Free A Heart Full of Diamonds by A.M. Jenner

the suitcase, I found a small velvet pouch. I thought
it was my gift. He usually brought me things when he’d been away, so I opened
it. I shouldn’t have. I’m not snoopy, but I really thought it was for me. Besides,
as I was unpacking for him, I had to know what it was to put it away.”
    Marilee paused, looking up. His look must have been neutral
enough to give her the courage to continue.
    “The bag was full of diamonds. Different shapes. All sizes. It
was like a rainbow as they tumbled onto the bedspread. I was stunned. I stared
at them for a while, trying to figure out whose they were and why Tony had
them.
    Reason-wise, I came up empty, except maybe they were a
client’s. But then, why would Tony have them? Nothing made sense, so I put them
back into the velvet bag.
    “When Tony got home, I handed him the bag.” Marilee
shuddered with the remembering. “Tony got angry. As usual, he started yelling and
then he threatened me. When I started to cry, he hit me. He’d never hit me
before, ever.” Her voice caught; her eyes were full of misery.
    As she took a sip of cocoa, Richard noticed she was shaking.
His hands balled into tight fists. He wanted to kill the bastard. Unaware of
his thoughts, Marilee sighed and then continued.
    “He said they belonged to him. He’s a very successful
lawyer, I know, but how could we afford a whole bag of diamonds? Tony saw the
look on my face, guessed what I was thinking, and laughed. He said I was so
stupid I couldn’t see what was going on under my nose.”
    Marilee paused and took another swallow of cocoa. Her eyes
were unfocused, as if she were far away, actually watching her husband. Pain
sharpened her voice.
    “He consistently told me I was stupid. He loved showing off
how smart he was. I had already learned never to show intelligence around him
because it made him angry. I was only supposed to be decorative; you know,
beautiful but brainless.
    He wouldn’t let me finish college, or work after we married.
I read a lot of books to pass the time, though he never knew that. He’d have
been hateful, I think, because it would have shown I wasn’t dumb. I think he
really believes blondes are naturally dumb.”
    Marilee looked up at Richard, a guilty grin on her face. “My
natural hair color is platinum blonde. It still surprises me to look in a
mirror and see the darker hair.” She shrugged her shoulders and looked down at
her hands. Silence reigned for a few moments.
    His loins felt a strong pull of heat gather at a mental
image of her being blonde. She’d be a knockout. He could understand this Tony
person wanting to show her off. He mentally shook off thoughts of what he’d
like to do to a stupid pig that would hurt this intelligent, sensitive,
beautiful woman.
    He gently asked, “What happened then?”
    Sighing, Marilee continued. “Well, Tony bragged he and some
friends were stealing gemstones. Not just diamonds, but other stones, too. My
face must have shown him what I thought about his dishonesty. He threatened if
I told anybody about the gems, I’d be killed.”
    Marilee appeared unaware of the tears coursing down her
cheeks, but Richard was very conscious of them. He didn’t dare reach out to
wipe them away or take her in his arms and protect her like he wanted to do.
    Marilee took another small sip of the chocolate and then
continued.
    “Tony said the law would hold me as an accomplice since I
was his wife. He said the police would never believe I didn’t know about it.” She
trembled and bit her lip and then resumed.
    “A couple of weeks later, I picked up the phone to make a
call, but Tony was already on the line. I heard him talking about getting rid
of the problem once and for all. He mentioned a trip scheduled the week after
Thanksgiving. The plan was to torch the house with me in it, while he was out
of town, so he’d have an alibi.
    “I was amazed he didn’t realize I was on the line and had
overheard. By then, though, I didn’t dare do