A wave of nausea surged through me. Adrian’s shoulders tensed visibly.
“She is pregnant,” he said quietly.
“That complication changes nothing,” Evan answered.
The horrifying truth assembled itself with devastating clarity. Adrian had not faked his death to escape me. He had faked it to escape a federal investigation. Fraud. Embezzlement. Laundering. The crash had never occurred. They had never boarded that plane. The families who mourned them had been collateral damage.
“What about your wife?” Evan asked suddenly.
Ice flooded my limbs. “She is irrelevant,” Adrian replied quickly. “No one knows she is here.”
Evan laughed softly. “Still orbiting your world after all this time.”
Adrian remained silent. “If she becomes a problem,” Evan continued casually, “resolve it properly.”
“I will not harm her,” Adrian snapped.
“Then pray she remains silent.”
My shoe scraped against metal. Both men turned sharply. “Did you hear that?” Adrian whispered.
“Someone is there,” Evan said.
I ran. Footsteps thundered behind me. My lungs burned violently. I darted between crates, diving behind fishing nets. The footsteps halted.
Then Adrian’s voice pierced the darkness. “Madison?”