My head shot up. “Your money? Me after your money? Are you insane, Zade? I was under the impression all your money was going to ensure that your sordid secret wasn’t leaked.”
“What sordid secret? I haven’t got a clue what you’re talking about.”
“I guess we’re even then because I haven’t got a clue why you keep trying to make me out to be some sort of gold digger.”
He leaned forward, his eyes piercing. “You abandoned me when I needed you most. What else was I supposed to think? I thought we had something special. And though no vows were said, I thought we would be together for better or worse. My worst came and you jumped ship.”
I sprang to my feet. “You were the one who did the abandoning, Zade. You made me look like a fool! Was she worth it?” I crossed my arms and bit my lips as I felt hot tears sting my eyes.
He threw his arms upwards. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“The hell you don’t. I saw the photos, Zade. She must have set you up really good for you to steal to pay her off. But I bet you didn’t plan to get caught.”
“Again, with the damn photos. What the fuck are you talking about?” The pitch of his voice had gone up, a sure sign of his annoyance.
I shook my head in disbelief. He was actually going to deny everything and play the innocent. Well, I would annoy him into confessing. “Are you really going to sit there and pretend that you weren’t seeing another woman behind my back?”
“What?” he spat out, his expression incredulous.
I never knew he was such a great actor. I adored him and I thought I knew him inside and out, but how utterly and totally wrong I was. I knew nothing. “So… you weren’t seeing anyone else.”
His face was like thunder. Hell, if I hadn’t seen the photos with my own eyes I would have sworn he was telling the truth.
“Where did this come from?” he demanded angrily. “You’re the only woman I was with at that time. There was no one else.”
“Liar!” I snarled.
“I’veneverlied to you! There was no other woman. Ever,” he raged. “But, since we’re slinging shit around, how about explaining why you dropped me quicker than a hot potato and moved on to more lucrative options as soon as you realized I was in trouble.”
I pressed my hands to my temples and turned away. “Something is not making sense here. I’m confused.”
“Exactly. Now you know why I’m sitting on your couch in my wet underwear in the middle of the night. There is something here that doesn’t add up. There is a whole and we each have a half, but until we put them together, we can’t make heads or tails of it.”
I took a deep breath, fighting for the fragile control that I could feel slipping away. Was he really telling the truth? But I saw the photos. I turned to face him, tears glittering on my lashes.
“How about you start? Start with missing my birthday dinner. Where were you that night?”
“Randy had made an insinuation at a meeting earlier in the afternoon that he believed I was stealing money so I was at home trying to get my affairs in order and prove it wasn’t me when the police arrived with their trumped-up charges. I was framed for embezzlement, but I didn’t have the time to prove it at the time.”
“At no point did it occur to you to call me?”
“Forgive me, but I had bigger issues to deal with,” he said sarcastically. “At the very least, I expected you to call at some point. Then I would have been able to explain what was happening. But you never called.”
“So why did you plead guilty then?”
“Since you didn’t give a damn it seemed to be the smartest thing to do at that time. It freed me from Randy’s ability to ever again profit from my work.”
I shook my head. “Right, so I’m to believe Randy, your best friend, framed you?”
“Don’t be so quick to defend him. Who do you think first put the idea into my head that you were just all about money?”
“I’m sure you misunderstood him. Randy is a gentleman and would never sink to mud-slinging. Anyway, if you loved me, why would you believe the worst of me?”
“I could ask you the same thing, Sapphire. If you loved me, why would you be so quick to believe I was seeing someone else?”
“I have evidence of your cheating. You have no evidence of my greed.” I bit my trembling lips.
“What evidence?” he pounced, his eyes fixed on me.