Tell Me Lies by Locklyn Marx Page B

go inside and have some dinner?”
    “Okay.” He stepped back and shook his head, then ran his fingers through his hair. “Dinner. Good idea.” He took her hand and started pul ing her toward the apartment.
    She kept up the charade while they ate and watched a movie. At around nine o’clock, she told him she was going to take a shower before bed. As soon as she was in the bathroom, she pul ed out her iPhone and checked her bank balance.
    She knew there wouldn’t be much in her checking account.
    After paying her half of the bil s (Leo had long since stopped paying for everything), there wasn’t much left of her paycheck. But every month she would deposit a little money into her savings account. Last time she’d checked, about two weeks ago, she’d had around six thousand dol ars.
    But now, her savings account was showing only three hundred and eighty-three dol ars. A sick feeling settled in her stomach. How was that possible?
    She scrol ed down through the withdrawals. Someone had transferred the six thousand dol ars into her checking account, and then, over the past three weeks, had been taking it out in increments at different ATMs.

    It had to have been Leo. He must have known her banking password and her ATM password. But how? And what was he doing with the money? Spending it? Or had he taken it just so she wouldn’t have a way to leave him?
    It was a scary thought. Her pulse began to pound, and her heart fluttered in her chest.
    She needed to leave him. But how?
    According to her iPhone screen, she had about fifteen hundred dol ars in her checking account. She could get somewhere on that, but then what? The money would only pay for cheap hotel for a couple weeks. Definitely not enough time to get a job.
    Maybe she could rent a room from someone, she thought. If she did that, she’d be able to keep her costs down. But where?
    There was a knock on the bathroom door. “Honey?” Leo cal ed. “Do you want me to save this chicken? Or just throw it out?”
    “You can throw it out,” she said, quickly exiting out of her banking website. She didn’t think he would come in, but she wasn’t going to take any chances.
    It was okay, she told herself. Tomorrow she’d go to the bank and open up a separate account. She’d make sure he didn’t know about it. She’d start building her savings up, and after a couple of months, she’d leave. Anytime he’d had an episode like this in the past, he’d always been better for a while afterwards.
    But that night, when they’d crawled into bed, he’d done something that had made her toes curl.
    “I’m sorry,” he said, kissing her softly on the forehead, “for how I was earlier. I just get upset when I think about you leaving me for someone else.”
    “I know,” she said. Her heart was pounding in her ears and adrenaline coursed through her body.
    And then he reached out and grabbed her wrist under the blanket. He squeezed it so tight that for a moment, she was afraid he might break it. Then he let go. And in the darkness of the room, she heard his voice.
    “If you ever did leave me,” he said quietly. “I’d kil you.”
    The next morning, she was on the train to New York.

Chapter Eight
    Reid hadn’t said anything the whole time Alexis was talking, and once she’d finished, he stood up. His lips tightened into a straight line, and he pul ed his shoulders back. “I’l kil that asshole,” he said. “You said he’s here?” He started looking around the room, like he was thinking he might find Leo lurking around somewhere.
    “I don’t know where he is ,” she said. “The message just said ‘sorry I missed you.’ He cal ed and left it, but who knows where he cal ed from? He knows I’m here.
    So if he’s not here, I think he wil be soon.”
    Seeing Reid’s reaction was actual y making Alexis feel better. She hadn’t told anyone about Leo. Ever. So now that she’d confessed what had been going on, and Reid was acting like he wanted to go and