HER ITALIAN BODYGUARD

14.IT'S YOU, ISN'T IT?

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

IT’S YOU, ISN’T IT?

Between hastily packing a small travel bag and trying to calmly reassure Diane on my new phone, everything feels like a blur. She’s livid; rightfully so. Mostly, she’s angry that I kept the truth about Evelyn and the affair from her.

“You should have told me the moment she walked back into your house,” she snaps.

“I didn’t want to deal with the fallout,” I murmur.

“The fallout is that you almost died, Gina! And who’s to say Evelyn didn’t have something to do with it? I’m just saying. People have killed for less.”

“I’m not about to start suspecting every woman who’s ever flirted with my husband,” I say, even though her words send a chill down my spine.

But then she makes a surprisingly decent suggestion: instead of going straight back to Everwood Cove, we make a diversion, meet in Las Vegas for a couple of days, then head home together. “Just in case someone’s tailing you,” she adds.

I agree. It’s a good idea. I just hope no one recognizes me there. I slip my hoodie over my head and make my way through the hallway, ready to take one of the lesser-known family cars and sneak out through the back entrance. But just as I’m about to step into the garage, something catches my eye through the side window.

Down below, just at the edge of the garden, Evelyn is walking, no, pacing, toward the far, unlit side of the house. She’s glancing over her shoulder nervously, clutching her phone in a death grip.

Curiosity, that treacherous thing, coils in my gut. I quietly backtrack, slipping out through another side door, moving quickly but silently to the far end of the house. I press myself against the wall in the shadows, just as she stops near the garden shed with her back turned to me.

Her voice is low, urgent. “Just destroy the f*****g flash drive. I already sent you the money, what more do you want?”

There’s silence, then a sudden snap in her voice as she ends the call. “Useless thieving bastard,” she mutters to herself.

My heart races, every part of me instantly on high alert.

The flash drive? Money? Destroy it? She’s covering something up.

My voice cuts through the tension like a blade. “Wow. Didn’t think you’d take it this far.”

She jumps, whirling around so fast I think she might fall over. Her eyes widen when she sees me step into the dim light.

“Gina,” she breathes, trying to sound calm, but her face drains of color.

“It’s you, isn’t it?” I say, arms crossed. “You tried to kill me.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she says quickly, voice pitching too high, too fast.

“I heard you,” I snap. “I heard you. On the phone. Destroy the flash drive? Come on. If the only way you think you can have my husband is by killing me, that’s... honestly pathetic.”

Something changes in her expression then; almost like a mask sliding off.

“I love him,” she hisses. “And I’d do anything to have him. If that means getting rid of your pathetic little ass, so be it.”

She steps closer until we’re almost nose to nose. A sickly sweet smile twists her lips. “You know the best part? You could scream this from the rooftops and he still wouldn’t believe you.”

Almost like the universe was listening, Mark steps into the dim light, stopping dead in his tracks at the sight of the two of us.

“What’s going on out here?” he asks, glancing between us.

I don’t hesitate. “It’s her. She tried to kill me.”

Mark’s brows shoot up. “What?”

“She just admitted it,” I say. “She’s the one behind the car bomb.”

Evelyn lets out a strangled laugh. “Mark… come on. Look, I know I’ve made mistakes. I shouldn’t have slept with you while you were married. God knows I regret it. But this? Gina accusing me of murder? This is crazy.”

His eyes flicker back and forth between us, clearly stunned. “Gina… are you serious right now?”

“I heard her. She was on the phone-”

“I think she’s having a breakdown,” Evelyn interjects gently, playing the calm victim. “She’s under so much stress… maybe we should get her some help. I mean a day in a physiatrist ward wouldn’t hurt anybody. It could help manage the stress of all that is going on. I could call in a favor from some of my friends,”

Mark looks torn. But worse than that, he looks unsure. Like he doesn’t know who to believe. And that, somehow, cuts deeper than anything else.

“You don’t believe me, do you?”

The words leave my lips in a softer, hollow tone; ma quiet realization more than a question. I already know the answer. The hesitation in Mark’s eyes says it all. The old Mark, the man I married, wouldn’t have even blinked. He would’ve believed me. He would’ve protected me. But this Mark? He stands there, his silence damning.

“Gina,” he says gently, like he’s trying to calm a wild animal. “I know things have been rocky between us. I know you hate Evelyn-”

“I don’t hate her,” I cut in sharply. “I just don’t trust her.”

He keeps going like I didn’t speak. “But accusing her of something this heinous… it’s just not like you, hun. You’re not that kind of person.”

I stare at him, stunned. Not that kind of person?

I glance between them. He is still trying to find the middle ground, and Evelyn, who stands there with her arms crossed, her expression the perfect mixture of concern and subtle smugness. It makes my skin crawl.

“You know what?” I say, my voice cracking with the fury rising in my throat. “f**k you. Both of you.”

Mark flinches, but I don’t give him a chance to respond.

“You deserve each other.”

I turn on my heel and storm back into the house, my pulse pounding in my ears. I don’t even realize I’m trembling until I bump into someone near the hallway. It’s one of the investigators, dressed in a navy windbreaker and holding a file.

“Mrs. Washington he says quickly. “Where is your husband? The detective in charge just called us from the station. There might be a lead.”

I blink at him, stunned for a moment.

“A lead?” I echo, trying to steady my breath.

“Yes. Something about a witness statement and new surveillance footage that just came in,” he explains. “We need him to come down to the station immediately.”

I nod, swallowing the storm of emotions in my chest.

“I’ll get him,” I say. But my voice is cold now.

Because if there is a lead, and it points to what I know in my gut... then Mark will finally see the truth. And maybe, just maybe, he’ll realize who he’s really been protecting.