Page 35 of Forbidden Fate

I study her. Look for the tell. A hesitation, maybe. A shift in her eyes. I’ve been in this business long enough to know how to sniff out a liar.

I don’t find one.

Fuck.

She’s telling the truth. Robin Bellamy has been nothing but direct since the moment she woke up.

And right now?

She has no reason to make something like this up.

I drag a hand over my jaw, exhaling slowly. “When?”

“A few years ago.”

“Where?”

She sighs. “I’m not sure how much I want to tell you.”

“Well,” I say, “how long do you want to delay what happens next?”

“You mean the part where you beat me,” she says.

“If the story’s long enough,” I say, keeping my tone even, “maybe I push that until tomorrow.”

Silence stretches.

Finally, she nods. “Fair enough. If I’m talking, you’re not hitting me.”

“Right.”

“And if I stop?”

I narrow my eyes. “Then I do my job.”

She exhales. “You’re going to want to get comfortable.”

I don’t move to sit. But I don’t leave either.

“I was traveling,” she says. “Seeing the world after college graduation. Across Europe. And when I got to Romania⁠—”

I widen my eyes. “Romania?”

“Yeah. It was on my bucket list. I love the old monster movies, you know?”

I nod.

“I took a belly dancing lesson from this woman. She was gorgeous and a great dancer. Anyway, she told me about a bar I had to try.”

“What happened?” I ask.

She lets out a quiet breath. “I went alone. I mean, I was traveling alone so…” She sighs. “Anyway, I looked away for maybe ten seconds. A fight broke out. When I turned back, I picked up my glass and drank.”

I nod. I don’t have to be a genius to know where this is going.

“I didn’t even finish the plum brandy,” she says.

“How long?” I ask.