Bad Behavior by Cristina Grenier Page B

hate liars.” Bethany snapped at last. “Almost as much as I hate cheaters. I told Justin not to cheat on me. It was in our contract. I gave him a chance to stop. But he just couldn’t leave you alone could he?”
    “Bethany-”
    “I love him.” Bethany hissed, overriding whatever Rei had been about to say. “I love him. I always have. Why can’t he see that?” She asked, growing sad. “Why can’t he see how much I’ve gone through just to keep us together?”
    That was around the time the alarm bells started going off in Rei’s brain. Her life didn’t flash in front of her eyes or anything. Instead it was every Lifetime movie she’d ever seen, replaying in her mind in high definition. There were usually three roles that had to be filled before a person’s life had the makings of a Thriller.
    Sexy man.
    Check.
    Crazy, homicidal, white girl.
    Double check.
    Love interest that gets killed halfway through the movie?
    Rei sighed. She should have kept her black ass at home after all.
     
     
     
    ♀♂
     
     
    Stan liked to think that he was an adaptive man. The kind of man who could think on his feet. In some cases he was. When it came to money, he was a veritable genius. Running from the law however? They didn’t exactly teach you how to do that at Yale. He couldn’t hide himself, so that meant letting someone else do it for him. Bethany was the only person he knew who had as big a stake in all of this as he himself did. After all, she’d found out about his activities years ago when she and Justin had first gotten together. At first he didn’t know why she hadn’t said anything. Then he'd realized it was so that she could have some sort of leverage to hold over his head.
    Bethany had pumped him for every scrap of information he could give her about Justin Reese. His likes, his dislikes, his family history, all of it. She’d even gotten him to keep her updated on where Justin went, when, and with whom. Helping someone stalk Justin had made Stan feel worse than stealing money from the man. So when it seemed as if Bethany’s tactics for making Justin fall for her were actually working, Stan had been able to assuage his guilt.
    Then Justin had broken off their engagement, and Bethany had come up with another plan entirely. She’d taught him what to say, what to take, where to hide it, and how to keep his activities under wraps. She’d helped him take a small operation to the next level and he had fallen all too willingly under her wing.
    “Take it all.” She’d told him.
    And he had.
    He’d thought her driving need to see Justin lose everything had been a simple thirst for revenge. A woman scorned and all of that. It wasn’t until she pitched the idea of marriage that Stan had managed to see the big picture.
    A woman who spent two years planning something so involved wouldn't want to see it all fall apart. Which is exactly what would happen if Stan was caught and decided to reveal what he knew. Bethany would lose her freedom, but most importantly to her, she would lose Justin. If that happened, Stan doubted she’d get a third chance at him.
    So maybe he had more resources than he’d originally thought.
    He was a weak link, a loose end, and as long as Bethany still planned on walking down that aisle with Reese, then she would do everything in her power to keep him from ending up in the back of a squad car.
      So he’d stay with Bethany until he could skip town. With her money and connections she’d even be able to set him up with a fake ID and passport. Stan nodded, smiling to himself as he worked through the details. He felt a lot better now that he’d come up with a plan. Staying in Bethany’s guest bedroom was much better than hiding out in some semen riddled motel room in a bad part of town.
    Safer too.
     
     
    ♀♂
     
     
     
    Bethany smiled at her, and after swallowing several times, Rei managed to smile in return.
    “I can see why he likes you.” Bethany admitted, turning on her