“Val, that’s enough! Put the knife down.”
Val turned the knife on James. “You don’t understand. Everything was fine until she got here and started snooping around.”
“Whatever you’re arguing about, it doesn’t matter.” He reached a hand out. “Give me the knife. Let me help you.”
She snorted a laugh. “You don’t get it. You think you know everything that goes on in your little world. Well, guess what? You don’t. You’re oblivious. You can’t help me. No one can. It’s too late for that now.”
She swung the knife at me again. I dodged it, preparing to tackle her to the ground. James beat me. He grabbed Val’s wrist and snapped it back. It made a popping sound. She squealed and dropped the knife. “You asshole! You broke my wrist!”
“I gave you a chance. You should have listened.” He turned toward me. “What is this all about?”
I stared at him. “You really don’t know, do you?”
“Would I be asking you if I did?”
While he tied a cloth napkin around my arm and one of the staff went for a first—aid kit, I explained everything. He appeared genuinely shocked.
Maybe he was telling the truth.
Maybe he didn’t know.
Layla and Georgia rushed to Val’s side.
“What happened to her?” Layla asked.
“He broke my wrist!” Val said.
“What?” Layla looked at James. “Why would you do such a thing?”
“She had a knife,” James said. “She stabbed Sloane with it.”
“I don’t understand. Why did you have a—”
“It’s over, Layla,” Val said. “Just ... stop. She knows. He does too.”
“Knows what?” Georgia asked. “What are you talking about?”
A look of guilt swept across Layla’s face, only it wasn’t guilt over keeping Val’s secret. It was the guilt associated with getting caught. She walked to James, cupping a hand over the side of his face, turning him toward her.
“You knew what happened,” James said, “and you didn’t tell me?”
“I was just ... I mean ... I love them both. Yes, Val confided in me, and I wished she hadn’t. But she did, and I ... I didn’t want to see her go to prison. What was I supposed to do?”
“The right thing, Layla. You were supposed to do the right thing.”
“I made a mistake. Don’t be mad, James. Please.”
He stepped back. “Mad? I’m not mad. I’m grateful.”
“You’re grateful?”
“That’s right. Grateful that Sloane proved me wrong. Grateful that I found out I couldn’t trust you before saying our vows tomorrow.”
“What are you saying?”
“The wedding is off.”
“James, please! No! Don’t do this.”
“It’s too late, Layla. Nothing will change it now.”
He placed a call to the police and asked the small crowd that had gathered to vacate the area. He ordered Val into a chair. Without taking his eyes off of her, he said, “Sloane, would you stay a moment?”
“Sure.”
“I owe you an apology too. I didn’t believe you before. I was wrong.”
The awkwardness in his tone told me apologies weren’t something he was accustomed to giving. “I appreciate it. Are you really calling off your wedding?”
He nodded. “I love Layla, but I cannot tolerate dishonesty, not in those closest to me. When she learned what Val had done, she should have discussed it with me, despite the cost to Val. Nick deserved to know the truth about what happened to his wife. Once the police arrive, I’ll make a call and see they release him today. If there’s anything else you need while you’re here, let me know, won’t you?”
“I owe you an apology, too. I misjudged you before. You seem like a decent man.”
“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Miss Monroe,” he said. “And now that I’ve done you a favor, perhaps one day you’ll do one for me.”
I had no doubt one day he’d hold me to that promise.
CHAPTER 20
Although I’d pieced together most of Marissa’s last night alive, I still knew nothing about her final moments. Had her murder been premeditated or was it as sudden as it seemed?
The police hadn’t arrived yet.
There was still time to find out.
Val had been restrained to a chair. I sat in front of her in silence, watching the fountain of tears stream down her face.
“Val,” I said. “I just want to know what happened.”
She stared at her trembling hands and whispered, “You know what happened.”
“I don’t. Not everything.”
She diverted her attention to the bandage wrapped around my arm. “Sorry. I’m ... not myself. Haven’t been since it happened.”
I shrugged. “I’ve had worse.”
“I almost didn’t come to the wedding, you know?” she said. “Even though time has passed, I knew I couldn’t see Marissa again. But Layla wanted things to be the way they used to be, back when we were all a bunch of happy, wide—eyed college girls. It’s what she wanted more than anything, and it was her wedding, so I tried to give her that.”
“What happened between you and Marissa that night?”
“I was sitting with Marissa on Layla’s back deck the night of the bachelorette party, laughing about old times. I told her how much I missed us, missed what we had, and how hard it had been on me when she left. One night we were together; the next she was dating a man. I told her I’d tried to understand, but I didn’t.”
“What did she say?”
“She shrugged it off and said what we had was just a phase she was going through at the time. A phase she realized she wasn’t interested in anymore once she met Nick. She was so aloof and detached when she talked about it. She sat there with total disregard for my feelings, acting like what we had meant nothing to her, like we were no more friends than she was with anyone else. All that time, I’d thought I was jealous, but it wasn’t jealousy, or lust. It was pain. The pain of her rejection.”
“So you killed her over it?”
“I didn’t plan to, if that’s what you think. I ran after her that night. She wouldn’t talk to me. She only wanted Nick. She’d decided to go home that morning and said it would be best if I never contacted her again. And I ... I just ...”
“Lost it.”
“Not at first. I took a cab back to Layla’s. No one was home. I changed and planned on going to bed. But I knew how drunk she was, and I’d left her, alone. Like a pathetic dog, I went back to make sure she was okay. But what she’d said to me ... her words ... they kept running through my mind, and by the time I found her at the lagoon, all I could think about was how selfish she was, how everything had been about her. All this time. I’d been a fool. The love of my life had never loved me at all.”
Val had succumbed to a crime of passion, the years of pain and rejection bubbling over until rage spilled out—a rage she couldn’t suppress. Marissa’s death had been unnecessary and vile, and yet a small part of me pitied Val. Having suffered myself over the loss of Cade’s daughter Shelby, over the last few days I finally understood something Val didn’t—emotional pain has no purpose in the delicate corners of our eternal souls, and it wields no power unless we let it.
THE END
Deadly Sins: Lust is the third book in the Sloane Monroe Stories novella series, and is also a prequel to book eight in the Sloane Monroe series.
About Cheryl Bradshaw
Cheryl Bradshaw is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author writing in the genres of mystery, thriller, paranormal suspense, and romantic suspense. Her novel Stranger in Town (Sloane Monroe series #4) was a 2013 Shamus Award finalist for Best PI Novel of the Year, and her novel I Have a Secret (Sloane Monroe series #3) was a 2013 eFestival of Words winner for best thriller. Since 2013, seven of Cheryl’s novels have made the USA Today bestselling books list.
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Books by Cheryl Bradshaw
Sloane Monroe Series
Black Diamond Death (Book 1)
Charlotte Halliwell has a secret. But before revealing it to her sister, she’s found dead.
Murder in Mind (Book 2)
A woman is found murdered, the serial killer’s trademark “S” carved into her wrist.
I Have a Secret (Book 3)
Doug Ward has been running from his past for twenty years. But after his fourth whisky of the night, he doesn’t want to keep quiet, not anymore.
Stranger in Town (Book 4)
A frantic mother runs down the aisles, searching for her missing daughter. But little Olivia is already gone.
Bed of Bones (Book 5)
Sometimes even the deepest, darkest secrets find their way to the surface.
Flirting with Danger (Book 5.5) A Sloane Monroe Short Story
A fancy hotel. A weekend getaway. For Sloane Monroe, rest has finally arrived, until the lights go out, a woman screams, and Sloane’s nightmare begins.
Hush Now Baby (Book 6)
Serena Westwood tiptoes to her baby’s crib and looks inside, startled to find her newborn son is gone.
Dead of Night (Book 6.5) A Sloane Monroe Short Story
After her mother-n-law is fatally stabbed, Wren is seen fleeing with the bloody knife. Is Wren the killer, or is a dark, scandalous family secret to blame?
Gone Daddy Gone (Book 7)
A man lurks behind Shelby in the park. Who is he? And why does he have a gun?
* * *
Sloane Monroe Stories: Deadly Sins
Deadly Sins: Sloth (Book 1)
Darryl has been shot, and a mysterious woman is sprawled out on the floor in his hallway. She’s dead too. Who is she? And why have they both been murdered?
Deadly Sins: Wrath (Book 2)
Headlights flash through Maddie’s car’s back windshield, someone following close behind. When her car careens into nearby tree, the chase comes to an end. But for Maddie, the end is just the beginning.
* * *
Addison Lockhart Series
Grayson Manor Haunting (Book 1)
When Addison Lockhart inherits Grayson Manor after her mother’s untimely death, she unlocks a secret that’s been kept hidden for over fifty years.
Rosecliff Manor Haunting (Book 2)
Addison Lockhart jolts awake. The dream had seemed so real. Eleven—year—old twins Vivian and Grace were so full of life, but they couldn’t be. They’ve been dead for over forty years.
Blackthorn Manor Haunting (Book 3)
Addison Lockhart leans over the manor’s window, gasping when she feels a hand on her back. She grabs the windowsill to brace herself, but it’s too late——she’s already falling.
* * *
Till Death do us Part Novella Series
Whispers of Murder (Book 1)
It was Isabelle Donnelly’s wedding day, a moment in time that should have been the happiest in her life...until it ended in murder.
Echoes of Murder (Book 2)
When two women are found dead at the same wedding, medical examiner Reagan Davenport will stop at nothing to discover the identity of the killer.
* * *
Stand-Alone Novels
Eye for Revenge
Quinn Montgomery wakes to find herself in the hospital. Her childhood best friend Evie is dead, and Evie’s four-year-old son witnessed it all. Traumatized over what he saw, he hasn’t spoken.
The Devil Died at Midnight
When true—crime writer Alexandria Weston is found murdered on the last stop of her book tour, fellow writer Joss Jax steps in to investigate.
Hickory Dickory Dead
Maisie Fezziwig wakes to a harrowing scream outside. Curious, she walks outside to investigate, and Maisie stumbles on a grisly murder that will change her life forever.
Roadkill
Suburban housewife Juliette Granger has been living a secret life ... a life that’s about to turn deadly for everyone she loves.
* * *
Non-Fiction
Arise
Arise is a collection of motivational stories written by women who have been where you may find yourself today. Their stories are raw, real, heartfelt, and inspiring.
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