The Goblin King by Shona Husk Page B

back.”
    “I didn’t decide—”
    “Shh, I’m talking. We both know I had nothing to do with your disappearance. Regardless of what the police think.”
    “I don’t know what happened.” The words tumbled out as she apologized for living once again.
    He did this to her every time. And she bent to his will, but their relationship hadn’t always been like this. He’d rescued her when her world had collapsed. When her father, the last of her family, had died of a heart attack in parliament. He was dead before he’d hit the floor. Her degree had followed. A one-year deferral to deal with her grief had become five. In her family’s law firm she was a legal secretary, filing Steve’s paperwork.
    Steve had been her father’s protégé, a self-made man, the poor kid made good. And he played on it, manipulating everyone around him. He’d had her fooled for three years before she’d seen the truth. By then it had been too late. She was caught.
    He lowered his weight, crushing her chest. “You can’t lie to me.”
    She couldn’t breathe. The tiny half-breaths he allowed her were not enough. Eliza tried to push him off. But he held firm. To a nurse passing by he was merely attentive. There would be no help coming.
    “Keep still.” He pinched her earlobe where her earring should have hung. “Where have you been?”
    Eliza shook her head. Her lungs burned for more than a gasp of air.
    “Is this payback? Do you think anyone but you cares who I screw?” He kept the embrace tight but let her breathe.
    She gasped, sucking in the air tainted with expensive aftershave. There was nothing honest or natural about Steve.
    “We’re not married yet,” she choked out. When they married, everyone assumed he’d get the partnership she’d refused him two years ago. Two years ago this nightmare engagement had begun.
    “Is that a threat?” His nose touched hers.
    If he kissed her, she would be sick.
    He drew back and laughed, patting her hand. “It’s your name on the documents.”
    Nausea clawed the back of her throat. Those documents were the one thing between her and freedom. She’d seen them once. Perfect documents that looked the part and siphoned money into an account Steve had set up. The poor boy had become a rich, corrupt lawyer, and she would take the fall. The documents had her signature and her handwriting on them. She filled out paperwork like that all the time. She’d done the paperwork for Steve’s fraud without knowing. Her signature had locked the chain around her throat.
    “Choose carefully, Eliza. You wouldn’t last a week in jail.” He stood and smoothed his charcoal suit. A replacement for the ones she’d ruined. “I’ve ordered new suits. You’ll settle the bill, won’t you, dear?” He turned and left without waiting for her answer. His visit left no more than a depression on the sheets. Eliza smoothed them away, wishing it would be as easy to remove him from her life.
    In the afternoon, the detective assigned to investigate her disappearance stopped in to see if she could remember something she hadn’t told the uniformed police. Eliza gazed out the window. She wanted to be outside, to feel the sun and taste the fresh air. She wanted to be free of Steve and his fraud for a few moments. She’d tasted freedom for a few short seconds with Roan as their lips had met and she’d forgotten she was Eliza Coulter and should know better.
    “Just a few more questions, Ms. Coulter.” Detective Griffin brought her back to the hospital room.
    She nodded, sure that she’d answered the same ones last night, but she couldn’t be certain. Had she fainted before or after the questions? She couldn’t remember getting to the hospital. But she couldn’t forget where she’d been. She couldn’t forget Roan.
    “What time did you leave the party?”
    “I don’t know. Elevenish?” She should know that. She should remember what time she’d caught Steve with his pants down.
    “Your fiancé is a lawyer,