Chapter 55 - The Husband I Buried

Now

‘Luis,’ I said carefully. ‘Why are you really here? What is this place?’

His mouth curved, just slightly. ‘I’m becoming,’ he said.

And in his eyes, I saw it clearly for the first time. Something unsettling. He wasn’t surprised to see me, after all. He’d expected me to come looking for him. This wasn’t a rescue. It was a reckoning.

Luis’s phone buzzed. ‘Just give me a second,’ he said. ‘If I don’t answer this, they’ll come down here, and I want some time with you.’

I didn’t answer, not trusting myself enough to speak.

While he told someone on the phone to cancel his appointments, I checked my own phone and found a missed call followed up with a message from Carl.

Full results for the crash are in. DNA from the car accident shows a first-degree familial match to Luis Tyndale. Due to fire damage, it could be Luis’s DNA, but maybe not.

My breath caught.

A first-degree familial match? So, if it wasn’t Luis, it was someone close. A parent, maybe?

Luis ended his call and looked at me. ‘I didn’t plan for things to turn out like this,’ he said. That didn’t make it hurt any less. He could have chosen to do things differently.

‘I think I should leave,’ I said. I’d come here to find out what I needed to, and now I knew. Mostly. As I turned toward the door, I noticed his wedding ring was gone. A textured circle with a diamond head replaced it.

His gaze followed mine and he lifted his hand. ‘It didn’t feel right to keep wearing it. I always hoped there would come a day when we could be together again.’

But that day wasn’t now. I was here because someone was messing with me. Maybe Luis. Maybe someone else, who had wanted me to see that Luis didn’t want me here.

I slid my own ring off, the metal catching against my skin. ‘Here,’ I said, tossing it toward him. ‘Have mine.’

‘Mackenzie, wait—’ His voice cracked for the first time, the calm veneer fracturing. ‘Don’t go.’

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a gold band. His wedding ring.

‘I took it off, but I kept it close,’ he said, his voice breaking.

For a heartbeat, all I could do was stare. Was this real, or just another tactic to manipulate me? Had he planned this, knowing exactly what would break me?

I didn’t plan on staying to find out.

‘I’ll tell you everything. Then you can decide what you want to do.’

I had no reason to think that anything he said would be the truth – but some desperate part of me needed to hear it in order to get him out of my system once and for all.

So instead of leaving, I turned back. I didn’t sit down. I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction.

‘Fine,’ I said. ‘You’ve got five minutes.’

Luis smiled faintly, relief softening his features. He crossed to the desk, sighing quietly. He pulled open a drawer and took out a folder. ‘Here,’ he said, tossing it onto the table between us. I hesitated, but curiosity clawed at me. A flash of my law firm’s letterhead peeked out from the top of the manila folder. I reached for it and flipped it open.

Lists of names. Old case notes. Most of them clients of mine.

My breath caught. ‘Where did you get these?’

Luis leaned back, calm as ever. ‘You’ve been a part of this from the beginning, even though you didn’t know it, Mackenzie. You’ve protected us for years.’

I stared at him, words failing me. ‘Protected you?’ I said. ‘How . . . That’s not possible. I didn’t know—’

He smiled. What used to look like support, like pride, now seemed patronizing. ‘No, you didn’t. That’s what made you perfect. That’s the truth,’ he said.

I’d asked for the truth, but now I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear it.

My pulse roared in my ears. ‘You used me.’

‘We gave you cases, you took them. It’s no different from any other firm. You did your job beautifully.’

‘You manipulated me.’

‘We guided you,’ he said softly. ‘We showed you how to see beyond the surface. And you profited from it. We paid you well.’

I struggled for words.

‘Your partnership, your firm’s expansion, you earned those things. We just opened doors for you. You’ve always belonged to something larger, Mackenzie. You just never realized.’

The words hit like a physical blow. My entire career – everything I’d built – reduced to their plan.

He must have seen the horror on my face because his voice softened. ‘It wasn’t my intention to trick you. I just wanted you to become who you were meant to be.’

I shook my head. ‘No. You don’t get to rewrite my life like that.’

He said nothing.

A numbness crept over me, but I held it together. Barely. The hours I’d spent on my career, my sacrifices, the nights I’d stayed in the office chasing justice for people who didn’t deserve it. ‘I worked for it, Luis. I earned it.’

He almost looked sad. ‘Elizabeth did us a favor because she believed in you too.’

‘Elizabeth is part of this,’ I said with dawning comprehension.

Luis hesitated. That half-second pause was enough. He didn’t need to confirm it. The betrayal was like acid in my chest.

‘You son of a bitch.’

‘I’m sorry. You wanted the truth.’ And he did look sorry – as sorry as I was to hear it.

He slid his wedding ring back on. The gesture was small, but it felt like a declaration.

‘The people I defended. They knew? They’re a part of this . . . cult?’

‘I wouldn’t call it a cult, but some of them were members of the Institute, yes.’

My blood ran cold. ‘How far does this reach?’ How many people did they have watching at all times, keeping things running?

‘We have people all over.’

‘Did you ever love me?’ I asked, hating myself for wanting to know how much of that had been a lie. He seemed surprised by the question.

‘Yes. Of course. I loved you. It’s why I wanted the best for you,’ he said. ‘I still love you. That’s why you need to listen to me when I tell you you’ll be given two choices.’

I swallowed hard. He was starting to scare me now. I’d finally found him, but I was beginning to think Evan was right. This wasn’t the man I’d known. ‘You can run, and they will find you, or you can keep your life exactly how it is, and we can do this together. Properly this time. No secrets.’

Luis looked at me like it was showtime. Like he was confident I’d make the choice he expected. He assumed that was why I’d come here. To be with him at any cost. I wasn’t sure what I’d do, but Dr. Avery was moving closer, as if he was about to interrupt our conversation.

Keith followed, watching Dr. Avery like a hawk.

‘You accept me for who I am, and I accept what you did,’ Luis said, his eyes capturing mine, holding me to the spot.

What I did.

Before I could say anything else, we were interrupted by the door opening.