Free Betrayal by Danielle Steel Page B

say anything all the way to Palm Springs after they picked up coffee at Starbucks, and then just before they got to their location, Tallie was startled when Brigitte pulled off the road. She glanced at Tallie with an agonized look, as Tallie watched her. Something was very wrong.
    “I have to talk to you,” Brigitte said in a shaking voice. “I always wondered what I would do in a situation like this, and I hoped I would never have to find out. I have to talk to you about Hunt. And I have a small confession to make too.” The two women were sitting in the car, and Tallie dreaded what she was about to hear. Whatever it was, she already knew it wasn’t good. It was written all over Brigitte’s face. She looked as though she hated what she was about to say. For an instant, Tallie wanted to run away before she heard it.
    “About three years ago,” she went on, “right after he moved in, Hunt asked me for some cash. He said you had asked him to pay for something. I can’t even remember what it was, but whatever it was, it sounded believable. He had just moved in with you, and you seemed madly in love with him.” Tallie had never been madly in love with him, it was something that had grown over time. But she had certainly been in love, enough to want to live with him and they had been happy and still were. Brigitte went on. “It kept happening. He kept asking me for cash. It wasn’t a lot at first. Just small amounts. He would tell me that he’d forgotten to cash a check, or that you’d asked him to get cash from me. It just kind of snowballed, and eventually I realized he was doing it all the time. I didn’t know what to do or say. I didn’t want to mess things up for you, after all you’ve been through, and he really is a nice guy. It’s just gone on and on and on. I had no idea how much it came to until you told me the other day. I don’t know what he does with the money. I guess he spends it on himself, or socks it away, or whatever. I figured if I said anything to you, it would be all over, and I didn’t want that for you, so I’ve been going along with it for all this time, worried sick about it and scared for you, and mostly sad. I think he’s a nice guy, but maybe not an honest one. Tallie, all that cash is going to him.” She looked mortified as she said it, because she had been giving it to him. “Now he just expects it.”
    “And you just gave it to him and didn’t tell me?” Tallie looked horrified. The man she lived with and loved had been stealing money from her for three years, and her assistant and best friend hadn’t told her? Worse, she’d been giving him the money? Tallie felt like a total fool, and she was angry at Brigitte for not telling her sooner and hiding it from her. Three years was a long time to remain silent. Brigitte had become his unwilling accomplice, but his accomplice nonetheless. Tallie felt betrayed, by both of them.
    “How could you do that and not tell me about it?” Tallie asked with a shocked look on her face.
    “I didn’t want to screw up your romance. You need someone in your life, Tallie. You can’t do it all alone. And the picture you made together was such a big hit. I didn’t want to jeopardize that for you either.” There was a lot riding on their relationship now. Tallie knew it too.
    “So you let him take money from me and didn’t tell me? Whose side are you on?” Tallie accused her.
    “Yours,” Brigitte said without hesitation, with tears in her eyes. “I made a terrible mistake. I let him manipulate me, and I didn’t tell you. I didn’t realize until yesterday how much it had cost you. It’s always a few hundred, a thousand here and there or two, but I guess it adds up in a hurry.” It was a lot. Twenty-five thousand dollars a month was a huge amount to her.
    “And he’s been doing it for three years?” Brigitte nodded in answer. “Do you realize that it cost me nearly a million dollars in the past three years? And why would he do