Simon Says Die by Lena Diaz Page A

compared to Damon didn’t sit well with him one bit.
    â€œGo on,” he said. “What happened to make it all go wrong?”
    She smoothed her jacket and drew little circles on her jeans with her fingernail. “The first five or six months were wonderful. After that, I guess the strain of lying all the time was too much for him. That’s when I saw the real Damon.”
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    â€œIt started when I saw him with another woman in a restaurant. He didn’t know I was driving by, never saw me.”
    â€œHe was having an affair?” Pierce asked.
    â€œI thought so, but I couldn’t see how that was possible. We were happy, or so I’d thought. I didn’t want to confront him and feel stupid if she was just a business associate. But after that, I started watching for signs, hoping I was wrong.”
    She sighed. “I couldn’t let it go. It kept eating at me. We argued. I accused him of cheating. He was so surprised he started laughing. He was genuinely amused that I thought he was having an affair. And relieved.”
    â€œRelieved?”
    She nodded. “It was . . . odd. I knew he was hiding something, but he’d rather me think he was having an affair than tell me what he was really up to. That’s when I started following him.”
    â€œYou followed him?”
    â€œOh, come on. Don’t look at me like that. I didn’t think he was dangerous. I just knew my marriage was falling apart, and I wanted to know why. We didn’t get along. We argued all the time. Then I discovered some hidden files on his computer.”
    Pierce put his finger beneath her chin, tilting her head up so that he could look her in the eyes. “What was in the files?”
    She stared at him a moment, then pushed his hand away and stared out across the field. “He lied about his finances. I found spreadsheets detailing private accounts I knew nothing about, and purchases. He was spending tens of thousands of dollars a month.”
    Pierce grimaced. “You were broke.”
    â€œNo, not at all. That’s the weird thing. We had too much money, way more than we should have had, the way he was spending money. I confronted him, demanded to know where all the money was coming from. When he found out I’d logged onto his computer and looked at his files . . .”
    She shivered and Pierce took her hand in his. She looked down at their joined hands, her brow wrinkling. But she didn’t pull away.
    â€œThat’s the first time I was ever afraid of him.” Her jaw tightened. “But not the last.”
    The bleak sound of her voice told him far more than her words. He had a feeling he wasn’t going to like the answer to his next question. “What did he do?”
    She vigorously shook her head, her dark hair brushing back and forth across her shoulders. “It doesn’t matter. Our marriage was over. He grabbed his laptop and left. He disappeared for two weeks. No phone calls, no e-mails, nothing. That’s when I filed for divorce.”
    Her eyes had a slightly wild look to them, as if she would bolt if he pushed her any further. So he decided not to press her on that topic. For now.
    â€œDid Logan or your mom know about the divorce?”
    â€œNo, no one did.”
    â€œWhy didn’t you tell anyone?”
    She swallowed and briefly closed her eyes. “At first, I was too embarrassed. I hated that my family was right about him. Later, when my dad’s health got so bad . . .”
    â€œGo on.”
    She drew a deep breath. “Damon showed up again when my father was admitted to the hospital. He acted supportive and sweet in front of my family, as if nothing bad had happened between us. I played along, but I wouldn’t let him back into the house. I’d changed the locks. And I was never alone with him, even though he asked me, several times, to speak in private.”
    Her grip on