Maureen lifted her tear-glazed eyes to Denys, the picture of wounded innocence. Her voice trembled just enough to be convincing. The words that came out, though, were pure venom.
"I heard Denise's surgery was paid for by Queenie Fox." Her lips curved with false sympathy. "Money earned that way... does it sit easy when you spend it?"
She slid a glance toward Denys as she spoke. She knew exactly which buttons to push—how to make him snap.
"Our money is clean." I kept my voice steady. "But I understand. To someone with a filthy mind, everything looks dirty."
My words meant nothing to him.
Maureen's little performance had already darkened his expression, but she wasn't finished. She tugged at the hem of his jacket, her delicate face crumpling with theatrical concern.
"Denys... Denise's daughter just had surgery, but she'll need the specialty drug too." She bit her lip. "Maybe I should let her have mine first..."
What a joke.
Denys treated Maureen like spun glass. He'd spent years chasing treatments for her condition. Besides forcing me to donate blood on schedule, he'd been searching everywhere for this drug—the one her weak heart desperately needed.