“I can see those gears turning,” Kai commented. I could feel his eyes on the top of my bent head, likely waiting for my eye contact. “Why don’t you shut them down for a few?”
“Shut them down? My savings is gone.” There it was, the frantic hitch hinting at tears yet again.
“Yeah, honey. But it’s not just that. You shared your life with this man. He betrayed you. He…” Kai paused, looking for the right words. “He hurt you, Jules. You need to process that. You’re focused on the money. There is more than the money going on here.”
“There’s no fixing what he did to me,” I shot back, tone resigned. “But if there is a way to get this money back, I need to do that. That is the one thing that can be done. So it has to be done. I don’t need to… take to the bed and grieve. I need to… I don’t know. Go to the bank. Or try to track Gary down. If that is even his name.”
Ugh.
God.
Was that not his name?
Had I not known the name of the man whose body had been in my bed, whose hands had touched my skin? The idea made a wave of nausea wash over me, making me regret the sugar-filled breakfast I’d had earlier.
How could I not have known?
That I was being conned?
That I was just some mark, just a too-trusting woman easily fooled by a good-looking man?
Had I not been so damn focused on what boxes he checked off, maybe I could have noticed things being off, little things not adding up.
But, no.
I’d been too blinded by the picture-perfect facade of it all.
God.
When had I become so stupid?
Of any woman, I should have been able to see this from a mile away. Or, if nothing else, should have at least done a cursory look into him.
Not romantic, really.
But smart.
Safe.
“Augh,” I growled, elbows meeting the cold quartz countertop as I brought up my hands to rest the sides of my head in.
“Talk to me, Jules,” Kai pleaded, voice with a slight undercurrent of steel, asking, but demanding as well.
“I’m so stupid,” I admitted, ignoring the way my pride took yet another hit. There would be nothing left of it after all this was done, I was sure.
“You’re not stupid,” Kai’s voice shot back, firm, uncharacteristic enough to make my gaze move upward, finding him closer than he had been a moment before, right on the other side of the island. Seeing my gaze, he bent forward, resting his forearms on the surface, getting closer to me. “If this was him, if he did this to you, then he’s to blame. Not you.”
In my mind, there really was no if about it.
There was a buzzing in his chest pocket, making us both start slightly.
“Miller,” he told me without even looking.
“Oh, God,” I groaned, thinking of that whole situation.
A wedding venue full of friends and family.
Full of decor I hated, but had gone with because I knew Gary would like them.
I would have to tell my mom to tell our family and friends that the wedding was cancelled.
They would all think that Gary got cold feet, that I was some cliched bride-to-be left at the proverbial altar.
I’d be pitied.
Was there anything worse?
Hell, maybe I deserved pity.
I was certainly in a pitiful state.
In my wedding dress with a fake ring, smeared makeup, empty bank accounts, and a missing con artist of a fake fiancé.
“Jules,” Kai’s voice cut into my thoughts again. “Stop,” he demanded, somehow knowing where my head was at that moment.
“I can’t stop,” I told him, feeling the sting in my eyes too late to stop the tears as they spilled over. Not sad, just angry, bitter purging. “My money is gone. All of it. I can’t even get myself a cup of coffee!”
Okay.
Maybe that was an exaggeration.
I had cash in my purse.
We were planning on hitting the bank in the morning to get it changed over to rupiah for our honeymoon in Bali.
Five grand in cash.
That was something, at least.
I could keep gas in my car, food in my fridge until my next paycheck.
Christ.
Paycheck-to-paycheck.
I swore to myself that would never be my life. I had worked so hard never to have that happen. Personal financial freedom was important to me, was imbedded in me from a young age from everyone in my family. My parents – while liking the idea of me settling down some day to raise my family – they wanted to make sure that my decision to settle down was based on the right things, not because I wanted help paying my bills.
But I would have to deal with that now.
I was lucky, in a way.
Quin paid me well.
In a few months, I would have a little buffer in my account again.
But it would take years to get anywhere near what I’d had to begin with.