Sophie Oak - Pure Bliss

Her hands shook. Innocent. It was a word he used a lot. He treated her like a child half the time, like an idiot child who couldn’t be trusted with anything like responsibility. She’d tried to become more involved in the organization, but the most he let her do was talk to potential investors.

And what did he mean he didn’t believe?

“I need Hope.” Christian’s voice softened, cajoling. Through the crack she could see him put a hand out, touching Elaine’s hair. “You have to see that. I love her. I really do. She’s perfect, but you know as well as I do that men are imperfect. I have needs that I could never ask her to meet. It wouldn’t be fair to her.”

“But it’s fine to ask me because I’m just a whore.” Bitterness dripped from Elaine’s mouth. Her eyes narrowed even as Christian caressed her hair. “I like Hope. I actually feel guilty about bringing her here. I should have left her in that bus station.”

Christian’s hands tightened on her hair. “For the vermin of the world to devour?”

Elaine hissed a little as Christian’s hands tightened. “Well, better vermin than a snake. She’s going to find out about you. She’s going to find out about the theft and the scams. What are you going to tell her when we shut everything down in a year or two? We always have to. We’ll get close to getting caught, and we’ll pull up stakes. What are you going to tell Hope when we have to flee the authorities?”

Christian’s lips curved in a humorless smile. “She’s a good girl. She’ll do what I tell her to do.”

Because she always had. Like she’d always obeyed her mother, right up to the moment she’d told her to get out.

Christian wasn’t some white knight.

“What is she going to do when the feds come in? And eventually they are going to come in, Christian. This is a good setup, the best you’ve ever run, but can’t you see you’re skirting disaster? You’re getting too much publicity and you’re buying way too much into your own cover. Hope isn’t good for you. She’s a sweet girl and all, but you’re obsessed with her. It’s going to cost us all.”

Christian’s eyes grew cold though Elaine wasn’t looking into them. She was staring at his chest, her hand possessively on his arm.

“Leave Hope out of this. She’s mine, and it’s going to stay that way. I’ll take care of the authorities. You know how this works. We’ll close up this operation if it gets too hot. It’s already netted several million. I can’t get out of here just yet. I made a deal with certain people to get them information.”

“I know what Jerry does. I’m not stupid. He’s fleecing people out of credit card numbers, and you’re selling them to the fucking mob. Hope will love that.”

Hope didn’t love anything about this conversation. Rage was churning in her gut. Used. She’d been so used. Her anger was directed at anyone and everyone, including herself. How long had Christian and Elaine been partners? She wasn’t sure who she was more angry at, Christian for being a duplicitous snake, or Elaine for making her think she was Hope’s friend. Or herself for being the idiot who believed it all.

“And what about all these followers, Christian?” Elaine asked. “Some of them know too much.”

Christian stepped back and shrugged as he opened a drawer of his desk. “I have a list of people to get rid of when we leave town. We’ve been careful. Most of the idiots on the farm don’t have anyone looking for them. When they disappear, no one will care.”

“Yes, I believe that’s why we selected Hope.”

“And if I have to dispose of my wife, I will.” Christian’s cold words broke through Hope’s anger. He would kill her. God, he was talking about killing all of her friends. He couldn’t really do that. He wouldn’t do that. No way. Christian might be a criminal, but he wasn’t a killer. She had to know him well enough to know he wasn’t a killer. She had to.

He walked back to Elaine with a deep sigh.

Hope stood there unable to move. She needed to get away, but she couldn’t force her feet to work. She felt frozen, as though she had to see this scene play out or it wouldn’t be real to her. Christian had one hand at his side, but the other came out to caress Elaine’s cheek. A sweet gesture he’d performed for Hope a million times.

“I will handle everything, El. I always do. I always clean up my loose ends. You should know that by now.”

He turned her in his arms, her back to his chest. Elaine’s eyes closed, and a dreamy look came over her face.

“I love you, Christian. I’ve loved you so much longer than that stupid twit. Let’s get rid of her and take the money and run.” Elaine’s hand disappeared around Christian’s backside.

Christian’s hands tightened, and his left arm came up. A flash of silver caught Hope’s eye, and Christian pulled a knife across his mistress’s throat. Her white neck split, gaping open before a waterfall of life began to gush from her.

There was a terrible gagging sound and then a thump as Elaine hit the floor.

A scream curdled inside Hope. She swallowed it down, backing up until she couldn’t see anymore.

“Yeah, it’s Chris. Jerry, I don’t give a fuck about that. I just killed Elaine. Because the bitch was going to tell my wife everything. I can’t have that. Get someone here to clean up. Now. Bitch bled all over my rug.”

Hope’s hands were shaking as she backed up, desperate to not make a sound. He couldn’t find her. She would go the same way Elaine had. Tears made the world a watery mess as she hurried down the hall and back out into the night. She was supposed to be at a friend’s house, but she’d walked back up the hill to get her sweater. She ignored the cool air and braced herself.

She hid behind a shed as Jerry and his men walked by. There were three of them. Men who had laughed with her, worked with her. Men who claimed to be her friends. They were going to clean up after Christian’s crime. They would dispose of Elaine’s body, and then come tomorrow they would smile and laugh with her again.

All lies.

When she was alone, she calmed, forcing a placid smile on her face. Hope walked back to her friend’s house, wondering all the while if the devil she’d married was watching her, planning her own death.

Hope forced herself back to reality. She could almost feel the Atlanta night around her, but she was here in Bliss. She wasn’t the same girl Christian had fooled. Not by half.

“Let me get this straight,” James began. Hope finally turned to look at him, and sure enough, there was anger on his face. “You watched him kill someone, and then you went back to him?”

“What was I supposed to do?” Hope sniffled, trying hard not to cry. She’d expected his anger. Noah was just sitting and listening, but he hadn’t moved from the couch. He wasn’t jumping up to hold her. They were in their corners, and she was in hers. “If I had left, he would have searched for me. I had planned to gather some money and go to the police, but something happened that night.”

“Did you kill him?” Noah asked, his voice steady and even.

Hope swallowed before answering, the affirmation of her crime stuck in her throat. “Yes. I tried. I suppose it was more of a case of I didn’t try to save him. It was chilly that night, and Christian couldn’t stand the cold. He also had trouble sleeping. He’d taken a pill when he came to bed.”

“You fucking slept with him again?” The question tore from James’s mouth.

James’s vitriol was going to be worse than Christian’s. She forced herself not to cry. “No. I claimed my period was coming. Christian wouldn’t touch me when that happened. He went to sleep after turning on the space heater. I got up in the night and got dressed. I stole money from the safe after I found the code. My birthday. As I was leaving, I stumbled over the heater. It was so dark. I was terrified, but Christian didn’t stir. Not even when the curtains caught fire.”