Ruthless Creatures by J.T. Geissinger

“Yes. I gave them everything they needed to nail him for
enough crimes to put him away for life. In return, they gave
me a new identity, relocated me, and wiped my existence off
the books. Those were things I couldn’t do myself.”
I look at him, so stuffy and studious. So different from
Kage.
Stop thinking about Kage!
“And what about your wife, David? What about your
kids?”
His expression hardens. For a moment, he looks more like
a gangster than an accountant.
“Claudia hated my guts. It was an arranged marriage. She
was from one of the Italian families Max wanted to make an
alliance with. He was always forcing people into those kind of
arrangements to prove their loyalty. She cheated on me all the
time. Flagrantly. I don’t even think those kids were mine. They
looked exactly like her hairy Sicilian bodyguard.”
I think of Kage telling me how he couldn’t marry me
because Max had control over his whole life, including that,
and feel a twinge of empathy for David.
Then I think of all the times I wanted to kill myself after he
disappeared, and the twinge of empathy goes up in a poof of
smoke.
“You could’ve told me. You could’ve told me all of this.”
His hazel eyes shine with emotion. He slowly shakes his
head. “I should have. But I loved you too much. I wasn’t
willing to take the risk that you’d leave me if you found out
the truth.”
He always was risk averse. Feeling dizzy again, I look
away.
“So you left me instead. Told me you were going on a hike
and never came back.”
I find the will to make eye contact with him again and
whisper, “Broke my heart a thousand ways and left me like a
zombie. Left me for dead. Can you imagine what it’s been like