Free Deceived 6 - Ultimate Deception by Eve Carter Page B

either,” he said.
    It was all I could do to stifle a cry. How could he do this to me? Victoria lurched inside me, responding to the sudden surge of emotion.
    “I want to show you something.” Patrick’s voice was low.
    I wanted to slap the smug smile off her face but I couldn’t move. I had to let this play out. I had to know who would deceive me more, my best friend, or my husband?
    “Let’s not do this here.” Her eyes darted towards me momentarily but not long enough to notice that I was awake. “How about we head up to my room before Chloe wakes up?”
    The smile that crossed Patrick’s face wasn’t his seductive one. In fact, it was hard and almost mean. My heart thudded painfully against my chest. This wasn’t right. Something else was going on here. Everything I knew about Patrick said he wouldn’t cheat on me, especially like this, so what I’d seen was at odds with what I knew. Now, however, I wasn’t sure that what my eyes and ears had been processing had been the truth...at least not the important parts.
    “Actually, it’s something I’d like to show you right here.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled something out.
    Small, rectangular and glossy. I caught a glimpse of faces.
    Pictures.
    “I know the truth.”
    I barely registered what Patrick was saying now because my brain was making rapid-fire connections, bringing together the memories I’d lost.
    The Bronte painting.
    Sisters.
    Books.
    The library.
    The picture of the sisters in the library.
    Holy fucking shit .
    Sisters!
    It clicked into place even as Patrick said it out loud.
    “You and Anna are sisters.”
    All the missing memories came crashing in all at once, nearly making me gasp with the force of it. That empty black hole was now filling at lightning speed and the truth of it made me sick to my stomach. I was pushing myself up and speaking before the pair realized I was even awake.
    “You pushed me down the stairs, you bitch!” The words shot out of my mouth like the blast from a cannon.
    Patrick’s head whipped around, confusion passing over his face. I could see him processing what I’d said. Nina froze, her eyes wide, the proverbial deer in the headlights. For several seconds, no one spoke and I was pretty sure no one was even breathing. Then, suddenly, everything happened at once.
    Patrick grabbed for Nina and she shoved at him. I started screaming, “Get your fucking hands off my husband,” followed by a string of profanity that would make a sailor blush. As they struggled, I disentangled myself from the sheets and jumped to my feet. No way in hell was I going to let Patrick fight this alone. The memory of what Nina had done, the pain of her betrayal, the fury of what might have happened to my family—all of it gave me miraculous strength in the face of this dire situation.
    Nina twisted, freeing herself from Patrick’s grasp. I flew to the table by the door, my feet alighting with a swiftness that was amazing considering my weight and size. This time, when Patrick grabbed her shoulder, Nina lurched forward, throwing the mass of her body into him, making him stumble. They both fell to the floor and I heard a crack as Patrick’s head hit the marble encrusted wooden bed post at the foot of the bed. Damn this heavy bedroom set. What was with this woman and marble everywhere in this house?
    I stood there, frozen to the spot, leaning back heavily on the little table with a horror so absolute that I couldn’t make a sound. Images of all the things Patrick and I were supposed to do together flashed through my mind. Could it all be taken away, gone in an instant?
    Those few seconds were a slow death, and then I heard him groan. I closed my eyes and breathed out. Patrick was hurt, but alive, thank God. A sharp pain ripped through my stomach as Victoria kicked, hard, and it cleared my mind. I wrapped my arm across my belly, pressing my hand against it to ease the pain. There was no time for self-indulgence now. Nina