocodile tears. Words were spilling out of her deceitful mouth. Before I could even wrap my head around what she was saying, there were police cruisers surrounding my house. I didn’t think. I acted on instinct. I did what came naturally, what Dad would do, what Gramps would do in my position—I protected my wife, my family. I turned myself over to the police so Gabby could go free. I pled guilty to her crimes before anyone could take a close enough look at the evidence and find all the holes.”
Jessa shakes her head. “I have so many questions. I don’t even know where to start.”
“Take your time,” I tell her, pressing my lips to her knuckles. “I’ll answer anything you ask.” At this point, I’m willing to lay myself bare to her. All I want is for her to trust me fully.
“How did you figure out that she’d tricked you?” Jessa asks.
“The truth didn’t occur to me until I’d already pled guilty to Gabby’s crimes. When I really thought about it, I realized that she’d set me up. I’d started asking questions about her weird behavior and she knew that I’d eventually get to the bottom of things, so she planted the bag of money where I’d find it. Then she must have tipped off the police somehow.” Vitriol rises in my chest. “She knew I’d go into that closet. She knew I’d find the money. And she knew that even if she confessed everything to me, my gut instinct would be to protect her…especially after she told me she was carrying my child.”
“W-what?” Jessa barely mumbles.
“Gabby told me she was pregnant. It was bad enough that Callie would lose her mother, but I couldn’t stand the idea of the baby my wife was carrying being born behind bars. I wouldn’t let that happen.”
“Oh my god, Eli—where is the child now? Is your child out there somewhere?”
I laugh bitterly. “There was no child. She wasn’t pregnant. When I was locked up, my private investigator cellmate had some of his contacts on the outside look into it. The pregnancy was a lie.” I shake my head. “She was so convincing. She had a pregnancy test and everything. But that deceitful bitch could have marked it up with a Sharpie pen for all I know.”
Jessa is sobbing now, her face wet from her tears. We talk for an eternity, going through the file folder I brought along with me. We pore over my case documentation and I explain it all in painstaking detail. I don’t want secrets between us anymore.
“I know that what I did was dumb. You think I’m not embarrassed for being so damn gullible? But I didn’t want Callie to lose her mother. I figured a little
